How much do you let them eat

Every time one of the girls has a tummy bug, I feel like I jump the gun with giving her normal food again -- I do the BRAT diet for 24 hours, then I think it's safe and I let her eat as much as she wants of something she likes... and it all comes back up and we have to start all over again.

Is the 24-to-36-hour relapse just inevitable no matter what you do? Or should I be keeping her on the BRAT diet for 2 whole days after the last throwup? And while you're doing the BRAT diet, do you let them eat as much toast or bananas or whatever as they want? Sarah would have eaten 5 pieces of toast for dinner, but I held her at 3 because all she had had all day was a banana, some cream of wheat, and a little applesauce, and I didn't want to overwhelm her stomach.

I hate this, it's such a guessing game! And it seems like the child winds up throwing up again no matter what.

 

Offer small amounts frequently. Do not let her FILL her recovering tummy too much for a few days. Let me make that clearer...do not fill the ummy to the top by stuffing at meal times...snack alot so they get all the food, in a longer amount of time.

Cindy

 

We just had a Norovirus like bug rip through our house and my MIL's house a couple weeks ago. Our pedi said no water/liquid for 2 hrs after the last time they throw up, and no food for 8 hours after that as well. Not sure what to say about the reoccurence a few days after though. That's odd! Have you tried throwing away their toothbrushes after they use them after getting sick? Might be reinfecting them?

 

Alden, I'm sorry you are dealing with sick kids. I can totally relate to the guessing game, and the inclination to let the poor, starved child eat at last.

After our last stomach bug I had the exact same issue (mother-induced relapse). I eventually learned that if I gave Joe a little bit at a time and he kept it down successfully I could keep doing that and at least keep him hydrated and "not starving" (though certainly not 'full' either).

I was giving him sips from a cup every 2-5 minutes and a 'bite' of bread/banana/toast/whatever every 5 minutes (every 2 minutes if he seemed to be 'starving'). It was a high-maintenance operation, but it kept the food down, and I was happier to be constantly feeding him than constantly cleaning up vomit.

I hope she's feeling better soon and you manage to avoid passing it around the family.

 

Wow... I guess we've never had this problem. I let them eat and drink as much as they want and then just reason with them that smaller sips of water will feel better than gulps. Maybe I'm just incredibly lucky that they seem to know what they need?

I also use the snacks available at all times method of feeding the sickies and my weapon of choice is dry Cheerios. That was about all that T&T cared to eat while they didn't feel well but one day Trent did have a dinner roll and Trevor ate half of a banana. So, I guess I let them have all they wanted but then they didn't want to stuff their faces. The only hard part was that they were begging for juice every time I opened the refrigerator and I knew that would be trouble for both their tummies and the furniture so I'd give each of them a tiny amount. Later, they asked for "swimmy peaches" (canned) but they had been acting like they were feeling better and the peaches stayed down.

 

you haven't given any dairy products of any kind? Sometimes that could be the culprit. They say if there's no vomiting for 8 hours you can reintroduce a bland diet. But until then I'd stick with clear fluids, water, flat sprite, non acidic fruit juices, jello and maybe frozen flavor pops. Maybe an occasional cracker and work up from there. If the crackers stay down before the 8 hours are up, you could try toast and maybe small amounts of food in moderation. Snacking vs. one sit down meal. You should wait a few days before trying to reintroduce dairy products, like 3 to 4. Poor kids, hope you all are better quick and things stay down.

 

Sarah was throwing up on Saturday night -- last time about midnight, then she slept until 7 a.m. So the 8 hours were pretty much up before she was even awake.

We didn't give her any milk or other dairy products all day yesterday. For breakfast she had about one bite of Cream of Wheat (made with water) -- then an hour later DH let her eat 1.5 bananas and the rest of her Cream of Wheat. He said he had a scary moment when he thought she was going to lose it, but it stayed down. The rest of the day, she had bread and applesauce.

The problem I've had in the past is that she keeps a whole day's worth of food down, but then throws up again at some point that night or the following day. But, she hasn't done it yet, so... fingers crossed!

This morning I let her have a couple of ounces of milk and some oatmeal (also made with water). But she's at daycare today, so goodness knows what she'll eat. She seemed perfectly happy, so I figured might as well let her go to school, so I can save my sick days for when Amy inevitably gets sick.

 

We are just recovering from this! AND I think I gave the girls too much too soon as well. I always forget! I would just give them a few bites of the BRAT each time you feed them, but like a pp said do it often enough so that they don't get really hungry. I think the stomach thing hung around longer than it should have for the girls b/c I forgot to do this, and once we started to do that they are much better now, although Rebekah still has a touch of it. It's different when it's yourself b/c you can figure out what you can handle and what you cannot. Just take it really slow and once they start keeping things down more...I'd say about 24 hours then move on to more each time. I think the girls lived on saltines four days in a row last week...at least it seemed like it. I only really gave them saltines, gold fish, cheerios, water (flavored and non) then towards the end we added bannas and pears. Just a few at a time. Then later like 1-2 hours more of the same. Now they are eating normally again...well except for Rebekah...she seems to hold off on eating right now. I'm still pushing the fluids. Good luck and I hope they get better soon! The laundry is never ending when they are sick! I think I finally finished mine today! :love0028: HTH!

 

I find if I reintroduce milk too quickly is when I get relapses...so now instead of waiting 24 hours after the last puke to re-introduce milk I'm waiting 48-72 and it seems to be working