What to Give Your Child After Vomiting

What Should I Give My Child to Drink After Vomiting?: Rehydration Tips for Ontario Parents

When your child has been vomiting, you want to help them feel better and prevent dehydration. Start with small, frequent sips of clear fluids about 30 minutes after the last vomit, and build up slowly from there.

How it works

The key is going slow and steady. Your child's stomach needs time to settle, so rushing back to normal drinking can trigger more vomiting.

Start with tiny sips every few minutes. Think teaspoon amounts for toddlers, tablespoon amounts for older kids. If they keep this down for 30 minutes, you can gradually increase the amount and frequency.

Clear liquids work best because they're gentle on the stomach and easy to digest. As your child starts feeling better and keeping fluids down consistently, you can slowly introduce their regular foods.

What you'll need

- Oral rehydration solution (like Pedialyte or Gastrolyte)

- Clear broth or diluted chicken soup

- Flat ginger ale or clear sodas (let them sit out to lose fizz)

- Diluted apple juice (mix half juice, half water)

- Plain water

- Popsicles made from clear fluids

- Small cup or spoon for measuring

Best drinks to offer

Oral rehydration solutions are your best bet because they replace the exact mix of salts and sugars your child has lost. You can find these at any pharmacy, and they come in kid-friendly flavors.

Clear broths work wonderfully too and often appeal to kids who don't love the taste of rehydration drinks. Even the sodium in broth helps with rehydration.

Avoid milk, citrus juices, and anything too sweet or acidic right after vomiting, as these can irritate the stomach lining and make nausea worse.

Common questions

What if they vomit again after drinking? Stop fluids for another 30 minutes, then start over with even smaller amounts. This is totally normal and doesn't mean you're doing anything wrong.

How much should they drink? Aim for small, frequent sips rather than large amounts. If they're keeping fluids down, offer about 1-2 teaspoons every few minutes for toddlers, or 1-2 tablespoons for older kids.

When can they have regular drinks? Once they've kept clear fluids down for several hours and seem back to their usual selves, you can gradually return to their normal drinks and foods.

The takeaway

Patience is your friend here. Most kids bounce back quickly with gentle rehydration, and you're doing exactly the right thing by taking it slow.

You can always text Arlo and talk to a provider in 5 minutes!

References - [Vomiting and Diarrhea (Caring for Kids)](https://caringforkids.cps.ca/handouts/health-conditions-and-treatments/vomitinganddiarrhea)

- [Dehydration (AboutKidsHealth)](https://aboutkidshealth.ca/article?contentid=776&language=english)

- [Gastroenteritis (AboutKidsHealth)](https://aboutkidshealth.ca/article?contentid=907&language=english