My 4 year old is sick. She woke up this morning complaining that her stomach hurt her. She then vomited a small amount about an hour after waking. She hasn't vomited since. She hasn't eaten much today. I made her some noodles and broth and some toast and she ate only a few bites of each. She has been drinking water. She told me her stomach pain had gone away and for a few hours she was my perky, happy, sweet baby girl. About an hour ago she complained that she was really hot so I took her temperature. She is running a fever of 102.8 (she always runs high fevers, so this is not too alarming) and said that her stomach pain is back. She has been wimpering about it (she's normally a drama queen when she is sick or injured, but I'm trying not to brush it off as that because I know she really isn't feeling well). She just took some Motrin for the fever and fell asleep (literally as I was typing this). She had the flu shot and we haven't really been out and about. She went to daycare on Wednesday and we went out shopping Thursday....otherwise we've stuck pretty close to home. No one else is sick at the moment. I have a 3 month old and he is stuffy, but no fever when I checked and he has acted fine all day. I hate that it is the weekend and especially that it is a holiday weekend because doctors are pretty much unavailable......I'm not sure what to do to help her besides getting the fever down and I'm not sure if I should be more concerned about something non-viral or if this is just some passing stomach bug.......Any help, thoughts, suggestions, experiences is greatly appreciated! Thanks much !
We made it through the night! :)
She only vomited that one time yesterday morning. She had a bowel movement that was solid late last night (sorry if TMI) and her tummy pains have subsided. She ate a little more and drank quite a bit too. She needed two doses of the motrin, but the fever seemed to break early this morning. She is currently happy, perky and playing. I think it's gone and now I'm just keeping my prayers set on it not returning or moving onto another victim in our house. :) Thanks ladies for all of your advice and experiences. It was helpful to have the reassurance as well as ways to check for other possibilities. I didn't know that about Strep throat....so I learned something! :) Take care and many blessings for a wonderful 2012! KE
It could be a stomach bug, although my kids usually run low-grade fevers when they have that. I agree that you should check her throat for signs of bright redness or pus pockets. If she has that, it might be strep. If not, it's probably viral and nothing will help other than Motrin and Tylenol. Hope she feels better soon, and that the baby stays healthy!
Last week... my 9 year old daughter had the Stomach Flu.
She had the SAME stomach pain symptoms and pains as your child.
Except, my daughter's fever was higher than that and she also had the chills and a very bad headache and overall body aches too and she had diarrhea and of course, bad stomach pains/cramping.
With pain//vomiting/fever like that, anyone would be a 'drama' queen and uncomfortable.
My 9 year old daughter.... was CRYING and crying, just because of the pain. All she could do was lie down ALL day, on the sofa. She didn't even get up and move, except to pee and diarrhea and vomit.
And she was dizzy.
My daughter has a high pain threshold... but having this made her cry... just due to the pain all over and the discomfort.
Make sure, your child does not get, dehydrated.
My daughter, was even throwing up, water.
And could not even eat.
You might want to go to a Minute Clinic at CVS (check hours online first). She could have definitely picked up something while out shopping (germs linger on so many surfaces, and 4 yr olds touch everything!). Check her throat when she wakes and ask her if it hurts. Strep throat presents like this in kids. They can also get a rash on upper body (very tiny red bumps - kinda looks like excema). Hope she gets well soon!
There are so many bugs going around right now, stomach, cough, cold etc.. My daughter came down with the Christmas cold and its still lingering. My friends son had a fever and stomach pains and they took him to the ER thinking it was appendicitis and it was either a stomach bug or a bit of food poisoning. I would do tylenol since its easier on the tummy. keep the fluids going and if she isnt any better by tomorrow id consider urgent care buuuut im pretty sure she can hang out until Monday with a little extra mommy love if its anything else.
We had the same thing happen last week. My 6 year old woke up whinning and moaning in her bed. I went to check on her and she said her stomach hurt and so did her throat. She did not settle down, so I took her up front to watch tv to take her mind of it. She threw up a little, only one time and you are describing the exact way she acted. She was sick like this and as quick as it hit us, it left her. Jeep the fluids down and it will just have to run its course. Hope she feels better soon!!
The only year my husband every caught the flu was when he got a flu shot. Our neighbour's 2 year old got the flu shot and then got a stomach bug 2 days later. There are so many different types of bugs that the flu shot doesn't keep our kids from getting sick. Both my kiddos has the same type of stomach bug in the past 2 weeks and it went away within 24 hours. Its so hard to watch our little ones not feel well.
their is a 24 hour stomach bug going around hope thats all it is!
You're doing just fine with what you're doing. My 3.5 yr oldson had a very high fever and throwing up Thurs night. I even gave him a cold shower to lower his temp of 104.5 to 102. Plus ibuprofen. I say offering her bland food (toast, crackers) and good-for-you fresh fruit is great, not pushing her to eat too much (don't want her to vomit again!) If her fever goes down with the motrin then she should be fine. Keep away from dairy and junky processed foods. Keep her hydrated. (My son gets tons more juice then normal when he is sick). Thurs is when my son was at his worst. He did complain about cramping in his tummy Friday. Today he asked for pizza for lunch, so he's jumped back to normal after taking it easy and taking some long naps and sleeping in this morning (he slept for 13 hours!). If motrin doesn't bring her fever down, put her in shorts and a tank top and give her only a light sheet for bedtime. I don't think you should worry. Sounds like you are doing all the right things.
Added: Tylenol is easier on the tummy according to Sarah? I have heard the exact opposite. I give my child ibuprofen every time unless his fever doesn't go down with ibu. and I need to alternate ibuprofen and tylenol.
I hope she is feeling better since you wrote this. I think she might have a stomach bug. Those things come along despite our best efforts.
She wouldn't have the flu that you got her vaccinated for - influenza A and B or H1N1 don't produce stomach issues.
If she can't get at least an ounce down every 15 minutes of water or pedialyte or Gatorade, throwing it up a lot, you might need to get her to the ER. The last thing you want is for her to become dehydrated. Then she'll end up needing IV fluids and that is really unpleasant. But it's better than her heart being affected, because you have to be careful about dehydration hurting the heart. (The ER doctors told me about that when this happened to my own son. They were grateful to me that I worked so hard to get that one ounce every 15 minutes in him, though he couldn't keep it down.)
The other thing you can do is to get rectal suppositories from the pharmacy to help her with fever. If she starts throwing up so much that she cannot keep down the motrin or tylenol, this works to help get her fever down.
Good luck, and I hope this passes quickly!
Dawn
