As almost all parents of young children know, this winter has seen more cases of stomach flu than most. If your kid hasn’t spent a day (or five) vomiting up just about everything he or she eats, consider yourself very lucky.
Our son had it in December and again in February. The most recent bout was especially excruciating for all involved.
And we weren’t alone this flu season. According to El Camino Hospital spokesperson Judy Twitchell, last January was the busiest one for the emergency room in the hospital’s history — a fact at least partly due to the spate of stomach illnesses.
If they all went through the same thing we did, my heart goes out to them. What follows is a day-by-day account of our poor son’s tribulations.
Day 1: We wake up to find our 15-month-old has vomited in his crib during the night.
After a little while he seems hungry, so we put him in the highchair for applesauce and crackers. He seems fine, but barfs a couple minutes after the last bite. He had been acting normal but now seems lethargic. Uncharacteristically, he goes back to sleep around 11 a.m.
It seems we tried too soon to give him food, according to Dr. Ken Vereschagin, pediatrician at Camino Medical Group and former chief of staff at El Camino Hospital.
“I recommend small amounts — teaspoonfuls — of clear fluids — water, juice or broth — every 15 to 20 minutes on a trial basis,” he said.
If the child keeps that down, try gradual increases, he said. “If not, then you gave too much — sorry, clean up the mess and try again in two to four hours or maybe tomorrow.”
Our own pediatrician says most kids get through this in a day or so, and some even skip the diarrhea phase. That would be nice. Just try to keep him hydrated, she says — and if he doesn’t wet his diaper at least every eight hours, we’re supposed to take him to the emergency room.
Pushing liquids — water, broth, or Pedialyte, a kind of Gatorade for babies — is especially important if the child is in the diarrhea phase, Dr. Vereschagin says. And, of course, parents should always call their own doctor if they have concerns about their child’s health.
Fortunately for our boy, some liquids are getting digested, and a fever of 103 is quickly brought down with medication, so we’re not too worried. But my heart breaks when I watch him struggle through a vomiting session — the poor little guy!
Day 2: He must be feeling better today, since it’s a “24-hour flu,” right? So we try to feed him some pureed vegetables. Big mistake.
Despite the common name of “stomach flu,” this illness has nothing to do with the more serious flu against which young kids should be inoculated, said Dr. Stephen Harris, chairman of pediatrics at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. What my child has is probably rotavirus, he said. This is usually not a serious illness, unless a young child gets too dehydrated.
Luckily for parents of very young babies, a vaccine to protect against rotavirus came out about a year ago, he said. Babies can get the oral vaccine at two, four and six months of age.
Day 3: A normally energetic child with an outgoing personality (his nickname is “Mischief Man”), our baby sits on the couch with a blank look on his face while Dad watches TV or plays video games. He doesn’t even try to grab the remote. Our doc says he doesn’t have to go to the emergency room because of this lethargy unless he’s totally unresponsive, so we’re glad to see a couple smiles when our dog runs into the room.
Today is the “diarrhea phase.” He still isn’t keeping any food down. Surely the end must be near.
Day 4: Our baby continues his couch potato ways, though a visit from Grandma and Grandpa makes his day. We haven’t seen him smile like that since Wednesday! He continues to sleep much and keep down little — but it’s more, at least, than yesterday. Frustratingly, he’ll go 12 hours or so without vomiting, then throw up after we’ve fed him something that he successfully digested just a few hours ago.
We are really starting to miss the Mischief Man.
Day 5: I honestly don’t know which is worse: cleaning up vomit three times a day or the whining sound whenever my son sees someone eating something.
Another chat with the doctor confirms that we should feed him small amounts of the “BRAT” diet — bananas, rice, applesauce, toast — frequently. That backfires when I feed him a quarter cup of applesauce and then watch him spit it back up (all over both of us) five minutes later.
I call the doctor again in tears. She suggests feeding him crackers — the only solid food he’ll keep down — and soy formula to replace the milk he so desperately craves in his bottle. So the new plan is to continually feed him crackers and get him to drink as much Pedialite as possible.
Unfortunately, this is the only alternative when the child continues to vomit, says Dr. Vereschagin. “This can mean withholding food against the child’s wishes when the symptom of vomiting is prominent,” he said.
Day 6: A joyous occasion: 24 hours without throwing up. The crackers-and-Pedialite diet seems to be working. The boy is obviously starting to feel better: more smiling and less lethargy.
Day 7: Mischief Man is back! He’s crawling around our home-office, digging through desk drawers and smiling wickedly when he gets hold of something he knows he’s not supposed to have.
Now that he’s over the flu, how can we keep him from getting it again? Besides the obvious answer — wash hands frequently — the best method of prevention is staying away from sick people. It’s up to parents to weigh the cost of being a hermit against the risk of getting sick.
