4 year old daughter vomits in sleep

[Nicole_rat19]

I have a 4 year old daughter who abruptly awakens from her sleep vomiting. It started back in september 2011 I want to say. It began as maybe a once a month issue to twice another and progressively became more frequent to the point it has happened 3 times just this week.  She appears fine all day long.  She goes to sleep without any trouble and then a few hours into sleeping she begins throwing up on her back all while still sleeping.  The action of my grabbing her to face the up right position to avoid choking on the vomit is what actually wakes her.  It's become quite terrifying to be honest.  I'm being to feel helpless and afraid to go to sleep at night.  I'm beginning to even feel guilty putting her to sleep because I know what she will most likely be going through in the next few hours.  The vomiting is typically accompanied with a fever, belly ache, headache, the chills.  At first the doctor simply told me she was catching virus's from school. Considering it was her first year in pre-k, I found this as a good explanation.  As they became more frequent and worse in severity I brought her back to the doctor.  Since headaches are sometimes accompanied by these episodes and our family history has a strong history with migraines, the doctor believed it to be migraines and we are in the process of waiting to find out for sure.  She went to the eye doctor and had perfect eyes, so that was ruled out.  We have been waiting since January for her MRI which isn't scheduled for April which is very upsetting because as the months pass, her condition worsens.  The vomiting is only at night while she is asleep.  Never during the day.  It usually occurs in the same time brackets and lasts the same amount of time each time.  However the frequency is continuing to grow.  It is to the point where I sleep with her right next to. E in my bed every night because I am terrified this is going to kill her.  If anyone has any answers, please help me be more knowledgable about what my baby girl is going through.

[Nicole_rat19]

Lucky, these episodes had stopped come July 2012 and she had been free of these horrible nights.  We never got an explanation, or a cause.  We however did move out of our house in June 2012.  I took very good care of our rental, but we did discover mold, and the landlord did ignore our requests to have it taken care of, I'm not sure if this has something to do with her condition, I'm beginning to believe it did though.  

Also, as silly as it sounds, her Pre-k teacher was really rough on the little ones.  She was under a great deal of stress due to her teacher, so she did complete Pre-k right around the time we moved.

We do NOT allow her any type of drinks or food a few hours before bed time, no exceptions.  And we have became more strict with her diet and what she is consuming in the day.

Between those 3 changes she has been episode free for almost a year now.

I just want to say thank you to MARGYPOPS for listening and advising me when I was feeling helpless and losing hope.  You helped out situation more than you could ever know!

[margypops]

It could be food allergy related ,you say it now happens 3 times a week , make some notes about what she is eating on those days drinks also ,at dinner and the afternoon .Does she have any snacks in the evening ?

[Nicole_rat19]

Turning her on her side instead.  I'm open and willing to try any suggestions.  

[Nicole_rat19]

I will follow your advice by not puttin her in the upright position and

[Nicole_rat19]

No she doesn't drink any milk hours before bed or have any late night snacks.  She may have a sip or two of water but that is it.  Her days are care free and she has never gone through any traumatic event.  My mind is being pulled in every direction.  We moved in may of 2011, could it possibly be something in the house?  Or the water?  We are switching to only bottle water from here on out and as silly as it seems, contemplating moving.  I have began to keep a journal of these episodes.  What she ate that day and the day before, what she did and who she interacted with.  I wish I would have started it sooner.  She is missing so much school due to it as well.  I would say she has been absent so far this year 25 times due to it.  Of course the school is not very happy about that but I'm not the type of mother to and my child to school after spending the night having one of these episodes.  It usually occurs around 3 am and last until about 9 am give or take a hour or two before or after.  Then the rest of the day she is extremely exhausted, nauseous and very inactive which I don't blame her for.

[margypops]

I am sorry I know how concerning this must be. Does she eat or drink milk before bed, when is her last meal or drink>If she does try cutting that out, give her some water, make the last meal early dinner . Also am wondering about Reflux , try not to jolt her upright as that maybe scary, if she vomits whilst asleep turn her sideways with  a towel under her head .The waits are long now for any tests and likely to get worse at least here in the US