Infant Eating After the Flu

My son just went through the same thing. He wouldn't be forced to eat, but did it in his own time. I just kept offering him foods at his normal times and eventually he ate them. He drank only milk for about a week and finally started eating a little bit more each day. Hang in there!

One word of advice. We had a doctor at one point in time tell us to give them Kool-aid diluted in half instead of Pedialyte. They said that it has all the stuff that they need but it is so much less expensive. A lot of times kids will drink it better too. I would let her guide you on when she is ready for the solids. Maybe try giving her something new that she hasn't had before since she might be associating the foods she is used to with the bad reactions.

try putting warm chicken broth in a sippy cup. try popcycles for liquid. even make a slushy from them. the funner you make it the more receptive she will be. put a crazy straw in the cup with colored crushed ice. Try soft foods for a while. Jello, pudding, mashed potatoes, PBJ take a cookie cutter and cut shapes out and see if that helps entice her. apple juice with crushed ice. Good luck pray she gets well soon.

I'm so sorry to hear your little one has been sick for that long. It's extra hard when kids are sick. It could be that she has rotavirus IF the symptoms include diarrhea and fever in addition to the vomiting. You can learn more about it on rotavirusinfo.com. It's a very common, contagious virus in children.

My third child got sick with the stomach flu that her older siblings had when she was one and it seemed to last about a week too. I think because of their age it is the bodies way of preserving itself while fighting off the virus. The biggest concern is dehydration so as long as your able to give her fluids than its okay that she's not ready yet to eat solids. She's still getting nutrients from her formula.

And, I wouldn't worry in the least about your Dr. freaking out on you. Your daughter eventually will want to eat solids again when her body feels up to it. I would not push solids right now and anything you do give her should be bland.

And, for next time, you can try giving her Jello water a teaspoon at a time to help your child to stop vomiting. Just follow the package directions like you were going to make Jello but don't refrigerate it. My doctor's office gave me this tip. Something about the gelatin helps coat and settle the tummy.

You're doing a great job to love her and take care of her so trust in your God-given Mommy instincts! This too shall pass...

Good Morning S., I would let your little one tell you when she is ready for solids again. Her tummy may be sensitive still.
If her Dr. freaks remind them she had the Flu. ;)

We are waiting to see the Dr tomorrow, our 3 yr old gr son has run and high fever since Sat evening. His mom called dr. hotline to leave a message to call back his temp was 102 and rising. Tylenol and fluids. Sunday temp fluctuated 99.9 -102
Monday early he started Spittin" ( vomiting ) Dr. said wait another day since he is vomiting the infection should be on it's way out.
Tuesday his temp was 104 We called the Hosptial ER Nurse. Grrr they can't give out medical info anymore BUT if his temp got to 106 bring him in. She told our daughter in law adults can not take the high temps but kids can. Doesn't sound so good to me.
his Dr is out of town today but we found his ears infected and draining last night also.

I hate it when little ones get sick!!!
Hope you precious angel returns to eating like she used to soon.
K.

Don't worry, she will let you know when she's ready to eat solids again and everytime I've been to the Dr with my daughter when she's had the flu, they said they didn't care if she ate solids or not, they were only concerned if she was getting enough fluids. I was way more concerned about her eating solids than the Dr/nurse was. Let her guide you and she'll be fine. Good luck!

I'm sorry your daughter has been so sick. I had the flu for a week and it took me over a month to get somewhat back to normal. It's very debilating and at 11 mos, it must have been very scary for her and you.

I don't think there is a set time your daughter is going to go back to solids. I think you need to take your cues from her and maybe push it a teensy bit over that to make some progress.

Although dairy can be hard on the stomach, you may want to try some yogurt. It's cool, creamy, and with some fruit may be appealing to her. You may want to mix it with her formula or cheerios. I'm lactose intolerant and often eat my breakfast cereal with yogurt. Also, you may want to try some cooked rice with applesauce or banana. This is going to sound kind of weird, but I was sick A LOT when I was a kid, measles, scarlet fever, strep throat, constantly. My mom used to make me "tea" from boiling water and adding strawberry perserves. She would take out the big pieces. It was sweet, so it was easy to get me to drink it, high in carbs for energy. You do need to keep her eating and especially drinking. You may have to let go of a little of the best nutrition if it gets her to consume. I NEVER had that strawberry tea at any other time except when I was sick.

Most importantly, don't worry about her dr freaking out! If the dr can't be supportive and maybe give you some ideas, you may want to consider another dr. Your dr is there to help you, not intimidate you.

Anytime that you have a stomach virus where stuff is coming out from either or both ends you need to give you stomach a chance to get better. I have 3 kids and had a case of a BAD virus so I have heard this time and time again. You need to stick with the liquids for the whole time that your child is barfing. When they stop and it looks like it is going to stop then introduce the BRAT diet. Banana Rice Applesauce and Toast. These items are bland items that will help get your daughters stomach back in track. I can not remember how long you follow this diet but I want to say for a few days, just depends on how she does with it. If you have any questions or concerns I would call her doctor and bring them up with him/her.
Take Care
N. =)

You can always mix the Pedialyte with water see if she will drink it that way.

