my son is vomiting and diarrhea..freaking out!!

hi

im new to this forum, but ive been a memeber for quite some time.

I have a 10 1/2 month old little boy, whos been sick for like a week now.

He started first having a running nose, i was the drs. and i was told to just give some benadryl well the next day he starting vomiting so i took him to the drs. when we got there i was told he had both of his ear infected and some drainaged in his troat, anywas he got a shot that day and i was told to do pedialite for the rest of the day.

Well the following morning he woke up all wet from diarrhea, he stained his bed, all his clothes we had to give him a bath, the drs. did put him on antibiotic but hes been on these antiobiotics before and hes never been this bad.
The whole day sat. all he kept doing was pooping water and we kept had to change him and giving him baths, i called the drs. yesterday and again i was told just to do pedialite and now bananas, apples, rice, yougurt no formula.
So thas what we've been doing now hes going less but its still diarrhea...he stopped vomiting for like 2 days and now today he started again...i dont know what to do..im scared hes going to get dehydrated and have to be hospitalized, he is refusing pedialite...but hes been vomiting today only twice and thas due to this cough his got only in a while where the dranage from the nose goes to his troat and he just starts gagging to the point where he vomits.
I swear my drs. office are a bunch of idiots they say they cant give him anything, and if needed i need to bring him to the hospital, but my son has been trought a lot already he was born at 24 weeks gestation and was in the hospital for 3 1/2 months...is there anything i can do, to help him not cough and t dry to drain this mocus hes got...anyone please this is the first time his sick and im at loss....im really desperate.

Thanks soo much in advance.

[Want2BeMama]

Thanks

[GRose]

Unfortunately there are no cold medicines that you can give kids under the age of 4 so I don't know that there is much you can do for the drainage.
Is he drinking any fluids? There is a nasty bug going around that my 2 year old just got over. As long as he is getting some fluids in and he isn't going diarrhea constantly he should be ok. How many times a day is going? If it is like 4 or 5 or more times I would just take him into the ER, if it is like 1 or 2 times I would say he will be ok. Have you tried giving him popscicles? That will help get some fluid in but don't give him too many since juice can cause more diarrhea.
Again, there is nothing that can be given for the flu so this is one of those things that just has to run it's course.
Maybe someone else can give you some more advice as I am no nurse or doctor, just a mommy,

[GRose]

I am sorry you are dealing with this, I know how hard it is to have a little one who is sick, I hope he feels better soon.
The bug that my son had took about 10 days to go away FYI

[AnnieBrooke]

Keep him on water if he will not take the Pedialyte, as he needs the water most of all (over the other junk in the Pedialyte.  It doesn't taste that good to kids.  My pedi once told me that a kid has to be really, really sick to willingly drink Pedialyte, and she recommended some apple juice.)  If he is refusing to eat at all, he definitely needs water, and apple juice might be the thing to help him get some calories, with a spoonful of sugar stirred in and a pinch of salt.  That is if he is refusing to eat at all.  But if he eats the banana, rice, applesauce, yogurt (I would add, toast) diet, then you can do OK with just plain water.  (I too would be hesitant to take him to the hospital over just a virus, but if he is not passing any fluids at all or shows the other signs of dehydration, you might need to. )  

[Want2BeMama]

hes been like this for like 5 days now..it just upsets me to see him like that, and he hasent been sleeping much and i havent either.

Today he only went 2 times once was really bad the second time wasent as much, i got him on drinking like 6 oz of pedialyte just now, hoping that he wont vomit i gaved him some benadryl and his antibiotics, hes just coughin more than usual now, i guess this bug is really going around, my husband had it all weekend, yesterday my father and today my sister...it kind of skipped me..i just want my little guy to get better and im trying as much as possible to avoid hospitals because like i said i have done my shares, especially in the neonato unit.

Thanks hun soo much for at least giving me some ideas, hoping he can get some rest and tomorrow will be a better day :(

[AnnieBrooke]

Also, try a humidifier for the mucus drainage.  It eases their nasal passages a lot and tends to calm things down.

[GRose]

When my son had this his doctor recommended just juice and gatoraide. Do the BRAT diet like what Anne said. Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, Toast, all of those things will bind him up. If he wont eat the rice add some chicken broth for flavor.
Just so you know this virus seems to come and go so even if he seems better stick to the mild foods for a few days.

[Want2BeMama]

how would i know if hes getting dehydrated?? what are some signs i need to look for? im a first time mommy also and i dont know where to begin.

[GRose]

I meant to say just water and gatoraide, not juice

[GRose]

signs of dehydration
More than six hours without a wet diaper
• Urine that looks darker in his diaper and smells stronger than usual
• Lethargy
• A dry, parched mouth and lips
• No tears while crying

[Want2BeMama]

ok i think right now hes ok...ill be looking out for those signs...thanks again..and i will be going out and buying the gatoraide but toast not sure about that, he has some swalloing problems due to being vented at birth for a while and we stll havent tried toast...he was born at 24 weeks was 1 lbs 7 oz he will be 1 next month but corrected age should be like 7 1/2 hes came a long way and we are taking things slowly, ill try some rice in the morning.

Thanks again, now that hes sleeping im going to try to rest too just in case he keeps me up. ill keep you guys update in the am..thankssss soo much!!

[AnnieBrooke]

Good luck, darlin', I know it is so tough.  

[kennedydp5]

i hope gabe is doing better today!  

2 more signs the doc told me to look for dehydration were sunken circles under the eyes or the soft spot on the head to be sunken in...  (is sunken a word, lol??)

anyways, i hope he is getting better...  its absolutely horrible when our little ones get awful viruses like that.  peyton got a virus recently so bad that it went on for over 2 weeks then had to be on a lactose free diet for 10 more days after that to get her tummy back to normal.

[Want2BeMama]

hey guys thanks so much for all the concers.

Gabe today has been better, he woke up with poop but not a lot like the past few days and he dint stain the matress and clothes for ones..Thank god!

This morning i gaved him some cereal mixed with yougurt and banana plus he dranked 4 0z of pedialyte and he was content.
Couple hrs later he pooped again, and not a lot this time either i changed him and i gaved him another 4 oz of pedialyte so far so good...hes not crabby and just being a happy little boy! well see what happens for lunch.

And he did sleep good all night, so we both got some rest.
I will continue giving him pedialyte for the rest of the day today and no formula hoping tomorrow i can start again slowly!

Thanks again all!

[kennedydp5]

good news!  glad you both got some rest.

[GRose]

I am glad to hear that he is doing better. Keep him on a mild diet for a few days after the diarrhea stops, this bug is very tricky :)