My 4 year old woke up this morning perfectly fine and even ate breakfast. We went to school and a couple of hours into the day the principal came and said that my daughter had vomited and was resting in the office. She went back to class a little while later, but ended up vomiting again in the lunchroom. She stayed in the office for the remainder of the day. She has been fever free and has done nothing but sleep all day. She vomits anytime she wakes up and won't keep any liquids down. I'm getting concerned about dehydration. She's only used the bathroom twice since early this morning. Any thoughts?
Thoughts? Why wasn't she sent home immediately after vomiting the first time?! Norovirus is going around and very contagious. And she stayed for the remainder of the day? Poor thing! She should have been taken home immediately to rest in her bed with people she loves!
Try Popsicles to keep her hydrated and call the doctor.
Did you make a doctors appointment for tomorrow yet?
Little ones can get dehydrated pretty quickly.
Have you tried Popsicles, freezer pops, jello, ginger ale, Gatorade?
Good luck.
pedialyte.. Gatorade... keep pushing fluids. one teaspoon at a time.. get the fluids in... even if she pukes it back up.. some gets absorbed...
I have used a 5 ml syringe to put in fluids...when mine were sick.. 5 ml every 5 minutes..
Call her doctor as soon as the office opens and let them know she cannot keep liquids (or anything) down. While most cases of nausea and vomiting can be treated at home with rest and fluids, when little ones can't keep things down dehydration can set in quickly. She may need some medication to help settle things down so she can stay hydrated while this bug works it's way out of her system. Ask her what sounds good to drink, popsicles, pedialyte, gatorade, etc will all provide her with some liquids to help what she's lost.
To keep from getting dehydrated, we had to give my daughter a sip a fluids every 5 minutes. Water is okay to give, but Gatorade is better.
If she is truly dehydrated that is a medical emergency and you should go to the ER but as long as she is still going to the bathroom she is not dehydrated. Call a nurses line or your pediatrician to make sure but I believe they told me as long as a child is urinating every 8 hours they are okay. Of course if they have vomited and have diarrhea they could dehydrate much sooner.
My first question is why was she left at school after the first vomiting episode, let alone sent back to class?
Only let her have small amounts of water, nothing else. Avoid all dairy, and once she has managed to keep water down for a decent amount of time then she can start in slow with crackers. If she goes another day without being to keep down even small amounts of water, or if it hurts her to pee or if she is crying without tears, then go to the doctor.
Pediasure Popsicles. Probably a 24 hour bug.
It takes a while for true dehydration to set in so try not to panic - it's too soon for that. 24 hour viruses don't cause that except in cases where something else has already been going on - they're miserable but not dangerous in most people.
Don't keep pushing anything but water until the stomach settles. I'm a nutritional consultant/educator, and we never recommend Gatorade due to all the dyes - they're terrible for you anyway, but they can irritate an inflamed stomach. Ginger ale is a good first choice but get something from the natural food section that does not contain high fructose corn syrup (regular) or artificial sweeteners (diet) which you don't want. You could also try a ginger tea or just putting ginger in warm water - but don't do anything until she's been vomit-free for 2 hours. Then do 1 ounce of liquid, no more. Wait 30 minutes, repeat. After more hours, go to 2 ounces.
Don't do anything right after she wakes up - the stuff that accumulates while she's been lying down can make things worse. You can also crush up some ice cubes and let her suck on the ice chips. The nausea can also be worse when the sugar level drops too much (think of pregnant women with morning sickness all day long - they get IVs with salt, sugar and water) so you can add a little regular sugar to whatever you can get her to drink, but don't start with that. And don't do any OJ or citrus, no cranberry (full of high fructose corn syrup), and no dairy at all for 2 more days. When it's time for food, do BRAT - bananas, rice, applesauce, toast (with a tiny amount of preserves but no butter).
This could progress from stomach to intestines, so if she gets diarrhea, I wouldn't be surprised. The treatment is the same.
I can't believe they kept her in the office all day long after 2 bouts of vomiting - that poor child should have been sent home. I wouldn't send her back until she has been free of vomiting, diarrhea and excessive sleepiness for at least 24 hours.
My kiddos went through this a few weeks ago. We kept in constant contact with the doctor, but they didn't need to see them. The vomiting usually lasts only a day or so is what they told me as my threw up for almost 10 days. Try to get any liquids in you can, stay away from fruit juices because they can be dehydrating. We did vitamin water and pedialyte.
I would call the nurse's line tomorrow if you don't want to take her in. They did say there is a medicine they can give the little ones to help them keep stuff down if they need to. She needs to pee every 12 hours I believe. When mine didn't go for 24 they said to bring him to the ER for fluids, and then he peed his whole diaper, so we didn't have to go! Thank goodness.
Do you know how to test for dehydration? I would do this and if you think it is too bad then take her in or at least call the night doc or nurse on duty. Our on call at night is the pediatric nurse from the local children's hospital, so we can call anytime with no worries. anyway, to test for dehydration, push on the skin on the back of the hand or wrist or arm, and if the indentation says for more than a second or so, then she is dehydated. The longer it stays the worse it is. You can also pinch the skin to lift it up, not enough to hurt, and see how long it takes to go flat. If it does it right away, she is good. If not, you need to call or go in.
I feel so much for you and hope that its just a 24 hour bug and will go away. Good luck!
Last week, my kids each went through one day of vomiting and sleeping with no other symptoms, followed by a day of rest and recovery. Small sips of water and Sierra Mist were the only things they could handle that first day, but they were able to drink normally on the second day.
I see you wrote this yesterday. How is she this morning?
Could be norovirus which is pretty nasty. It is also very contagious. If she won't drink, try to,give her flavored ice chips. You can make ice cubes out of pedialyte or juice and chopp it into small ice chips. The smaller the better so that they aren't a chocking hazard. You could also make a slushy out of it.
I'd suggest taking her to the doctor if she vomits more today or starts getting diarrhea.
Have her sip some tiny sips of warm ginger ale and/or a pedialyte popsicle.
A warm bath might help her relax.
When our son throws up sometimes a warm bath seems to help the stomach spasms to calm down.
(A heating pad on low over the stomach sometimes helps too).
Plus if they soak till their fingers and toes are wrinkly then they are absorbing a little fluid through their skin.
Stomach bug, will pass quickly.
