Vomiting

Most of the time, vomiting in children is caused by gastroenteritis, usually due to a virus infecting the gastrointestinal tract. (Gastroenteritis is sometimes called the "stomach flu," which can also cause nausea and dehydrated.

Your most important intervention may be a calm approach - vomiting is frightening for young children (and parents, too) and exhausting for children of all ages. Offering plenty of reassurance to your child and taking appropriate measures to prevent dehydration are key for a quick recovery.

What to Do When Your Child Is Vomiting

For infants under 6 months:

• Avoid giving plain water to a young infant unless your child's doctor directly specifies an amount.
• Offer your infant small but frequent amounts - about 2 to 3 teaspoons, or up to 1/2 ounce (about 20 milliliters) - of an oral electrolyte solution every 15 to 20 minutes with a spoon or an oral syringe. Oral electrolyte solutions (available at most supermarkets or pharmacies and also called oral electrolyte maintenance solutions) are balanced with salts to replace what's lost with vomiting or diarrhea, and they also contain some sugar. It's especially important for young infants that any fluids given have the correct salt balance (unflavored electrolyte solutions are best for younger infants).
• Gradually increase the amount of solution you're giving if your infant is able to keep it down for more than a couple of hours without vomiting. For instance, if your little one takes 4 ounces (or about 120 milliliters) normally per feed, slowly work up to giving this amount of oral electrolyte solution over the course of the day.
• Do not give more solution at a time than your infant would normally eat - this will overfill an already irritated tummy and will likely cause more vomiting.
• After your infant goes for a period of time (more than about 8 hours) without vomiting, you can reintroduce formula slowly if your infant is formula-fed. Start with small (1/2 to 1 ounce, or about 20 to 30 milliliters), more frequent feeds and slowly work up to your infant's normal feeding routine. If your infant already eats baby cereal, it's OK to start solid feedings in small amounts again.
• If your infant is exclusively
• Avoid giving plain water to an infant under 1 year, unless an amount is directly specified by your child's doctor.
• Give your infant small but frequent amounts - about 3 teaspoons, or 1/2 ounce (about 20 milliliters) - of an oral electrolyte solution every 15 to 20 minutes. It's important that any fluids given to infants under 1 year of age who are vomiting have the correct salt balance (again, oral electrolyte solutions are balanced with salts to replace what's lost with vomiting or diarrhea).
• An infant over 6 months of age may not appreciate the taste of an unflavored oral electrolyte solution. Flavored solutions are also available, or you can add 1/2 teaspoon (about 3 milliliters) of juice to each feeding of unflavored oral electrolyte solutions. Frozen oral electrolyte solution pops are often appealing to infants in this age group; this approach also encourages the slow intake of fluids that's required.
• Gradually increase the amount of solution you're giving if your infant is able to keep it down for more than a couple of hours without vomiting. For instance, if your infant takes 4 ounces (about 120 milliliters) normally per feed, work slowly up to giving this amount of oral electrolyte solution over the course of the day.
• Do not give more solution at a time than your infant would normally eat - this will overfill an already irritated tummy and will likely cause more vomiting.
• After your infant goes more than about 8 hours without vomiting, you can reintroduce formula slowly to your infant. Start with small (1 to 2 ounces, or about 30 to 60 milliliters), more frequent feeds and slowly work up to your infant's normal feeding routine. You can also begin small amounts of soft, bland foods that your infant is already familiar with such as bananas, cereals, crackers, or other mild baby foods.
• If your infant doesn't vomit for 24 hours, you can resume your normal feeding routine.

• projectile or forceful vomiting in an infant, particularly a baby who's less than 3 months old
• vomiting in an infant after the infant has taken an oral electrolyte solution for close to 24 hours
• vomiting starts again as soon as you try to resume the child's normal diet
• vomiting starts after a fever (100.4 degrees Fahrenheit, or 38 degrees Celsius, rectally in an infant under 6 months of age or more than 101 to 102 degrees Fahrenheit, or 38.3 to 38.9 degrees Celsius, in an older child)
• vomiting of bright green or yellow-green fluid
• your child's belly feels hard, bloated, and painful between vomiting episodes
• vomiting is accompanied by severe stomach pain
• vomit resembles coffee grounds (blood that mixes with stomach acid will be brownish in color and look like coffee grounds)
• vomiting blood

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