Diet for Vomiting and Diarrhea (Child)

Giving liquids and food

When giving oral rehydration solution:

• Only use oral rehydration solution bought in a store. Don't make your own solution. This is very important. A homemade solution may not have the right amounts of ingredients that are needed.

• If vomiting or diarrhea gets better after 2 to 3 hours, you can stop the oral rehydration solution. You can then give your child other clear liquids such as water. They can suck on ice cubes. Don't give fluids with a lot of sugar. Don’t give juice or soda.

• Slowly increase the amount of clear liquids. You can alternate them with oral rehydration solution.

• If your child is a baby and you're breastfeeding, do so unless your provider tells you to stop. If you feed formula to your baby, give oral rehydration solution in small amounts. Do this for a few hours. When the vomiting eases, you may restart the formula.

For solid foods:

• If desired and tolerated, your child may eat solid food.

• Your child can start solid food 12 to 24 hours after diarrhea or vomiting has stopped. Continue to give plenty of clear liquids.

• Don’t force your child to eat. Don’t feed your child large amounts at a time, even if they're hungry. This can make your child feel worse. You can give your child more food over time if they can tolerate it.

• If your child's symptoms come back, go back to a simple diet or clear liquids.

Foods you can give include:

• Cereal

• Mashed potatoes

• Applesauce

• Mashed bananas

• Crackers

• Dry toast

• Rice

• Oatmeal

• Bread

• Noodles

• Pretzels

• Soups with rice or noodles

• Cooked vegetables

As your child feels better, you can try giving them lean meats and yogurt.

Follow-up care

Follow up with your child’s healthcare provider as advised. If a stool sample was taken or cultures were done, call for the results as instructed.

Call 911

Call 911 if your child has any of these signs or symptoms:

• Trouble breathing

• Confusion

• Extreme drowsiness

• Trouble walking

• Fainting

• Fast heart rate

• Stiff neck

• Seizure

When to get medical care

Call the healthcare provider right away if your child has any of these:

• Belly (abdominal) pain that gets worse

• Constant lower right belly pain

• Repeated vomiting after the first 2 hours on liquids

• Occasional vomiting for more than 24 hours

• More than 8 diarrhea stools within 8 hours

• Severe diarrhea for more than 24 hours

• Blood in vomit or stool

• Drinking less fluid than usual

• Dark urine or no urine for 4 to 6 hours in babies and young children, or 6 for 8 hours in older children, no tears when crying, sunken eyes, or dry mouth

• Fussiness or crying that can't be soothed

• Unusual drowsiness

• New rash

• Diarrhea lasts more than 1 week on antibiotics

• A child age 2 or older has a fever for more than 3 days

• A child of any age has repeated fevers above 104°F (40°C)