Children under the age of three often throw up. There could be any number of reasons why this happens and more often that not, vomiting is usually a harmless phenomenon and can be treated at home.
Nevertheless, if your toddler vomits and this is followed or accompanied with a fever, it is best to check with your doctor and determine the cause for it.
Causes of fever and vomiting
• Viral infections
Viral infection or stomach flu is the most common reason for vomiting and fever in toddlers. In such cases, it is best to give your child as much fluids as possible along with a Tylenol. Usually, this will do the trick. If you suspect a stomach bug, then avoid giving your toddler oily, fatty food, which could trigger more vomiting. Speak to your doctor and find out the best means to keep your toddler hydrated and replenished.
In certain cases, the vomiting and fever is an indication of diarrhea. If so, your toddler will complain of a stomach ache and loss of appetite. However, this is no cause for concern, as the vomiting usually stops in a day or two.
• Temper tantrums
While it doesn’t always happen, sometimes if your toddler is throwing temper tantrums, then excessive crying and screaming can trigger vomiting and at times cause high body temperatures. Fever, though, is very rare and vomiting as a result of a tantrum is not going to cause any health issues for your toddler. So the best thing to do would be to clean your child up and give him/her some fluids and on the whole ignore the tantrum.
• Other infections
Regular flu or other infections like ear or urinary infections can also cause fever and vomiting. Particularly, with an ear infection, your toddler will be cranky, usually run a fever and vomit if force-fed. If your toddler is running a fever and is vomiting, press his/her tummy to check if there is any discomfort. Speak to your doctor so you can try and figure out the infection that is causing the vomiting and fever. Fever and vomiting are also early symptoms of serious conditions like pneumonia, meningitis, appendicitis and jaundice. Typically, vomiting is caused by stomach and intestine related infections.
• Eating undesirable/poisonous stuff
The instinct to put anything new into the mouth is pretty strong in a toddler, even though the teething phase is over. This can, at times, be troublesome as your child could swallow some food or material that can trigger food poisoning. In such cases, toddler vomiting along with mild fever is early symptoms, which need to be addressed immediately.
By and large, you need to check if your toddler has vomited only once or is it happening repeatedly. Usually, if there was mild fever and vomiting only once, it was probably nothing and there is no cause for worry. However, as parents, it’s best to be safe rather than sorry. So, talk to your doctor in case of doubt.
Submitted by P T on March 17, 2010 at 05:10