The reason for contacting a pediatrician is often vomiting after eating in a child. This can manifest itself as a completely harmless regurgitation, or a very serious disease. In some cases, you can get by with a simple diet, but sometimes urgent hospitalization is necessary. Therefore, you need to be extremely careful and monitor the condition of your child. If a gag reflex appears, you must immediately find out the reason for its occurrence.
Why does a child feel sick?
In some cases, the appearance of nausea is not worth serious worries. Active games accompanied by excessive mobility and profuse sweating can cause this symptom. Especially if the child has eaten heavily before. Considering how much food is digested, the appearance of nausea in this case is quite understandable. By the way, excessive overeating can also cause nausea.
Nausea can occur due to stress and nervous experiences. Especially with a sudden change of situation, for example, entering a kindergarten, school, etc. Experience and excitement are an integral part of life, not every adult is able to cope with them, and what can we say about a child. Sometimes, due to stress, nausea is accompanied by a headache in the child. As a rule, these symptoms go away on their own as soon as the baby gets used to the new conditions.
If a child feels sick in the car, this may indicate a weak vestibular system. The condition can worsen to the point of vomiting if the car is driven in a stuffy atmosphere, a strong smell of fuel and high speed.
When should you worry?
The following symptoms should be a cause for concern:
- The child constantly feels sick, the symptom does not disappear for a long time, and its intensity does not decrease.
- There are accompanying symptoms: dizziness, nausea and diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, nausea and fever, stomach pain and nausea.
- Nausea in the morning.
Constant nausea
If a child is sick day and night, then this condition indicates the occurrence of a pathological process in the body: gastrointestinal disorders (starting with poisoning, ending with inflammation, pathological formations in the digestive organs), migraine (chronic headache), meningitis (inflammation of the meninges), hypothyroidism ( lack of thyroid hormones) and much more.
From the above, it should be concluded that if a child often feels sick, but there is no vomiting, diarrhea, or fever, then this condition still requires urgent qualified medical care, because may indicate a number of dangerous pathological conditions.
Associated symptoms
If a child has pain in the intestines, fever, diarrhea, vomiting, then this condition most likely indicates poisoning or an intestinal infection.
In this case, the child may feel sick after eating stale food. In some cases, even products that have not expired can cause poisoning if their storage, production technology or transportation have been violated. As a rule, after 2-4 hours, signs of indigestion appear. First, nausea appears, then vomiting, diarrhea and pain in the abdomen. In severe cases, all these symptoms are accompanied by fever. Intestinal infections can be bacterial or viral. Tablets for abdominal pain and drugs to improve digestion are prescribed based on the nature of the pathogen. Quite often, intestinal infections are accompanied by chills, pallor, lethargy, and dry mucous membranes of the skin, which indicate dehydration.
Infection occurs when a pathogenic bacteria or virus enters the baby’s body (in the gastrointestinal tract). This can happen in various ways:
- Due to non-compliance with hygiene standards. If a child comes into contact with contaminated foods, objects, animals, plants, etc., and does not wash his hands after that, then pathogenic microorganisms enter the body through food and saliva (by licking fingers). At the same time, you can also become infected from a sick person: through a kiss or sharing a food.
- Through poor quality water. In regions with poor water quality, this is a fairly common problem. Pathogenic microorganisms can enter the body after a child simply drinks water, so it is recommended to boil it before drinking.
First aid for gag reflex in children
In cases of intestinal infection and poisoning, the child vomits every hour.
Children in this condition need qualified help. Before doctors arrive, the main thing for parents is to prevent dehydration. To do this, it is better to use pharmaceutical powder Regidron. If you don’t have it on hand, prepare a solution of a similar composition at home. Dilute 1 tbsp in 1 liter of water at room temperature. l. soda and 1 tsp. sugar and salt. If a baby is vomiting, give the baby a teaspoon of solution every 15 minutes. In case of poisoning, additionally give Smect sorbent.
What to do if your child is sick
IMPORTANT! The appearance of nausea may indicate the development of serious pathologies; in order to identify them in a timely manner or exclude their presence, it is necessary to consult a doctor.
If nausea is not accompanied by acute symptoms and the pediatrician confirms the absence of threatening pathologies, then you can reduce the manifestation of nausea yourself at home.
General recommendations
First of all, it is recommended to remove all kinds of foods and objects with a strong smell away from the child. Access to fresh air must be provided. If the symptom is caused by anxiety and fear, then the child is advised to breathe deeply. Clothes should not interfere with this. Parents need to try to distract their baby by reading a book or watching cartoons.
It is important that the child does not lie down, because in this position, gastric juice can rise to the esophagus and increase discomfort and a feeling of nausea. The latter can be a symptom of dehydration, so frequent, heavy drinking is recommended. If nausea is caused by a stoppage of the stomach (which often occurs when overeating, eating excessively fatty foods, which, given the size of the child’s stomach and how much food is digested, cannot pass without a trace), then acidic drinks or fruits will help stimulate its work. This will help:
- lemon, lemon tea, lemonade;
- oranges;
- kefir, etc.
Carbonated drinks in this case can cause belching and bloating. Therefore, if there is nothing suitable nearby, it is better to wait until the gases come out of the water.
Nausea and vomiting
If nausea is accompanied by vomiting, then the baby should be placed in such a position that he does not choke on vomit (which is especially dangerous for an infant or a one-year-old child due to the imperfection of the digestive system). To do this, it is recommended that the baby be placed in a semi-lying position on his side.
