Vomiting in children

Gastroenteritis is an infection caused by a virus, and norovirus is known as the vomiting bug, although it can also cause diarrhea. Bacteria is less common, but can also infect the gut and cause vomiting. These can be picked up from other children – from contaminated poop to fingers to mouth – or from food.

Vomiting can sometimes be a sign of something serious. Meningitis is a bacterial infection affecting the brain, and your child may become suddenly unwell, with neck stiffness, being unable to tolerate the light (photophobia), and possibly a rash that doesn’t go away when a glass tumbler is pressed on it.

In babies, spitting up is common after feeds and is nothing serious, but projectile vomiting is not common and may indicate something serious if it persists after feeds.

Vomiting can also occur from car sickness or other motion, from an ear infection if balance is affected, from a head injury or concussion, with appendicitis, and if they’ve simply eaten too much.

Your child or baby is contagious from the time they get the first symptoms until they have recovered. They should stay off school and avoid pregnant or immunocompromised people until their symptoms have resolved for 48 hours. Other parents will thank you for that.

Make sure that you maintain could hand hygiene at home, to avoid other children or members of the household catching any bug. If you can, give them a bathroom just for them, and make sure you wash your hands and theirs thoroughly after vomiting, toileting, or before preparing or eating food.

The main thing to do is to keep the child or baby hydrated. Babies should continue to feed as usual, and you can supplement a little water between their feeds. Older children should be encouraged to have regular, small, but frequent sips of water to prevent dehydration. Avoid them taking big gulps or drinking lots of water in one go, as this can stretch the stomach lining and can activate the vomit reflex.

They can lose lots of important salts through repeated vomiting – potassium, sodium, and chloride – so it can be a good idea to give oral rehydration solution to replace any lost salts and keep their body in balance.

Dairy products, sugary foods, and spicy or flavorful food should be avoided. Sticking to soft, dry, basic foods like soup or dry toast is advised.

If your child is experiencing any of the following you should seek urgent medical attention:

• vomiting clear fluids for more than 8 hours.
• is unable to keep fluids down.
• vomiting blood.
• has blood in the poop.
• shows any sign of dehydration. Signs of dehydration include fewer wet nappies, persistent diarrhea or vomiting with no signs of improvement, persistent fevers, and lethargy, irritability or increased fussiness.
• vomiting lasting more than 2 days.
• any sign of meningitis – a non-blanching rash, neck stiffness and photophobia – is an emergency and you should attend the emergency department or call 911.