So my son and I are both on the mend from a stomach/intestinal illness that had been going around his preschool. He started on Sunday morning and we had to cancel his 3rd birthday party -- so sad because last year we had a blizzard on his 2nd birthday and obviously had to cancel, but then I hurt my neck and we never rescheduled it. This time I was determined to have it. I almost rescheduled it for Monday, MLK day, but thankfully we chose next Sunday because yesterday I woke up fiercely ill. I could barely get out of bed all day, except when in the bathroom. I was just so grateful my son's virus was milder. He was only sick for a few hours Sunday morning, after that he drank fluids and ate a big lunch to my surprise. Then he was fine until Monday night. He threw up once more, and this morning too. He's had some diarrhea too, on & off.
Today he isn't too interested in food and I can't blame him, I didn't want to even think of food yesterday all day! Since he does seem to be much better, shoudl I just wait and take his cues on when he's hungry? My stomach is so sensitive, even today, I need to be really carefully what i ingest. Do you think I should stick to toast, apple sauce, banana and rice? Any other suggestions? He ate a few crackers at lunch time. And what about tomorrow when he's better, I still want to give him gentle foods. Thanks for your input! This is his first illness of this kind.
We just had the same thing run through our house...and in fact most of the nighborhood! I just gave it a little time and tried water and crackers. I tried apple a little too soon and it came back up. Just don't do anything spicy and he'll probably be fine. Mine bounced back pretty quickly. We were all pretty dehydrated though so I would definitely try water.
I would absolutely continue with the BRAT diet for a couple of days at least. My son sometimes gets relapses of the stomach flu b/c he goes back to eating normally too early. The BRAT diet will help his stomach recover better.
I usually do not push food with stomach flu. I am very aggressive on charco first few days (I use tablets, small child can eat charco crushed with apple sauce) and I try to push as much fluids as the kid can handle (but not too sweet). After a day or so I start probiotics twice a day mixed with any yogurt to regrow the intestinal flora. The initial foods are rice, bread, banana, apple sauce. If the child gets better and wants to eat - go ahead. Good luck.
I would follow his cues, and offer small amounts of food throughout the day to help keep them down. The pediatric nurse also told me to wait at least an hour after they vomit to give their little bellies time to rest before offering more food or drink.
We had this a week and 1/2 ago. We are a family of 5 and it hit each of us a little bit differently. Sadly, my 22 month old was hit the worst. :( Poor little man spent an entire day taking only taking a tsp of liquid at a time. It was the only thing he could keep down. So glad its over.
Take it easy and your family will be back on their feet in a couple of days.
BRAT=Banana, Rice, apple and Toast. I always first gave my ddaughter Ice cubes. If she held that down for 20 minutes without running to the bathroom or puking we added the brat. Rice is a good choice White rice not that pilaf stuff..
the A in the BRAT diet is actually applesauce, much easier to digest than raw apple.
I agree with the BRAT, but also get a probiotic.
