The Dreaded Return: What to Do When Your Child Vomits

As a parent, one of the worst things you’ll ever have to deal with is when your child vomits. If you’re a new parent, you’ll soon find this out. For those of us who’ve been at this for a while, nothing will draw you more sympathy among other parents than when you discuss a regurgitation situation involving your little ones.

While vomiting can be upsetting for you and doubly so for your child, it’s important to keep your cool and assess the situation. There are many reasons your child could vomit. One of them is that something they ate didn’t agree with them. This could easily be a one-off and how you’ll know that is by observing them afterward. If they feel better after vomiting and no other symptoms arise (and no more vomit for that matter), then you don’t need to worry about it.

Other times, your child will vomit because they are ill with the flu or other illness. In this case, there might be fever and other symptoms along with it. Or it could be a stomach bug that causes your child to vomit robustly countless times within a 24-hour period. Which might be the worst of the worst since it’s highly likely that everyone else in your home will have already been exposed to those germs before you’re even aware they’re there, meaning you will soon have a house full of vomit.

So what can you do when everything keeps coming up? Well, for one, you’ll have to try not to show your worries to your child. Start by calming your child and cleaning up the mess. If your child complains that they still feel bad, you might want to give them a large receptacle to hold onto just in case they feel like throwing up some more.

Do what you can to make your child feel comfortable. If there’s a fever along with it, you’ll want to take steps to reduce it. If your child cannot keep anything down, as is typically the case with the stomach flu, don’t force foods down. Instead, focus on water or liquids with electrolytes in them. Pedialyte is great during bouts of vomiting and diarrhea, which will help to rehydrate your little one.

To aid in reducing queasiness, take some rubbing alcohol and put it on a cotton ball. Have your child smell the cotton ball or gently rub it just under their nose. The smell of rubbing alcohol make nausea vanish and will be a huge help in making your child feel better.

If things don’t seem to be improving after 24 hours or your child has a fever that keeps climbing and won’t reduce, you’ll need to contact your child’s pediatrician. Until then, hang in there by offering lots of love and support between disinfecting everything in your home and doing a lot of extra (and extra smelly) laundry.

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