Olivia's sick :(

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her first real illness.

She can't keep anything down. We brought her to the ER this morning. Full work-up, x-ray. Doc says she's got a cold. bulls**t. You don't puke with a cold, I don't care how old you are.

How old is she? My daughter puked all the time - she's 5 now.

A cold? That is a weird diagnoses. Is she stuffy?

she's 19 months. She's not stuffy, no sneezing. Just coughing when she's about to vomit up what she ate.

anyone knows if there's an antiemetic for babies/toddlers?

Keep her hydrated and give her lots of cuddles. Perhaps the doctor was saying it was viral as v. a cold? Meaning there is nothing medication can do?

Children throw up. They have fevers. We have a book at home with a list of "when to call the doctor" signs and we checked it almost constantly when mine were little. It's hard not to worry, but DON'T WORRY. Follow the doctor's recommendations and try to get some sleep. I'm sure both of you could use some sleep right now ... that's what I remember most about having a sick toddler, how no one got any sleep.

And, no, I'm not aware of any antiemetic that is safe for toddlers. I never gave my children any; we just worked hard to keep them hydrated, and watched for high fevers, confusion and other warning signs.

If your daughter has symptoms similar to a cold, but also throws up, then she probably has a flu. Give her plenty of fluids and vitamins. And despite the hyped-up warnings in the media, I think it is best to give some cold medications, just so she wouldn't have to suffer. (Whoever came up with those warnings clearly forgot what it's like to have a flu as a child.) However, an old remedy goes like this: have your daughter take a hot bath before going to bed, then sleep under a thick blanket in a warm room. This is uncomfortable, but it's supposed to sweat the flu out of a person. I once tried it, and felt much better after a few nights of doing this. So if Olivia is willing to put up with the discomfort, this may be helpful. Another remedy, popular in most of Eastern Europe, is drinking strong hot tea with lemon and honey as many times a day as you can handle. The tea has mild antiseptic properties that weaken the flu virus, making it easier for your body to fight it.

That doesn't sound like a cold. Does she have a fever?

I would cut back on solid food and milk - and just give her pedialyte until she stops all throwing up. I wouldn't give her any medicine without talking to a doctor. Best to let nature take its course, just keep an eye on her temperature. (I believe the ceiling is 103F for babies - which sounds high but not for babies)

On the other hand, if she doesn't have a fever, there might be something else going on. I wouldn't take her to the ER though. Get a "sick baby" appt with her pediatrician - or go a doc in a box. ER doctors can't handle illnesses. They're much better with accidents.

the discharge instructions state it's the common cold and it makes mention to it being caused by a virus.

She can't even hold down water so we're giving it to her teaspoon by teaspoon every 5 minutes for the next hour.

She's not running a temperature. When they did her temp at the ER, it was 96.9°F.

When she vomits, she looses all the color in her face. her normally rosy lips turn very pale and she gets dark rings around her eyes. Shortly after her vomiting bout the color returns to her face.

We've been in constant contact with the pediatrician's office. The nurse has been giving us tips. We have an appointment for tomorrow.

She is very cuddly which is the best part of this.

Oh, I'm getting over a bad case of gastroenteritis and my wife has a new case of it so we suspect Olivia has it.

Believe me, if it were simply a cold and the sniffles, I wouldn't be so worried but she can't hold anything down including water and crackers and if she doesn't have anything in her gut, she throws up bile. So, yeah, I'm worried.

You might try ice chips, too. My daughter still likes it when she's sick. Don't force down solid food - even crackers.

Don't worry. Really. She'll be fine and you need to look like the confident, in-control dad. I know it's scary the first time but try not to worry.

And be careful with raising her temperature with baths and blankets. Babies' bodies don't have thermostats like ours - and you could raise it too high. (It's ok to worry about her temperature)

One more thing - try not to over-research on line. There is no silver bullet. Just let time take care of it and enjoy the cuddling.

For solid food, rice with butter and salt might work well. While you shouldn't force any solids food, even a small amount helps a lot. After all, if she's throwing up, it's best to have something to throw up. Otherwise, the bile and stomach acids can irritate the esophagus and throat.

You're right about not using baths and blankets. I forgot Olivia was just 6 months. This methods works well on adults and children, not babies, so wait until she's older before you try it.

Olivia is 19 months

So, the very small sips of water every 5 or so minutes seems to be helping. She's able to keep that down okay. We're going to be trying that with pedialyte soon after she gets up from her second nap (if she gets up from her second nap - if she doesn't sleep through the night)

I feel so bad that she hasn't eaten anything all day. I guess she'll live. I take solace in the notion that I'm a good, dutiful daddy.

something else. I just remembered something about the ER doctor. After he was walking away from the exam room, he was whistling "If I Only Had a Brain". I took offense to that.

Oops, sorry; I must have misread one of the posts. Sips of water are a good idea, although I'd recommend hot water (that is, the highest temperature she can handle). Hot beverages make a person sweat, and sweating helps get rid of the cold faster.

it's not a cold. The doctor's an idiot. It's gastroenteritis.

I'm sorry your baby's sick. Everyone's given you good advice, so all I can add is try to get some sleep yourself.

This has been a bad year for bugs. It's gone through my family as well, and we ended up in the ER, too, with the same results. Most of the creeping crud going around seems to have 3-4 days of real suffering, but I hope your little one gets better faster. My niece used baby Tylenol with her 2 year old because he said his tummy hurt. That seemed to help.

Take care.

My daughter 23mths had a tummy bug recently too. Vomiting all the time. The doctor prescribed her Motillium (dont know if you have this in the US, or something similar), but it is in suppository form. Within half an hour the sick 'feeling' would subside and she could manage to hold down more fluids.

They are only on prescription, and are for kiddies. She had the bug really bad for days. If she develops diarrhoea the bug is just working its way down through her system, and is on its way out!!

Yep she probably did get it from you guys, we all catch the same bug in our family and we all have varying symptoms/degrees of severity.

Do keep an eye for a temperature, children at this age can be sucesseptible to febrile convulsions if their temperature rises rapidly. My daughter has had three so far. (But none with the vomiting bug)

What a healthy little girl, if this is her first illness. She sure will bounce back quickly.

Good Luck xx

at age 14, my NT son still throws up when he has a cold....he refuses to blow his nose, and the mucus just settles in his stomach. he gets quite a stomachache & then proceeds to throw up mucus