Vomiting & Diarrhea - Newberry Family Health Center

Vomiting/Diarrhea

For vomiting: If your child has nausea, but no vomiting, is spitting up baby formula, or has had light vomiting for less than two days, follow the directions below. If he/she has bloody vomit, cannot "keep down" any foods or fluids, has a head or abdomen injury, is a diabetic, has a severe headache or a stiff neck, has abdominal pain localized to the right side, or has projectile vomiting, check in at our office immediately. If the child still has nausea but no vomiting after 48 hrs., is not responding to the home care, or has been vomiting quite often for twelve hours, please contact our office immediately.

Give one tablespoon of clear liquid every twenty minutes for an hour if there is no vomiting. If your child can keep it down, gradually increase the amount until the child is drinking, or until he/she has not vomited for six to eight hours. If this treatment seems to be working, give him/her a soft diet for one day, if there is still no vomiting. After that, proceed with a normal diet.
Be careful with milk or formula; if your child is an infant, he/she can continue on formula, but may do better with an oral rehydration mixture (ORS). (See next step)
If he/she is under a year old, administer an ORS such as Pedialyte, Infalyte, or Ricelyte.
If you are breastfeeding, you may continue.
If your infant is spitting up formula, but is otherwise doing fine, try feeding in a "sitting up" position, burping frequently. Use a bottle with a plastic liner (such as the Playtex Nurser^©), which allows less air to be ingested with feeding.
Encourage increased burping for your infant if he/she is "spitting up".

For diarrhea: If your child has chronic intermittent diarrhea, or has diarrhea alternating with constipation, follow the home care instructions below. If his/her stool is black, bloody, or tarry, if he/she has severe abdomen pain, lethargy and pallor, a temperature over 101 degrees, has had a weight loss of more than 5% of total body weight, or is diabetic on clear liquids for more than eight hours, make an appointment at our office immediately. If your child has a temperature greater than 101 degrees after two days, has greasy stools, has had recent ingestion of water from lakes or streams, or is unresponsive to a day of home care, schedule a visit to our clinic.

If your child is still an infant, continue breast feeding but give him/her extra water.
If he/she is a toddler under three years old, discontinue milk or formula.
Give clear liquids for one or two days. If your child is an infant, administer Pedialyte, Infalyte, or Ricelyte.
If your child is a youth, not an infant, feed him/her bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast for the next two or three days.
If he/she is an infant, give half strength soy formula for twenty-four to forty-eight hours.
Administer yogurt; if the diarrhea is severe while your child is on antibiotics for another source of infection, you should discontinue any antibiotic usage and notify one of our doctors.
Keep your child home from school or day care.
Give him/her bed rest, if possible.

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