Episodic vomitting in toddlers

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My four-year-old toddler has been having different episodes of throwing up Each episode is characterized by 3 to 6 rounds of vomiting. Enough to trigger anxiety in any parent.

And that's exactly what I have been feeling.

The first time it happened, we were hundreds of miles away from home. We took our family friend, @motaryo and his family, to the airport on their way out of the country. Ordinarily, the journey should not take more than 3 to 4 hours. Due to traffic, however, it took up to 7 hours of driving.

My toddler looked fine throughout the journey. We slept over and planned to return to our base the following day. The dawn of the following day was when the drama started - while having a breakfast of rice and stew.

He just stopped eating all of a sudden. He signaled a few minutes after that he needed to throw up. He emptied his stomach there and then. Roughly 5 hours after, he has thrown up 4 to 5 times more. The plan was to manage the situation until we are back at our base.

He slept for about an hour and a half. Seemed his system reset thereafter. He requested water a couple of times. Drank a can of malt after. Before we could get back to our base, he already looked totally fine.

We never bothered going to the hospital again.

The second time was this last Sunday. He started yawning all of a sudden, early in the morning. A Series of throwing up followed. Like the first time, he slept and felt totally fine some hours after.

My wife suggested a deworming regime.

I felt it could be malaria.

Today, another episode occurred. This time, one of the vomits had traces of blood. That was when I felt enough is enough. We headed to the hospital. Thrice beaten, once shy.

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Image source: pexel

A malaria test was conducted - negative.

The doctor asked a series of questions which I promptly answered. I explained the different episodes in detail. Since he has not eaten anything before starting to throw up today, the traces of blood in one of the vomits was considered normal. He came up with 3 hypotheses.

  1. Intestinal obstruction: according to him, however, if the vomiting were to be due to intestinal obstruction, other symptoms should have been manifested along. These include bloating, constipation, and other general malaise.

Instestinal obstruction - out

  1. From the brain: according to the doctor, episodic vomiting could be an indication of something being wrong with the part of the brain that controls such an action. He also pointed out that this should have been followed by other symptoms. Thus, this option is ruled out.

  2. The third option, and the most logical one, is that the throwing up could be a reaction to something. It could something he ate, perceived, or interacted with in the environment.

I tried to look at something that is common to all the events of throwing up. The closest thing is cold. The first time, it could have been from the wind absorbed by his body while on the almost 7 hours journey.

The night before the second episode, he slept on the floor. This morning, just before the third episode, he was exposed to a fan. Cold triggers a cough in him, and each episode of vomiting is usually preceded by slight coughing.

Perhaps it is the cold, we all assumed.

In the next few weeks, I will be watchful. I genuinely hope this will not happen again, by the way.

Fact check

The likely causes of vomiting in children are:

  • Gastro-intestinal infections
  • Intestinal obstructions
  • Cold
  • Motion sickness
  • Appendicitis
  • Allergy or food poisoning
  • Hard coughing

It is quite difficult to pinpoint a particular one as the cause of my toddler's vomiting. The cold, as I said earlier, seems logical though. The coming weeks shall tell.

He is currently eating rice and beans as I am rounding off this article.

What do you think?

Thank you all for reading.



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3 comments
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Your baby is so cute And thanks for share your experience and also giving some important information 😍

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