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ADVICE RATING
 (Worth a try) (Worth a try) (Worth a try) (Worth a try) (Worth a try) 4.33 (Worth a try) from 18 votes (3283 Visits)

72-Hour Menu if Your Baby has a Stomach Virus

pfallerj by pfallerj Proud Parent(March 2007) (rank 95th)

Our son couldn’t keep any kind of solid food down and had diarrhea. We had no idea what to do, so we called the doctor.

The diagnosis was a stomach virus. According to the pediatrician, it has to run its course naturally while feeding our son a special

diet over 72 hours. We were a bit skeptical, since he wasn’t keeping anything down.

But the menu she gave us has worked pretty well and our son was feeling great today.

Here’s a suggested diet for a infant with a stomach virus - assuming they’ve been fully introduced to solid foods and are off breastmilk and formula and on to whole milk.

If your baby is still vomiting in the 24 - 48 hour stage, call your pediatrician and get some more advice.

0 - 24 hours - Pedialyte or Gatorade, exclusively. They’re geared specifically to replace fluids lost from vomiting or diarrhea, and your baby will probably be able to keep them down better.

24 - 48 hours - A diet of bananas, rice, applesauce and wheat toast or bread. These bland foods will sit better in your baby’s stomach.

48 - 72 hours - Back to the normal diet, but no dairy just yet. Give them Activia yogurt by Danon because of its bifidobacteria. The active culture bacteria is meant to augment the body’s natural mechanisms for regulating the digestive system.

At this stage, our son was feeling a lot better and he was ready to chow down. We gave him green beans, which he usually picks at. Instead, he wolfed them down. Then he ate a whole container of the Activia yogurt with a gusto. He was probably just glad to get some real food in his belly.

72 hours + - Introduce dairy back into their diet. The diarrhea can take up to two weeks to finally go away, so keep lots of spare clothes on hand.

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ADVICE RATING
 (Worth a try) (Worth a try) (Worth a try) (Worth a try) (Worth a try) 4.33 (Worth a try) from 18 votes
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skittles4you
November 2008 | skittles4you
Re: 72-Hour Menu if Your Baby has a Stomach Virus

Thanks for the inforamation.  I have a two year old sent home from daycare for throwing up. I have done my duty with stomach bugs before, but not sence she has been this old and active.  Luckily so far she is just laying around watching Shrek and drinking pedialite.



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mumof1girl
1.00 (Very Poor) | March 2007 | mumof1girl
Diet used while sick

 

Great info. Will use this when my daughter is sick next. thanks heaps



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pfallerj
5.00 (Excellent) | March 2007 | pfallerj
Hmm
Thanks for pointing out that article. The Gatorade recommendation came right from our pediatrician. We went with the Pedialyte simply because we tried Gatorade and he didn't like the taste (though Pedialyte tasted like cough syrup to me).

I'll keep that in mind next time!


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cindyb
5.00 (Excellent) | March 2007 | cindyb
Gatorade??

I have heard that sport drinks are an absolute no no. health.yahoo.com/topic/children/symptoms/article/healthwise/hw87152   I have just gone a weekend with my 3 children all ending up in hospital, my youngest being 6 months old and breastfed exclusively. Gastrolite, or Pedialyte type oral rehydration fluids are great, but not Gatorade, as it is the wrong mix of salts needed and can aggravate the diarrhea.

Otherwise, pretty sound info, you beat me to the punch, I was just about to post something after the weekend we had! phew....

 



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angelmum
5.00 (Excellent) | March 2007 | angelmum
Great advice
Thanks for sharing, its so hard when they are like this, this article will help a lot of parents


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raych
5.00 (Excellent) | March 2007 | raych
good tip

Lachlan has only ever had GASTRO once and it was REAL BAD! But with your advice, (in conjunction with medical advice), I will have some idea of what to give him. It makes it hard when they don't want to eat.



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monyq83
March 2007 | monyq83
Great advice
thanks for that, ugh i hate gastro, we got it bad last year!


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