Sometimes nausea is caused by eating poor quality foods.
In this case, it is necessary to induce vomiting and rinse the stomach to reduce the concentration of toxins in the body. In children under 6 years of age, you should not induce vomiting yourself, because... there is a risk of re-swallowing vomit. It is also recommended to give the child sorbents that help absorb toxins and destroy pathogenic microflora:
- Activated carbon.
- White coal.
- Enterosgel.
At the same time, dehydration of the body should not be allowed, so it is recommended to give the child a little mineral water.
If vomiting is accompanied by painful stomach spasms and the release of bile (this is usually observed after frequent vomiting, while there is practically no vomit), then it’s time to give the baby an antiemetic drug:
Medicines stop the gag reflex, reduce the feeling of nausea and alleviate the child’s general condition. The dosage should be prescribed by a doctor, taking into account the age of the baby.
Causes
Before vomiting, nausea is felt, the pulse quickens, and dizziness. After the stomach is emptied, relief comes. However, young children are not able to analyze such symptoms and notify their parents about them. They express this only by refusing to eat, but forcing kids to eat by force will make the situation even worse. That is why it is most dangerous in children under one year old.
It is important to distinguish between excessive regurgitation and vomiting. If the child is restless, this may indicate:
- overeating;
- reactions to a new product;
- allergies.
In these cases, vomiting is one-time in nature and occurs immediately after eating. However, the general condition does not worsen. This symptom does not require treatment. It is enough for parents to make nutritional adjustments.
If your child vomits after every meal of any food, you should contact your pediatrician. Such symptoms indicate the development of serious illnesses.
Additional symptoms
Signs of repeated and persistent vomiting:
- nervous disorders;
- pathology of the gastrointestinal tract;
- intestinal infection;
- poisoning;
- appendicitis;
- inflammation of the gallbladder;
- seasickness;
- head injury;
- rotavirus infection;
- ARVI, bronchitis;
- heat.
In addition, the child’s body reacts to climate change, then vomiting will appear an hour and a half after eating.
Types of diseases
In diseases, vomiting is accompanied by various symptoms that help identify the cause of the pathology.
- In case of intestinal poisoning or infection. After eating it is accompanied by diarrhea and fever.
- An allergic reaction to food is accompanied by itching, redness of the skin, and rashes.
- ARVI is manifested by vomiting during coughing, redness of the throat, and nasal congestion.
- An attack of appendicitis is characterized by nausea, vomiting, and pain in the abdominal area.
- Meningitis and brain injuries are caused by incessant vomiting, which does not lead to improvement. Convulsions, dizziness, and high temperature are added.
Nausea and abdominal pain
Digestive aids – enzyme preparations – will help reduce intestinal pain, heaviness, bloating, and belching. Enzymes are a kind of biological catalysts; they accelerate the progress of chemical reactions in the gastrointestinal tract.
They have a wide range of applications and are suitable for errors in nutrition, pathologies of the gallbladder (for example, cholecystitis); diseases of the stomach, in which the secretory function of the organ is reduced; intestinal diseases (for example, enteritis, enterocolitis); pathologies of the pancreas, etc.
For children, preparations coated with a special coating are suitable. This helps protect gastric juice from hydrochloric acid (without a shell, the effectiveness of the medicine may be reduced). In addition, such a coating prevents contact of the oral mucosa with the unpleasant-tasting active ingredient of the medicine.
Nausea caused by helminths
If the cause of nausea is parasites in the human intestines, then the child must be given an anthelmintic. The doctor should decide which drug is suitable for the child and in what dosage, after laboratory tests of stool and determination of the type of pathogen. Medicines work against a specific parasite, so they may not be effective against other species.
Tablets that improve digestion
To alleviate the condition, doctors prescribe the following tablets for abdominal pain, nausea and other unpleasant symptoms:
- Mezim. The drug stimulates the process of digesting food, compensates for the lack of pancreatic enzymes, and helps to quickly get rid of abdominal pain.
- Pangrol. The drug is a reliable assistant to the pancreas. Widely used for digestive disorders caused by pathologies in any part of the digestive tract. Helps eliminate intense abdominal pain, dyspeptic symptoms (excessive flatulence, intestinal turmoil, stool disorders).
- Creon. The drug improves the breakdown of fats, proteins, carbohydrates, which promotes their complete absorption. Normalizes the microflora in the intestines, prevents excessive formation of gases, helps the body adapt to the effects of external aggressive factors.
- Hermital. The drug helps eliminate disorders of food absorption, enzyme deficiency, improves the process of food digestion, thanks to the enhanced breakdown of nutrients into simple components, and provides a mild analgesic effect if the stomach hurts.
IMPORTANT! If nausea is accompanied by pain, vomiting, diarrhea, fever and other alarming symptoms, then you should not risk the child’s health. In this case, you should immediately call a doctor or ambulance.
Work experience more than 7 years.
Professional skills: diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and biliary system.
How is the treatment carried out?
In serious cases, for example, with gastrointestinal diseases or other surgical pathologies, the child is hospitalized for treatment in a hospital. In other cases, home treatment is prescribed, which consists of following a diet and nutrition regimen, as well as properly replenishing the volume of lost fluid.
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Children are little people whose bodies are not yet adapted to all the peculiarities and oddities of this world. The task of parents is to raise a healthy child prepared for adulthood, monitor the well-being of their child and always come to his aid. If a child vomits after eating, do not panic, but rather consult a doctor who will determine the problem and prescribe treatment.
