Pediatric Vomiting

It’s normal for babies and children to vomit occasionally. In most cases, it will last no longer than one to two days and isn’t a sign of anything serious.

The most common cause of vomiting in children and babies is gastroenteritis, due to local irritation can cause reflex vomiting, at this time will often be accompanied by other digestive system symptoms such as nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea.

Improper feeding or eating such as excessive feeding during the neonatal period, improper formula of milk, swallowing a lot of air when eating milk; infants and young children eating more food at one time or eating food that is not easy to digest can cause vomiting.

If your baby has abnormal digestive function such as upper respiratory tract infections, bronchitis, pneumonia, and sepsis, high fever, nausea, and loss of appetite, these are often accompanied by vomiting. To add, abnormalities of the central nervous system such as encephalitis and trauma can also cause vomiting.

Congenital diseases accompanied by vomiting symptoms, the most common is gastric pyloric stenosis. A small number of babies are born with hypertrophic gastric pyloric ring muscles, resulting in a narrowing of the gastric pyloric lumen, resulting in ejection-like vomiting after the child has eaten, usually about 1 month after birth.

Intestinal obstruction such as Intussusception (distal small intestine is nested into the lumen of the proximal small intestine ) and hernia (tissue in the abdominal cavity to protrude from the umbilicus to the abdominal wall to form an umbilical hernia) can cause severe abdominal pain, children will also be accompanied by vomiting and low fever.

Symptoms of vomiting in children

The following symptoms and characteristics are cause for concern:

Lethargy and listlessness

Persistent vomiting can cause dehydration.
In infants, inconsolability or irritability and bulging of the soft spots (fontanelles) between the skull bones
In older children, a severe headache, stiff neck that makes lowering the chin to the chest difficult, sensitivity to light, and fever
Abdominal pain, swelling, or both
Persistent vomiting in infants who have not been growing or developing as expected
Bloody stools

What to do if the child vomits

Let the child sit up and turn his head to the side to avoid vomiting into the trachea.
After vomiting, rinse their mouth with warm water to clean their mouth and remove odors. Infants can clean their mouths by drinking water frequently.
Feed water frequently and drink a small amount to ensure enough supply of water to prevent excessive water loss and dehydration.
Pay attention to diet, do not eat too much but eat as many meals as possible. Do not eat greasy and sour food, so as not to irritate the stomach. After vomiting, first use liquid food, semi-liquid food (such as rice porridge or noodles), and gradually transition to a normal diet.
Try to rest in bed as much as possible, do not change the position frequently, otherwise it is easy to cause vomiting again.
If your child vomits, you should keep a close eye on them. Trust your instincts and contact your GP immediately if you’re worried.

Prevention of vomiting in children

In the first few months after the baby was born, the baby developed vomiting symptoms, most likely due to less serious feeding problems, such as overfeeding, indigestion, or an allergy to protein in breast milk or formula.

Pay attention to the correct feeding methods, develop good eating habits, actively prevent gastrointestinal diseases and various infectious diseases, eat in a good atmosphere, etc.

After the child vomits, let him take a small sip to help swallow. It is even better to use oral saline for proper treatment of diarrhea and vomiting.