That #$%^# Stomach Bug!!!

What about pedialyte pops? I think they still make those. It is like a popsicle. I have also been told chicken broth or the syrup from the fruit in a can. Best of luck.

My son had it and the only thing he would eat were popsicles. It'll help keep hydrated and get some vitamin C.

Will he suck on a wash cloth dipped in pedialite and then frozen? Along the lines of a teething ring/popsicle??

Y.,
If you can get ANYTHING into him, try to do it spoonful by spoonful over time--not lots at once. Have you tried the BRAT diet: bananas, rice, applesauce & toast. (Maybe not toast--can a 10 month old have toast? LOL) Hope he feels better soon.
As far as your pediatrician and the hospital--be persistent--the squeaky wheel gets the grease. You know your own child better than anyone and never let their attitudes keep you from getting your son attention, if he needs it. Good luck & God bless.

Ginger root is great for settling upset stomach. Buy it fresh @ ACME or wherever. If you need ideas how to brew just let me know, I would be more then happy to tell you what I know. It won't cure him of the bug but at least it will soothe him for a while. It truly was the only thing that helped when I had food poisoning. Good luck and feel better!!!

well, you know how we get when we are sick...we don't want to eat anything either. i would just try and make sure he gets liquids in...formula, pedialite if you can, watered down juice, etc. liquids are most important.

If you're using the BRAT diet, like PP mentioned, make sure it's APPLESAUCE and not apples. there's fiber in apple skins and they will make it worse. Bananas, rice, applesauce, toast.

If you need to push liquids, try Propel. It's not as sugary as the other "sports" drinks. Try mashed potatoes too. They say BRAT diet, but I think the apples make the diahrea worse. Good luck and hang in there!

I wouldn't worry too much about his not eating anything, just concentrate on making sure he drinks. Maybe feed him binding foods like bananas, toast, etc. and maybe he'll take a few bites? That and watch for signs of dehydration. If you think he's dehydrated I would take him back to the hospital.

You got some great advice...I just wanted to add that if the hospital that you took him to was a regular hospital you should try a Childrens hospital. They are SO much better with the little ones and much better at getting an IV in. When my son was that age he needed a blood test so I took him to the regular hospital and same thing-pincushion! Took him then to Children's because they just weren't able to do it...Children's got it in right away.

Good luck to you.

Hi Y.,

I know how upsetting it is to see our little ones so sick. I would suggest that you insist that your pediatrician or hospital take this matter seriously. Little ones can dehydrate quickly so I would make sure that you continue to hydrate with whatever you child will drink even if he throws it up. I used to dilute the formula with water and my son never seemed to mind. I wouldn't worry to much about the food aspect as I would about the hydration. Once you little guy is feeling better I am sure he will be very hungry and want everything in sight. Best to you and your family.

D.

Can you check with the ped. as to whether it would be safe to give him some acidopholous? I am pretty sure I spelled that wrong, lol. But it restores the digestive enzymes that get lost during a stomach bug (it's also good for women to take if they have to take an antibiotic, if they are prone to yeast infections). They make a kid-safe version, you can ask for it at any pharmacy. ONce the bottle is open, it has to be kept in the fridge. You can sprinkle the powder in the capsules into food or a drink-or buy the kind that you can crush into powder yourself. I gave this to my daughter when she was around 2, she had the same stomach thing you're describing, and the nurse's sick line for our ped's office suggested it. It's a probiotic and is totally safe (though I am not sure it's recommended for kids that young). It's worth a shot to ask, though. She had 2 doses of it and was totally better.
Will he drink Gatorade? I know the docs say Pedialyte, but Gatorade is the next best thing. How about if you take Gatorade or Pedialyte and make them into popsicles? Or freeze them into ice cubes and put some in a small sippy cup with a small amount of water? My daughter LOVED getting ice in her drinks when she was small so this usually worked (and we had cups that she couldn't see into, so she thought it was regular ice with juice inside).

Good luck.

Hi Y.
I can symphathize with you, my 16 mo old was sick with this bug for 6 days. I would suggest 1/2 strength gatorade or popsicles (not any made with fruit juice). This kept my daughter hydrated while she wasn't eating. If those ideas don't work I would definately get back in to the doctor and be persistent. I can relate to the doctors not taking you seriously. I know they look at whether the child is still making tears or has a moist mouth and aren't concerned about the child taking in food as long as they are hydrated.
I agree with the others though that 5 days is a long time for a 10 month old. The diahrea for her is getting better and today is day 7.

Hi Y.,
I'm so sorry you're going through this with your little one. It is so difficult to have sick babies -- I think often as moms we are more miserable than the sick ones!
My doctor's office has given me suggestions that have been very helpful when my little ones had the stomach flu. First, they have always said NO MILK PRODUCTS! So no formula until he's better!
Second, my pediatrian's office also told me to not even attempt to get any solid food into them until it had been at least 24 hours since they last threw up. Their bodies are so much more in tune with what they need to heal themselves, so feel confident in his body's ability to know what it needs -- let him tell you what he's ready to eat. When our bodies are healing, sometimes putting anything into them impedes the process.
When he's ready to eat, use the BRAT diet --
B = bananas
R = rice
A = applesauce
T = toast
My pediatrician's office has always recommended this until any stomach upset is over.
Also, since he doesn't seem willing to take pedialyte from a bottle, if you have a juicer, juice about 4 apples and 1 stalk of celery. This is the natural equivalent of what pedialyte does for little ones -- without any artificial colors or flavors. -- and there's all the live enzymes from the living fruit -- which is what his little belly needs right now to re-balance itself!
And since he doesn't want the bottle, try helping him drink from a cup. He may be entertained enough by an actual cup to drink some of it.
Also be sure you are aware of signs of dehydration -- just do a google search -- I know two of them are no wet diapers and crying with no tears. If this happens, get him back to the ER!
Best of luck to you and your little one! I hope he (and you!) are feeling better soon! Feel free to email me!
S. Graham
Health Counselor
____@____.com

