How to help a toddler with vomiting?

(February 18, 2010)

Vomiting especially in toddlers is a rather common condition where in their body is not able to keep any food inside which results in them throwing up everything that they eat. Toddlers need healthy and nutritious food as they are still developing and growing plus need energy for their activities. However, in case of vomiting this does not happen as the body loses out on the fluids and nutrients with your toddler becoming very weak and drained out. The general causes of vomiting are due to a viral or bacterial infections but motion sickness can also be another reason for toddler vomiting especially if the child has daily car trips. This happens mainly because children are not able to connect to what they see and what they sense with the motion sensitive parts of the body such as the inner ears and other nerves. Sometimes excessive crying also results in vomiting as a prolonged bout of crying and coughing can trigger the gag reflex and make your toddler throw up.

Most parents force their child to eat more when they start vomiting as they get paranoid that the child is not able to eat food and get the energy they need. However, this is the last thing that parents should do. You need to understand that since they are toddlers they need to be handled very carefully as any forceful behavior can get them very aggressive. So stop feeding your child any kind of food and give oral rehydration fluids to prevent dehydration. These fluids are a great option and your toddler should be given a teaspoon every ten minutes for a couple of hours. If your child is able to keep this down then increase it to 2 teaspoons every five minutes and continue to progress slowly till the vomiting eases up. If your toddler is refusing to have the electrolyte solution, you can give water or broth and juices should be avoided especially if your child is suffering from diarrhea. You can give them juice by diluting it half and half with water. You can slowly put them on a solid food diet which could include fruits like bananas and give them rice. To minimize motion sickness, stop the car at frequent intervals so that your child can get some fresh air and relax his tummy. Also give them plenty of fluids to have to keep them well hydrated.

Submitted by P T on February 18, 2010 at 11:07