Run!!  Grab 3 towels, a bucket and a nose plug.    

Seriously, vomiting can be a real nuisance. Sometimes it’s just part of the illness and sometimes it indicates something new or more serious is happening.    

Vomiting is very common at the beginning of an illness. Often, your child may vomit consistently for several hours before they settle down. This will not cause dehydration at that point. For this reason avoid trying to feed or hydrate your child during this phase of the illness.   

— Wait 3-4 hours from last vomit to start drinking.  (at least 2 hours for a baby).    

— Start slowly with sips of clear liquids (Breastmilk, G2, Pedialyte) every 20 minutes 

— If no vomiting then increase volume slowly 

— If still doing well after several hours of clear liquids try milk or formula

— wait on solid food until child has shown they can tolerate liquids 

— If vomiting recurs at any point then back off to previous step 

When is vomiting not just a tummy bug?  Vomiting without diarrhea should raise a red flag that something else is going on.   This might include throat infection, UTI, pneumonia, appendicitis, meningitis or other serious problems. Especially if fever is happening as well. Also, vomiting that recurs for several days or longer may indicate a new or different problem.  Always contact us in either of these cases.