Help! Stomach Flu/Pedialyte Question

[heidi_timms]

So we spent a horrible day with the stomach flu and I'm the only one that's not sick. DH and DD are both sick! It started off this morning with DD barfing up her milk at the first feeding and then all of her solids at the second feeding of the day. I can definitely tell the difference between spitting up and throwing up because of the noises her stomach was making. It was a yucky pumping and gagging noise. I called the doctor THREE times to get a call back and the only advice they gave me was to feed her 2oz every 1 and half hours.

-I gave her 2 oz of milk at 4pm and it came up at 7pm
-Then I gave her 1oz of Pedialyte at 9:30pm and it's now 11 pm and
all is well so far. Hopefully she is down for the night, but we'll
see.

So what should I start her off with in the morning? Pedialyte? Milk? Is Pedialyte safe for a 5 month old? It says consult your doctor for under 1 year of age, but I took a chance with it seeing that the ingredients didn't seem to weird.

~Heidi
Mom to Kailey Ashlin
4/27/03

[LucyG]

We had the stomach virus last week! I offered DD (7 months) pedialyte several times, and she never took to it. I read somewhere to feed "half as much, twice as often" with a stomach virus, so I just tried to do that with nursing. I hope everyone feels better soon!

[daisymommy]

Joshua was sick with vomiting and diarreah a few weeks ago, and I got great advice from The Baby Book and website by Dr. Sears. Here's what I gathered for you:

If you are breastfeeding it is not necessary to stop--brestmilk is ideal for a sick baby. Let her nurse as much as she wants. Even if she vomits, allow her to feed, perhaps more slowly on a not so full breast. If the milk stays down only 10-20 minutes, much it if will be absorbed, and it won't hurt baby coming back up.

If she is formula fed, stop formula for 24hrs. and use Pedialyte, giving her half has much as a normal bottle, twice as often. Once vomiting slows down, give half formula, half Pedialyte.

Give 2oz. Pedilayte per pound of body weight, every 24hrs.

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/8/T083300.asp

[friedmana1]

Pedialyte is NOT dangerous for babies. In fact, it's IV fluid that you would get in the hospital if your child was dehydrated, just drinkable. Granted, the stuff is gross, because it does not have that much sugar in it (when you are dehydrated, too much sugar at once is not good - can further perpetuate the diarrhea), so some of the time, babies won't take it. You can try the flavored ones and see if that makes a difference. Anyway, the bottom line is that if your child can BF, do that as often as she wants, and supplement pedialyte. If she is FF, then try offering just pedialyte instead of formula until she doesn't vomit for at least 8-12 hours, then give half formula, half pedialyte, and finally gradually introduce the full formula. If you have any other questions, let me know. Good luck and I hope that she feels better!
Aimee
Mother to Leah 10/26/02
http://mystudio.kiddiekandids.com/options.asp?img=1495600&page=2

[heidi_timms]

Thank you everyone! DD kept the pedialyte down much better than breastmilk. We did an ounce or so every hour during the night and it didn't come back up like the breastmilk did. Funny, once she felt better this morning, she wanted nothing to do with the pedialyte. She is doing good today, but definitely drinking less milk than usual. I think that she is still recovering from yesterday!

Thank you again,

~Heidi
Mom to Kailey Ashlin
4/27/03