throwing up and dry heaving

audreyakennedy

My 9 year old daughter has been throwing up and dry heaving for the past two hours. What should I do?

posted November 8, 2008 - 12:06am

Comments

yogamom wrote 8 weeks 4 days ago

Poor thing! It may be a virus. It seems that every fall/winter this thing goes around (and usually spreads to our whole family).

The best thing to do is let her drink fluids, but make sure she only takes small sips at a time. When they drink all at once, it can make them throw it all up again.

Depending on how old she is, stick to the banana, rice, apple, toast (BRAT) diet. That keeps food down for a few days.

Permalink

HeathRa wrote 8 weeks 3 days ago

There is a stomach virus going around that is similar to the cruise ship virus. It's not lethal, like the cruise ship virus, but it is long lasting. If your daughter is unable to keep anything down, or starts showing signs of dehydration you need to call her pediatrician and possibly take her in for IV fluids.

Here are the signs of dehydration, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians:
~Feeling thirsty but drinking liquids makes the child vomit
~Dry lips and mouth
~A dark color or a strong smell to the urine (and not urinating very often or very much)
~Feeling dizzy when sitting or standing up (in older children)
~Little or no tears when crying (in babies)
~Sunken eyes (in babies and toddlers)
~Not paying attention to toys or television, or even being difficult to wake up (this is a sign of very bad dehydration)
~Vomiting up everything he or she drinks or eats

Call your doctor immediately if she has pain when vomiting or vomits blood or has blood in her stool.

In the meantime, stick to clear liquids such as water, Pedialyte, chicken broth. Don't put her on the BRAT diet. It's wonderful for diahrrea, but can be irritating to a sick tummy.

Heather in AK

Permalink

Please register or sign in to post a comment.