About vomiting in babies, children and teenagers

Vomiting in children and teenagers has many causes, but the most common are health conditions like gastroenteritis or urinary tract infections. Sometimes even colds can cause vomiting in children, especially in young children who might find it hard to cough up their mucus, so they swallow it instead.

Other causes of vomiting include motion sickness and more serious conditions like appendicitis or meningitis.

Young babies tend to vomit up small amounts of milk after feeds. This is known as gastro-oesophageal reflux.

Vomiting is very common in children. But it can be an unpleasant and frightening experience for you and your child. It might help to know that children usually get over vomiting very quickly.

Symptoms related to vomiting

Children who are vomiting often also have stomach pain, diarrhoea and nausea.

Dehydration is one of the serious risks of vomiting, especially in young babies. Signs of dehydration include fewer wees (with fewer wet nappies in babies), sunken eyes, dry tongue and mouth, loss of weight, tiredness or low energy.

Medical help: when to get it for children and teenagers who are vomiting

If your child is under 6 months old and has vomiting, always see your GP or child and family health nurse.

You should take your child to the GP if your child:

• is vomiting often and can’t seem to keep fluids down
• has poor weight gain because of vomiting.

Take your child to a hospital emergency department or call 000 for an ambulance straight away if your child:

• has blood-stained or green vomit
• has severe or persistent stomach pain with vomiting
• shows signs of being very unwell.

Also seek emergency medical attention if your child seems to be dehydrated. For example, your child isn’t passing urine, looks thin, has lost colour in their face, has sunken eyes, cold hands and cold feet, is drowsy or is very cranky.

Projectile vomiting
Projectile vomiting is when young babies throw up the contents of their stomachs with a lot of force. This can be linked to a serious condition called pyloric stenosis. If your child has projectile vomiting that happens often, especially soon after feeding, and it doesn’t seem to be going away, you should see your doctor as soon as you can.

You know your child best. If your child seems unwell, seek medical attention. Signs that your child has a serious condition that requires urgent medical attention include severe pain, drowsiness, skin that’s pale, blue or grey, dehydration, troubled breathing, seizures and reduced responsiveness.

Treatment for vomiting

If your child is vomiting from conditions like gastro or food poisoning, the most important thing is to make sure your child has enough to drink. Your child also needs reassurance and comfort.

Give your child small amounts to drink often – for example, a few mouthfuls every 15 minutes. This will help to prevent dehydration.

It’s best to use an oral rehydration fluid like Gastrolyte, Hydralyte, Pedialyte or Repalyte. You can buy these fluids over the counter from a pharmacy. These products might come as premade liquid, powder or icy poles for freezing. Make sure that you make up the liquid carefully according to the instructions on the packet.

If you can’t get oral rehydration fluid, you can use diluted lemonade, cordial or fruit juice. Use 1 part lemonade or juice to 4 parts water. Full-strength lemonade, cordial or fruit juice might make any diarrhoea worse, so don’t give these to your child.

If you have a breastfed baby, keep breastfeeding but feed more often. You can also give your baby oral rehydration fluid between increased feeds.

If you have a bottle-fed baby, give them only oral rehydration fluid for the first 24 hours and then reintroduce full-strength formula in smaller, more frequent feeds. You can still offer extra oral rehydration fluids between feeds.

If your child doesn’t want to drink, try to get them drinking more by offering fluids via a syringe, spoon or straw. Or it might help to chill drinks first. Your child could also suck icy poles.

You shouldn’t use over-the-counter medicines to stop vomiting in children. The side effects of these medicines can be very serious. Sometimes doctors prescribe medicines to stop vomiting.