BRAT Diet For Toddlers – All You Need To Know About It 2024

When your toddler is experiencing gastrointestinal discomforts, like diarrhea or more general tummy troubles, you might be inclined to start them on a BRAT diet. A BRAT toddler diet typically consists of bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast. 

For decades, pediatricians recommended this diet for children with upset stomachs. They believed this restrictive diet gave a child’s gut time to rest and reduce liquid stool. 

Today, childcare physicians and other experts move away from recommending this diet. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends a more well-balanced diet with superfoods for kids based on the child’s age. This is especially true in the first 24 hours of a stomach illness. 

Let’s get into the reasons why below.

What Is The BRAT Diet?

The BRAT diet involves feeding a child bananas, rice, apples, and toast when they are sick to help their upset stomach. Parents have been giving their toddlers these foods for years, but now it doesn’t appear to be ideal. Children need to consume nutrient-dense foods to support their immune systems.

Is The BRAT Diet Safe For Children?

The BRAT diet has long been considered a staple of most physician recommendations when children suffer from vomiting or diarrhea. They believed this diet gave the digestive system a chance to heal. Childcare experts now believe this may not be the best option.

Unfortunately, BRAT diet foods are too low in protein, fiber, and healthy fats. Pediatricians worry that this diet lacks the nutrition your child needs to get better. Instead, a sick child’s diet should include more fruit, meat, yogurt, complex carbohydrates, and vegetables for toddlers than what the traditional BRAT diet supplies.

How Does BRAT Diet Work?

Most pediatricians recommend giving your child’s stomach rest for the first four to six hours after diarrhea or vomiting. Make sure they drink small amounts of mostly water to avoid getting dehydrated.

After this rest period, parents who want to incorporate the BRAT diet can serve their children bananas, rice, applesauce, toast, and other bland foods such as crackers, grits, or oatmeal.

This diet continues for a few days while a child’s symptoms improve. Then parents try out certain foods like soft-cooked eggs, cooked vegetables, sherbet, or white meat chicken. Fruits and meats are acceptable if they’re soft and easy to digest.

How To Follow The BRAT Diet

If you’re a parent interested in your child sticking to the BRAT diet for diarrhea, they don’t have to eat just bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast. The philosophy behind this diet is to ensure your child eats bland, gentle foods on their stomach. Such foods are also believed to be binding, which helps when treating diarrhea and firming up the stools.

Is applesauce good for diarrhea? Yes! Other foods to consider in the brat diet food list for toddlers include the following:

• Chicken broth.
• Boiled potatoes.
• Apple juice.
• Crackers.
• Grits.
• Oatmeal.

You might also want to include a kid’s daily multivitamin.

Until your child has recovered and their bowel movements have returned to normal, make sure you avoid adding the following foods to their diet:

• Dairy products like milk, cream, and cheese.
• Overly hot beverages.
• Iced or overly cold beverages.
• Raw cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, and salad greens.
• Oily fish like sardines and salmon.
• Meat, including steak and pork.
• Citrus fruits such as grapefruit, pineapple, and oranges.
• Apples or tomatoes.
• Strongly seasoned or spicy foods.
• Fatty, greasy, or fried foods.
• Gelatin.

What Are The Health Risks Of The BRAT Diet?

Malnutrition

BRAT diet foods lack fiber, protein, or fat. These nutrient and calorie deficiencies might not give a child everything they need to heal their gastrointestinal tract. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, children should instead continue to eat a normal, well-balanced diet. 

Within 24 hours of illness, parents would be wise to resume appropriate diets. Typically that means including a healthy amount of lean meats, whole fruits, veggies, and yogurt. Vitamin supplements also help.

Dehydration

Parents must ensure their sick toddlers drink liquids to fully and completely recover. When a child is dealing with stomach upset, their parents must prevent dehydration. Drinking water is a good place to start, and then add broth or a rehydration solution that replaces lost electrolytes. 

Make sure your choices are low in sugar or sugar substitutes.

Discomfort

Many parents choosing BRAT or BRAT-friendly foods like apples, bread, and bananas may not realize they also contain FODMAPs^[1], an acronym for fermentable oligo-, di-, mono-saccharides, and polyols. These are specific carbohydrates that break down in the bowels and sometimes produce more gas and draw in more fluid. For some kids with digestive problems, this can increase discomfort, pain, loose stools, and bloating.

Check out alternative foods from a leading kids’ meal delivery.

BRAT Diet Alternatives

Stay Hydrated

Children must stay hydrated to heal effectively.

Dehydration can be a dangerous side effect of diarrhea in children. They may not want to drink or eat for a while. But drinking plenty of fluids is vital. 

Staying hydrated helps replace precious fluids lost when children vomit or experience diarrhea. Hydration keeps the electrolytes balanced. If they still receive breast milk, they should continue to nurse frequently and in small amounts.

Take Probiotics

Children can take probiotics to recover more quickly.

Good bacteria, or probiotics, help children recover more quickly from gastrointestinal distress. These bacteria participate in their gut biome and offer many different health benefits to a toddler’s body. Choose products like yogurt rather than purchasing pills or other over-the-counter oral probiotics. 

This not only creates a healthy environment in their gut, but it also reduces any negative side effects. 

Probiotics found in a child’s gut play a key role in normal and healthy gastrointestinal functioning. They also protect young intestines from further infections. Finally, probiotics can assist your child’s immune system and reduce diarrhea. 

It does this by restoring the bacteria balance in your child’s gut.

Oral Rehydration Therapy

ORS — solutions in oral rehydration therapy — compensates for diarrhea.

Electrolyte or oral rehydration solutions^[2] help your toddler replenish water and salts lost during diarrhea. These commercially bought drinks may be more easily digested than the typical liquids in your child’s usual diet. ORS products often come in tasty flavors or popsicle forms. 

Just be mindful of added preservatives and sugars. Check out your local retail stores and drugstores for these popular products.

Avoid Some Specific Foods

After recovery, it’s wise to avoid some specific foods.

Use caution and care when feeding your child, especially after a stomach illness. For at least a few days, limiting or altogether avoiding fatty, fried, or greasy foods is a good idea. 

Sometimes it’s helpful for parents to keep a food diary or journal to track what their child is eating. Detail the types of food and drinks your child consumes. Then note the time or frequency of your child’s diarrhea or loose bowel movements. 

See if you notice a pattern. Contact your doctor for concerns about the causes of diarrhea, including any allergies or food intolerances.

The Bottom Line

For some parents, BRAT foods offer a way to help their toddlers experiencing symptoms of diarrhea. This is true, especially within the first 24 hours of illness. However, doctors now advise against this type of diet, mostly for longer periods, because of its limited nutrients. Good healing requires good nutrition, and the BRAT strategy may fall short. 

A regular, age-appropriate, and well-balanced diet for toddlers is a better option and can initiate a faster recovery. Please call your doctor or visit a nearby pediatric care center if your toddler’s diarrhea persists for over a day.

---