HI there,

About a week ago, I had the exact same problem. No matter what I did, I couldn't keep anything down. Finally the doctor gave me an injection to stop the throwing up. As far as the diarrhea, I was told to take nothing. They said it is your body's natural way of getting rid of the virus. I know it completely is the worst thing ever, but don't worry... it will be over soon. Bananas are also good... very binding so stool isn't as watery and loose.

popsicles and jello
he will enjoy that for a meal

Hi Y., if you haven't already I would suggest going to Children's hospital and have them give him an IV. There is medicine that can stop the vomiting in the IV...if you can't get anything down him to stay they have to do something because he could get dangerously dehydrated if he isn't already. Poor buddy, poor Mommy...you need to put on your supper stern Mom voice and attitude call your doctor and have a fit!! 4 days is way to long for him and you to suffer. I hope I'm late with this advice (sorry...our power was out for a LONG time). Best wishes for a speedy recovery for your whole family!

Trust your gut and don't be afraid to push it. My daughter had something similar(rotovirus) at 18 months and ended up being pretty bad. She wouldn't eat or drink at all. I called everyday about how she was getting worse and she was eventually hospitalized. I don't know what your son needs but if they thought he should have an IV and they couldn't get one in, I would push for someone qualified to give him one. Trust your gut - can he sleep, does it seem like he passes out if he does sleep? If you press on his skin does is come back right away or stay pressed in? That was the indicator to them they had to do an IV.

I did find freezie pops would help a little. Also when she got back to drinking a little I used Smartwater in everything. It has all the electrolytes w/out all the sugar. I even made her rice with it. You are at the point now where if he'll take gatorade give it to him.

Also, we got a children's probiotic and put that in stuff. Basically it's the good bacteria you are supposed to have in your digestive system. The DR said give her yogurt but she wasn't eating much(her ears were so clogged it hurt to swallow) and she had lost 8% of her body weight to I called it "sprinkles" and put it in everything she would eat or drink. Adult probiotic isn't the same.

Hang in there and trust YOURSELF

You don't want to give him any formula at all if he is still vomiting. The main reason for this is because this stomach virus makes them intolerant to any type of dairy. If he's drinking other fluids, than he should be fine. I don't care to give my kids pedialyte at all because of the nutrasweet. I give them the clear Gatoraide or Vitamin water. I can't imagine a synthetic sugar being good for their sick little bodies and I stay away from the dyes in the drinks because they can cause irritation as well. The oatmeal and carrots are a great way to help get him some nutrition and help get rid of the diarrhea, I'm very surprised that they would even suggest that you continue feeding formula because it's well known that the diary is part of the problem. Now if you were breastfeeding it would be a totally different story because it is not diary and it is totally fine to still nurse even when they are throwing up and having the diarrhea.
You can kind've check his hydration by "pinching" the skin on his hand. By doing this you can see the elasticity in his skin. If they skin bounce back than he's still fairly well dehydrated , if it kind've sticks together and doesn't go back to shape for some time than definitely get him some fluids.

You can try popcicles and and cherry flavored liquid jello and you can make your own pops with the jello by freezing them or you can put Pedialyte or water in a syringe and if they wont take the syringe then you take small sips through a straw or from a spoon or a dropper...advice from Parents magazine December issue.

-S.

DEFINITELY call the doctor today and be really clear about EXACTLY how much he has eaten, drunk, vomited and lost in diarrhea since he was last seen. It's great that he's still active and happy, but look up (or ask your doctor) the signs of dehydration and watch carefully. Dehydration in a kid that age can be very dangerous and it's nothing to mess with. If you see any signs, haul him back to the ER and try again. IVs are awful when they take multiple sticks, but the child feels SO much better when it corrects the dehydration. Good luck!

Y.,

We had the SAME thing in our house. Let me tell you, it was not pretty. It started with my 3 yr old son having diarrhea. Then, our 19 mo old daughter vomited ALL night long. This is what we did for her and hopefully it will help your son too.
Ok...so on the advice of the pediatrician, we did not give her anything to eat or drink until she was vomit free for 6 hours. Then, we gave her a shot glass/ Dixie cup worth of liquid. We gave CVS generic pedialyte that tastes like pineapple because she loves pineapple. Then, since she didn't throw that up, we gave her another little bit 20 min later until she was vomit free for an hour. Then, we just let a cup of pedialyte out for her to have whenever she wanted and gave her a piece of bread. I'd say that she may have had a total of 1 piece of bread, 10 pieces of pasta and a banana during the first 48 hours after the vomiting stopped. She just wasn't interested in eating. Then, when she was, her appetite came back very slowly.
My daughter is now ok, but my son still has a hint of diarrhea that he's battling.
I hope this helps. I know how upsetting it is to have a sick child and feel there's nothing you can do to help. If he stops peeing through the day though, take him to the hospital. That's how you'll know he really is dehydrated.
Best of luck,
K.

I feel your pain! My little guy got really skinny with dark circles under his eyes. Same thing. He would NOT eat or drink anything for six days after initial horrible vomiting stopped. I followed doctors orders to just offer him clear fluids every few minutes (even though I couldn't force him and he didn't want them) and not to panic unless he started having dry diapers for too long. Somehow, he was still having wet diapers and diarrhea-not sure from what. Then suddenly, one afternoon he picked up the sippy cup of pedialyte, gulped it all down, and wanted more, then his whole appetite came back all at once. Hang in there!