How to Stop a Kid from Vomiting in 6 Easy Steps

Dealing with a child who is throwing up can be challenging and unpleasant, causing worry for many parents. If you’re wondering how to stop your kid from vomiting, it’s important to remember that there are multiple triggers like stomach ‘bugs’, infections, and motion sickness, which frequently contribute to these bouts of illness in children. Fortunately, there are specific actions you can take to alleviate your child’s discomfort and help manage this common health problem.

What follows is a comprehensive guide to puking and vomiting.

What Is Vomiting?

When stomach contents are regurgitated or expelled through the mouth in an extremely rapid or powerful manner, this is called vomiting. This happens when the stomach muscles suddenly constrict.

Regurgitation is common for infants, both during and between meals; nevertheless, frequent regurgitation may indicate that your child is not gaining enough weight. If you notice your newborn regurgitating frequently or seeming distressed, you should seek medical attention. Reflux esophagitis, a disorder where stomach acid irritates the esophagus (the tube linking the mouth and the stomach), can develop from regurgitation and requires medical attention. Infants younger than two months of age may experience pyloric stenosis, which causes violent, projectile vomiting. This occurs when the passage connecting the stomach and intestines becomes blocked or narrowed. The blockage can cause serious dehydration and weight loss if it is not treated. This is a life-or-death situation. Pyloric stenosis is usually treated surgically, so if you suspect your child has it, it’s important to contact a specialist immediately.

Most cases of acute vomiting in children are caused by gastroenteritis, a viral or bacterial digestive tract infection. Bacterial infections are typically more severe and can cause bloody diarrhea, while viral infections are typically milder and may be accompanied by respiratory symptoms (sore throat, congestion, or earache). Bacteria are a common culprit in travelers’ diarrhea, whether it strikes before, during, or after a trip abroad. Children with gastroenteritis may also have a high temperature and diarrhea. In most cases of gastroenteritis, no special treatment is necessary, and the child will recover independently within a few days.

The following are some more potential triggers for nausea and vomiting:

• Children frequently throw up because of motion sickness.
• Lung, ear, bladder, stomach, and intestine infections.
• Appendicitis is the source of abdominal discomfort and maybe a high temperature.
• Substance poisoning due to ingestion.
• Brain damage or concussion (the symptoms of which are similar).
• Painful migraine.
• Tumors of the brain are extremely rare.

What Is the Best Treatment for Vomiting?

• If your child has diarrhea as well, it is very important to make sure they are getting enough water. This is crucial for preventing dehydration and making up for the fluid, salt, and calorie loss that occurs when your child vomits. If your child is vomiting, don’t delay in giving them fluids. Wait 30 to 60 minutes before administering fluids to a child who has just vomited, and then give just little amounts at first.
• Don’t give your child any solid food for the first 24 hours after they start throwing up. Instead, slowly introduce clear fluids (about 1 ounce every 5 minutes) with a spoon or bottle. Your toddler may also benefit from sucking on ice cubes or moist washcloths. Children of appropriate age may use straws when consuming liquids. If your youngster is able to keep liquids down, you can offer him more.
• Your baby should still be breastfed, but you should feed him or her more frequently (every one to two hours) and for shorter periods of time (five to ten minutes at a time). The woman can pump breast milk and feed her infant directly from the breast or into a cup or bottle. Formula-fed infants can keep on having the same formula they’ve been given.
• Give your baby something other than breast milk or formula to help keep them hydrated, like Pedialyte, Ricelyte, or Kao Lectrolyte. These oral rehydration treatments can replace the fluids and salts lost via vomiting. Ice pops prepared from these solutions can be frozen and fed to older children. Add half a teaspoon of apple juice to each serving of Pedialyte if your kid older than 6 months dislikes the taste.
• In addition to oral rehydration treatments, older kids can also drink regular water. Fruit juices and soft drinks are heavy in sugar, irritating a child’s gastrointestinal tract and worsening diarrhea. Small sips of clear fruit juice or water will help if your child is vomiting but not experiencing diarrhea.
• After the first eight hours, if your child has been able to drink fluids without throwing up, you can start reintroducing solid foods. Start young children off on baby cereal, mashed bananas, or applesauce. Over a year olds can have white bread, crackers, toast, mixed grains, soups, mashed potatoes, and toast. About 24 hours following the last episode of vomiting, you should be able to resume a normal diet.

Call 911 If Your Kid:

• Has dry lips or mouth, lacks thirst, and doesn’t urinate for four to six hours (in a baby) or more than six hours (in an older child); these are all indicators of dehydration. Be mindful that infants and toddlers, especially those younger than 6 months, can become dehydrated rapidly. The soft region on top of the skull (the fontanel) will sink in severely dehydrated newborns younger than a year.
• She hasn’t even turned a month old and already throws up whenever she tries to eat. Infants less than 3 months who throw up frequently and violently may have pyloric stenosis.
• Gets a headache, nausea, and/or vomiting, or has severe stomach aches. Meningitis should be considered if your child does not have diarrhea and has a high temperature and vomiting. Meningitis symptoms might include a stiff neck and rashes.
• He is throwing up because of a brain injury. A concussion or a brain hemorrhage could be to blame for your child’s symptoms.
• Vomiting blood or something that looks like coffee grounds is a sign of abdominal bleeding.
• Experiencing extreme abdominal pain and vomiting green (bile-colored) stuff. There may be an obstruction in your child’s digestive tract.
• The person’s stomach feels rigid, tight, and sensitive between throw-ups.
• She experienced a sudden shift in her mental state, giving the impression that she was severely exhausted or disoriented. Possible indication of central nervous system infection.

Meaningful articles you might like: 7 Terrifying Baby Symptoms That Are Completely Normal, Losing Weight due to Hyperemesis Gravidarum During Pregnancy, How To Handle A Child’s Emetophobia or Fear of Vomiting