Vomiting in Infants and Toddlers: Which is Normal, Which Is Harmful

Medical Video: How to Treat Vomiting in Children

Vomiting is the re-discharge of part or all of the stomach contents, which occurs after a long period of food enters the stomach. Vomiting is often found in infants and toddlers and can be dangerous or harmless. Vomiting can be caused by several factors, including:

Digestive tract infections: or commonly called gastroenteritis, can be caused by bacteria, viruses, and parasites. In addition to vomiting, infections of the digestive tract can also cause diarrhea. Gastroenteritis is the most common cause of vomiting in children. In cases of gastroenteritis, vomiting will usually last for several days.
Food poisoning: if your child accidentally swallows something poisonous, or eats foods that are of poor quality, it does not rule out the possibility of food poisoning which can cause fever and vomiting.
Food allergies: shortly after eating foods that cause allergies, children can experience symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and pain in the abdomen.
Infection and other diseases: infections in other parts such as ear infections and urinary tract infections, contracting the flu, until pneumonia and meningitis can also trigger vomiting in children.
Excessive anxiety and stress: vomiting can not only be triggered by physical factors but also by psychological factors. Excessive anxiety, for example when your child faces the first day of school, or excessive fear of something can also trigger vomiting in children.

Vomiting or regurgitation?

Vomiting can be distinguished from regurgitation, or what we usually know as spit up, and often occurs in children aged 4-6 months because the digestive system is not perfect. Regurgitation is a condition in which a child eats back a little food or milk that he just drank. Regurgitation is passive, meaning that it does not require effort and coercion from the child. This is different from active vomiting where coercion occurs to empty the stomach contents.

Regurgitation can occur because the child is too full, the position of the child who is not right when breastfeeding, air that comes in during breastfeeding, and rush when sucking milk. But if regurgitation occurs more than four times a day and not only shortly after eating but also occurs during sleep, then this needs to be considered.

Normal vomiting

Although it causes panic, in fact most of the causes of vomiting in children tend to be harmless. For example, a newborn baby will often vomit in the first weeks because he is still getting used to the food that enters. Crying and excessive coughing can also trigger a gag reflex. Your child may also be accustomed to the new portion of his meal, so that he can vomit because he is too full.

Then what kind of situation indicates that your child's condition is actually normal?

Your child does not have high fever
Your child still wants to eat and drink
Children can still play, not overly fussy
Children are still responsive
Symptoms and effects of vomiting subside after 6-24 hours
There is no blood and bile (usually greenish) in your child's vomit

Then how is vomiting to watch out for?

Although most vomiting is normal, you still need to be vigilant and pay attention to every child vomiting, because if accompanied by the following symptoms, it means that there may be other, more serious problems.

The child is weak and unresponsive
The skin becomes pale and cold
Children lose appetite and refuse to eat
There are symptoms of dehydration such as dry mouth, crying but not shedding tears, and not urinating frequently
Vomiting more than three times in 24 hours or lasting for more than three days and accompanied by fever
Vomiting and diarrhea simultaneously
Pain in the abdomen that is unbearable as well as swelling appears on the stomach
There is a substance of blood or bile in the vomit
Breath becomes short

If such conditions arise, you should consider having your child checked by a doctor.

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