stomach virus in 22 month old?

[lmh2402]

I was very blessed with DS - he never threw up (other than the endless reflux pukes when he was an infant) until he was over 3 years old and it was b/c he had strep throat. (well, he threw up one time after a particularly unpleasant car ride in the summer - in his car seat - but that was a one and done).

Anyway, I'm very unfamiliar with what to do with/for DD. she seemed fine yesterday. perhaps a little more whiney than usual, but she ate all meals and snacks just fine. no fever.

she went to bed happy and woke up around 11:30 crying. I went into her and she felt warm. didn't bother to take temp bc she was very upset and it was clear she had fever, just gave her motrin and then she asked to nurse.

she nursed and then we were rocking and she said, "belly hurts" and puked all over.

from 11:30 on, she threw up every hour until about 6. i have been taking her temp every time she got up - it hovered around 102. i gave her more motrin around 6 and she kept it down.

she's sleeping now. not going to wake her

do i need to call doc? what do i offer when she wakes?

yuck. thanks.

[mikala]

Poor thing! Give her a couple sips of water when she wakes and watch to see if she can keep it down. From there I usually slowly do the BRAT diet for a day and give probiotics to help restore good gut bacteria after the mass evacuation. Also wash hands like mad and disinfect door/toilet handles, especially after diaper changes.

Fwiw I generally don't give fever meds during stomach illnesses because they can cause stomach upset and I figure their little organs have enough going on without processing medicine too.

http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/health-concerns/childhood-illnesses/vomiting

[wendibird22]

I too would start with sips of water. If she holds that down then I'd nurse her if she's up for it, or even expressed milk to better control volume (start with a small amount and see if she holds it down).

[Philly Mom]

I agree with pp. I also wouldn't give Motrin because it may upset the belly. Tylenol would be better. You may also want to try the pedialyte frozen pops. They are very kid enticing and helps to replace fluids. Finally be careful yourself. My 2.5 year old had the stomach virus in march. She was fine after 12 hours. I got it and was really sick for a couple days.


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[lizzywednesday]

Sips of water or plain seltzer water - the bubbles can help settle the stomach (really). I agree with the PP who suggested expressed milk - when my DD had tummy bugs while we were still nursing, she would comfort-nurse.

What I would be most concerned about right now is hydration. And, yes, wash hands & disinfect doorknobs, etc.; Clorox wipes (or similar) are a lifesaver for this! I've been known to use my washing machine's "sanitary" cycle to do bed linens that have been puked on, too.

I also would skip the fever meds unless called for by a doc. If she feels better/keeps food down but still has a fever, that's when I'd call the doc.

[brittone2]

The clorox wipes won't kill things like noro, but a real bleach solution will. I tend to break out the real bleach during stomach bugs, and we rarely use it otherwise. Ditto Lysol 3. I call it the holy trinity...bleach, lysol 3, and biokleen. Every time DH has a work trip I make sure I'm stocked up on all 3 after having stomach bugs circulate here while he was out of town.

We use big dishpans for them to vomit into, especially when they are too little to make it to the bathroom.

We have nursed through many stomach bugs, but have had to encourage them to not overdo it. Expressed milk might work too. Obviously watch for dehydration signs. Dr. Sears has a good piece about the stages of vomiting and how to introduce liquids really, really slowly.
http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/health-concerns/childhood-illnesses/vomiting

I hope she feels better soon and the rest of you stay healthy.

[daisysmom]

I am going to go against the trend and say to use fever meds for a 102 hovering fever (and this was after you gave her motrin, though if she threw up within 10 minutes, she might have thrown most/all of it up). My DD had a febrile seizure with a fever that registered 102.5 moments before the seizure (with a triage thermometer, so it was probably accurate) and we have seen a pediatric neurologist and specifically asked "when do you not treat a fever". I know this may go against some books or some pediatricians, but his philosophy is to only not treat a fever over 100 if (1) the child is acting absolutely fine and (2) you are sure that the fever is on the way down and not on the way up (basically, he thinks it is impossible to tell with a hand touch if a fever is rising or falling -- so unless you take the temp vigilently and are sure it is decreasing, he advocates treating). He recommends tylenol first (or at least he recommended that to us, but it might be because our DD cannot take motrin on an empty stomach, a lot of kids have this problem). Then following up with motrin 4 hours later if the fever is not down to 100.

With a fever above 102, you do run the risk of dehydration even if you are giving fluids. On the day of my DD's seizure, she only throw up 2 times at 6 am and 8 am ish. I had her drinking gatoraid throughout the day (probably in total she had 16 oz of it, and I served it over ice so added fluid there). I am not sure what her fever was at home but probably 102-103 based on what it was in the hospital (but we came into the hospital after 10 minute ride in the car and there was snow on the ground, so she might have been cooled a bit from that). And still the bloodwork taken immediately upon her seizure showed she was BADLY dehydrated. I said "but she was drinking, and she was peeing" and the hospital dr/nurses said "when you have a fever that high, you can't couteract the dehydration. She was peeing b/c the gatoraid went in her stomach and she peed it out. But she was dehydrated b/c of her fever." Anyway, these things I really didn't know before all of that happened.

So, to counteract dehydration and febrile seizures (only 20% of kids get one, so not to freak you out), I would give her Tylenol (instead of motrin) to get the fever down and then give water/toast/BRAT diet to see if she can get something in her stomach and then take motrin.

My DD does puke with strep, and she also puked with lower lobe pneumonia (which was the underlying puke reason leading to the febrile seizure). You DD has had a lot of respiratory problems, have those gotten better? If not, I would honestly take her to the ped. I may be more of an overreactor though - the seizure (and the several days in the hospital) were the scardest I have ever been in my life (notwithstanding we went to the ped twice already that day and was told noro virus).

[lmh2402]

thanks, guys. she slept fitfully 'til 9 and then woke in a seemingly good mood! she looked pale/wiped out, but asked for water and cheerios. since 9 i gave her some water with probiotics, a bit of coconut water, some cheerios and some banana.

i was thinking it was some sort of weird one-off, but then around 10:30 she started getting really crabby and crying a lot, pulling at her ears.

i called the pedi and we're going in for 3pm.

she nursed to sleep and has been out since about 11:45. so we'll see. no more puke so far during waking hours today and no fever since she's been up, but something is definitely not right.

i have some bleach in the basement - we don't use often, but i'll bring up.

now i'm wondering if maybe i started all this b/c i've been having random bouts of nausea for several weeks. though i've not thrown-up to-date.

ugh.