Both Children Randomly Vomiting and Having Diarrhea

When my daughter brought this home, I stayed up that first night and Clorex-wiped every surface and every toy in the house. All the stuffed animals went into the laundry and all furniture and carpets got sprayed with Lisol. After that, I kept her in her room and bathroom, away from the rest of the house until her bug passed 2 days later.

Virus warfare is definately a battle! Keep to the BRAT diet until done for optimal stomach/sickness comfort. (bananas, rice, applesauce and toast).

Good luck!

There's nothing wrong with doing your own research - as long as it's from credible sources. Unfortunately, there's a LOT of bad health information out there. One recent study suggested as much as 40% of health information online is from poor sources and is inaccurate.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of viruses out there that have really knocked kids down this year. Our kids are 4 and 2, both in day care full time, and they're always having something or another.

Overuse of antibiotics the past 20 years has really increased issues with ineffective antibiotics. So, when a virus is suspected, pediatricians do the right thing by not prescribing an antibiotic. There are a few antivirals on the market (Tamiflu being the most notable), but you have to use them within the first 48 hours of infection, and they're only FDA approved for certain flu virus strains.

Chances are, your kids are either just getting over the hump, or they're getting reinfested with a strong viral strain. It's so hard to watch them go through it and to be helpless.

Not sure if this will help, but I'm a HUGE fan of HealthyChildren.org, the American Academy of Pediatrics' parenting website:
http://www.healthychildren.org/english/search/pages/resul...

That is odd, and since the dr. said it was a virus I'd think it was the case. The only thing I'd do (other than keep them hydrated) is to make their diets a bit more "bland" so to not upset the stomachs... and I would give them so probiotics so their bowel can get the good bacterial levels back up. Hang in there - it's no fun for anyone!

We experienced this with our little one and it was so frustrating and you feel so helpless. We finally used a probiotic and it cleared up the vomiting. Our doctor recommended Lactinex and we used it for about 2-3 weeks. You should try it (or any other probiotic) and see if it helps.

My daughter always got 24-48 hour bugs until she got the Rotavirus last year. She was doing what your children are doing for about 10 days. It's a much more pesky virus than a regular stomach bug and if things persist longer than 3-4 weeks, then ask your ped. to test the kids for Giardia. That's a parasite that can be passed through water.

Make sure you keep spraying the surfaces of the whole house with Lysol (or some equivalent). I have been doing that and it's really helped keep the cooties away.

Also, have you tried the BRAT diet for the kids for a couple days? Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, Toast. It lets the body get back to normal.

Good luck!

My friend's children did this exact same thing for nearly a month. Dr. kept saying it was a virus, blah blah blah. She figure out on her own that her pool was making them sick! Her husband took a sample in and algae was lurking in there. Her son who swallows pool water was the sickest. If you have a pool or swim somewhere regularly, check your water!

J.,

I could have written this same post. In fact, I found this by googling "random vomiting and diarrhea in children"! My boys are 4 and 17 months and have had the exact same symptoms. We also talked to the doctor who said it was most likely just a prolonged stomach virus. We're trying probiotics this weekend. Did that help your kiddos? Is everybody feeling better now? I hope so because I feel your pain!

:-) K.