As for the food, they say to try to give applesauce, toast, bananas.

I say start off small and slowly introduce the foods to her and she will eat when she is hungry.

PLEASE don't beat yourself up - you are doing fine and just what you should do. My son's pediatrician told me an infant's main source of nutrition should be breastmilk or formula for the entire first year. The reason we introduce solids is so we don't have two and three year olds still exclusively nursing or drinking formula. They need to learn to move food around in their mouth and swallow (with runny/soft foods, #1 & #2 jars, purees, etc) and to chew (with soft pieces of banana, #3 jar foods, fully cooked diced carrots, etc). As long as she is getting well and 'thriving,' STOP WORRYING! You are doing exactly what your little angel needs you to do right now. Think about the last time you were sick for that long - I know I wasn't ready for anything but chicken noodle soup and toast for quite a while. So please try to relax and let her guide you through her recovery. OH! And if she is eating puffs, Cheerios and the like, it might feel good (scratchy) on her throat.

I remember my doctor telling me that milk products have an enzyme that will keep the virus in your system for a long time, he always had me to take my children off all milk products for at least three days to let their systems clear of the virus completely. I have raised four children and it has always worked for us.

I can't believe your doctor would freak out if you weren't feeding solids as it really isn't a requirement for babies to eat solids at all the first 12 months. Feeding them solids is just a learning experience for them to learn to eat with a spoon, drink out of a cup and learn new textures of food. Babies get all the nutrition they need from formula and breastmilk so extra foods is more for learning rather than nutrition. I am surprised your doctor didn't recommend nutramegen formula which is a lot more expensive but works well when kids are sick as they can usually tolerate it better than the other formulas that are more milk based. I also couldn't get them to drink pedialyte so gave them gatorade sometimes especially if they weren't drinking anything at all, it was better than having them dehydrate from not having anything. They usually weren't sick more than 2 days either so 1 1/2 weeks would be hard to try to force the pedialyte that taste so bad.

Don't rush it. She'll eat when she's ready.
Have you ever had the flu ? Sometimes it takes quite awhile before much of anything sits well on your tummy.
I'm sure your doctor will understand in this case. (If not, I would look for a new doctor.)
You can try giving her jello water in place of the Pedialyte. Just make it like you would regular jello, only water it down a little more, and give it to her warm (or room temperature) so that it doesn't gel before she can sip it. It was a staple for sick little tummies before Pedialyte came along.
Continue with the light snack foods, and maybe pureed fruits like apples or pears,(nothing too acidic, though) toast, instant mashed potatoes (now days doctors are recommending boiled, baked or microwaved potatoes to settle sick tummies for adults as well as kids) and even some shaved lunch meats like deli shaved ham. Popsycles are great for helping to keep her hydrated without upsetting her tummy.
Pushing the dairy could prolong the problem, so go easy.
I know it seems like this is going on for a long time, but that length of time is not so unusual for a flu bug.
Hang in there Mommy. You're doing great, and she will be back to her old self in no time.

I wouldn't worry about being on track developmentally right now, just worry about getting her all better. Stomach viruses, especially Roto Virus, whose season is NOW are really hard on children and getting her little system back to normal is the most important thing. Try the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast- white), pureed of course and in small doses. And maybe try mixing in some plain yogurt like Stonifield Farm plain, full-fat, which has lots of beneficial probiotics to re-balance her intestinal system and fight off any lingering viruses or bad bacterial.
Also, of the snack foods, I would limit the puffs and goldfish, and give mostly cheerios because they offer more nutrients. She may have gotten a little spoiled by those flavors, too. Good luck!

I am not sure on the solids part, but I do have a tip for them not drinking the pedialyte. Our pediatrician told us to mix up a packet of koolaide as directed except replace the regular sugar amount with 1/4 to 1/2 cup of sugar and just a pinch of salt. The koolaide will be pretty close to the electrolyte solution plus it tastes a lot better because it has a little sugar in it, that way it will get the fluid in them. Pedialyte is known to tase pretty bad. Neither of our girls would touch it!

Good Luck!
M.
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It sounds like you are doing a wonderful and hard job! And it sounds like you are fulll of love for her... so please dont let any doctor make you feel like you are doing less than adequate!

Be strong and continue to nurture her the way you can.

I always say let your child guide you. I bet a week from now she''ll have you worrying if she's eating too much.

hey there S..
My 11 month won't drink the pedialite either. I don't blame them because that stuff tastes really bad. We give him propel flavored water. He loves the grape and it is chocked full of electrolites and vitamins.
About the eating... Here at my house we have had the oppisite problems with our pediatrition getting onto us for starting way too early with table foods and cows milk. Both of my boys were on cows milk at 10 months. But my boys are little piggys when it comes to meat and potatoes. It may just be a guy thing. Your girl will eat when she gets hungry. Especially after the flu. When you are eating dinner just introduce some of what you are eating. I introduced fun little finger foods like olives. ( they love to put them on their fingers and eat them) As far as your doctor goes, I have always lived by the philosophy of "go by your instincts". You are her mother. You know what she will be able to handle and not handle.
Good Luck!
-K.