How to treat vomiting in a child

Vomiting is a protective reflex reaction of the body to foreign irritation of the mucous membrane of the gastrointestinal tract. For what reasons can such a condition occur in a child and what should parents do in such a situation? We will answer all questions in our article.

A single urge to vomit is not dangerous in itself. This often happens with children of the first year of life. This fact is explained by the adaptation of the intestinal microflora to the composition of breast milk or infant formula. Babies who are introduced to complementary foods also often vomit. Usually the cause is an incorrect feeding scheme or an individual reaction of the baby's body to a certain product. Such situations do not require medical treatment. You will need to determine which product the vomiting reaction occurs to, and review the diet of the baby or the nursing mother. But repeated repetition of vomiting in a short period of time requires immediate medical attention. This condition is extremely dangerous for the life and health of the baby and may indicate serious illness.

Causes of persistent vomiting can be:

• poisoning, intoxication;
• gastrointestinal diseases;
• infectious infection;
• violation of the metabolic process;
• heat and sunstroke.

In what cases you need to immediately call an ambulance:

• if the child has an elevated body temperature;
• vomiting recurs more than 3 times in 2 hours;
• vomiting intensifies;
• decreased urge to urinate;
• there are suspicions of poisoning;
• frequent loose stools with a greenish tint;
• severe pain in the abdomen;
• convulsions appeared;
• the child vomits even after taking a small amount of water.

Treatment of vomiting in children is carried out by determining the root cause and eliminating it. It can only be installed by a specialist after an examination and additional tests. So, in case of poisoning and intoxication, gastric lavage, absorbent drugs and replenishment of fluid lost by the body are required. Infections will require antibacterial and enzyme preparations. Defects of the digestive tract are eliminated by surgical intervention. Heat and sunstroke involve cool compresses. In some cases, the help of a psychologist or psychiatrist is necessary, for example, with functional vomiting “for weight loss”. Such cases are often recorded among adolescents.

How to help the baby before the arrival of doctors? The scheme of actions in a situation of repeated vomiting in a child is as follows:

1. You can stop vomiting only if it repeats more than 3 times within an hour, with severe weakness of the child and vomiting with blood or mucus. In other cases, the reflex is a natural defensive reaction that helps cleanse the body of poisons.
2. The child should be placed on its side to prevent choking on the vomit. If the baby vomited while lying on his back, you should urgently turn his head down and remove the remnants of vomiting with a napkin.
3. The main task is to prevent dehydration of the body. This condition is very dangerous for children, especially babies under 3 years old. To do this, the baby needs to constantly drink a teaspoon every 5 minutes. It is better to use special formulations for this, enriched with all the necessary minerals, for example, Regidron or Humana Electrolyte. Dilute the powder with warm purified water according to the instructions. You can also offer your baby mineral water "Essentuki" or "Borjomi", after releasing gas from drinks. Sweet tea will do too.
4. Absorbent substances will help to remove accumulated toxins and poisons. Children are prescribed drugs such as Smecta, Atoxil, Enterosgel. “Activated charcoal” is quite difficult for children to swallow even in the form of a crushed powder. Difficulty swallowing the medicine can provoke another bout of vomiting. It is better that the doctor calculates the dosage, since the amount of the drug depends not only on the age of the baby, but also on its weight.
5. If the baby has not emptied the intestines during the day, it is necessary to help him with the help of children's glycerin suppositories. This procedure will cleanse the body of the irritant and accumulated toxic substances.
6. Children over 5 years of age are prescribed drugs that improve the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, for example, Motorix, Mezim-forte, Pancreatin. For young children, doctors prescribe nutritional supplements containing bifidobacteria, such as Bifidumbacterin or Probifor, in order to prevent the development of intestinal dysbacteriosis.
7. With prolonged vomiting, ambulance doctors will make a single injection with Cerucal. The medicine will stop the reflex in a matter of minutes and help you safely transport the child to a hospital.

Only a specialist can make the correct diagnosis and prescribe the necessary treatment in a particular case. Do not delay the moment of calling a doctor - every minute is important. In children, the process of intoxication develops rapidly and can lead to unforeseen complications: loss of consciousness, convulsions, extreme dehydration. Timely provision of medical care can not only reduce the manifestation of a symptom, but in some situations can save the life of a child.

children's dentistry