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Chronic diarrhea in children: the signs, dehydration and when to get care right away, the common causes, how doctors find the cause, treatment, and food
For parents and anyone caring for a baby, a child or a teen whose loose, watery stools have gone on for weeks. It passes on, by name, what the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK, part of the NIH) says: what chronic diarrhea is, and how it differs from the short kind; the signs of dehydration and of not absorbing food, and when to get a doctor’s care right away; the common causes, from an infection to celiac disease, toddler’s diarrhea, food allergies and intolerances, IBS and IBD; how doctors find the cause; and treatment and food. It builds the questions to ask and prints a card. Nothing is saved.
A word with a dotted line under it, like this, opens its official definition, quoted from a U.S. government glossary.
Right now
- Signs of dehydration (no wet diapers for 3 hours or more, no tears when crying, sunken eyes or soft spot, a dry mouth, little energy); a fever of 102 degrees or higher; severe pain in the belly or rectum; blood or pus in the stool; black, tarry stools? NIDDK says to get a doctor’s care right away: call your child’s doctor now, or go to urgent care or an emergency room (where to go: ours).
- Very hard to wake, struggling to breathe, or seems very ill? Call 911 (ours).
- You, the grown-up, are at the end of your rope, or having thoughts of suicide? Call or text 988, any hour, free (ours).
More help
- The causes on this site: Celiac disease · Lactose intolerance · Irritable bowel syndrome · Crohn’s disease · Ulcerative colitis · Food poisoning.
- Children: Vomiting and diarrhea in a baby or child · Constipation in children · Helping your child eat well · Symptom diary.
- For you: Get ready for your appointment. In an emergency: Help right now (988, 911). All our free tools.
An upset stomach, and not sure this is the right page? The pages on this site for throwing up, diarrhea, heartburn and constipation, on one list.
This page and its wording were written with AI (Claude) for Scarlet Beast (our AI policy). No doctor or nurse has reviewed it. The facts were read on October 21, 2026 on NIDDK’s (NIH) page Chronic Diarrhea in Children, all six sections, last reviewed in February 2017. Ours: the 911 and 988 lines; where to go for care right away; asking the doctor before giving any medicine for diarrhea, or any supplement; bringing the food and stool diary to the visit; the questions to ask; the card; the links to our other pages; and the order of the steps. What we left out: its section on clinical trials, its video, and the other NIDDK pages it links to, which we did not read. Nothing you tick or type here is saved or sent.