Vomiting at Bedtime - Any Ideas?

[Lovestosing]

10 year old DD has always had a sensitive stomach, she is sometimes sick after eating party food or rich food without having too much of it. Since March she would occasionally vomit within half an hour of going to bed, this would happen once a fortnight at least. She isn’t making herself ill, it seems to come on at bedtime, it is more likely to happen if we have our main meal later than usual or if it is rich food. I did think it was anxiety induced due to not being at school but recently I have wondered if it is something else as the last few times I have witnessed it coming over her as soon as she lies down. She feels fine, lies down then immediately feels sick and often vomits. Does anyone have any experience of this? I am making her an appointment with the GP but I’m worried they will fob us off.

I don’t have direct experience of this but DD age 8 has had reflux off and on for a few years and it will often be worse at bedtime so I guess that has a similar cause - lying down on a full stomach and the stomach valve giving way.

DD has Gaviscon but obviously that wouldn’t help with actual vomiting. We were also advised to have her eat smaller amounts, ie little and often rather than big meals, and earlier before bed, at least 2 hours.

There are syndromes like this I think, it's not always anxiety. It doesn't fit the criteria here for cyclical vomiting but the article also gives suggestions for investigations and managing symptoms. www.nhs.uk/conditions/cyclical-vomiting-syndrome/
PS don't clean teeth after vomiting it erodes the enamel. I should say to gp that you have considered anxiety but noticed that it does not fit.

Could she possibly have reflux?
I get it quite bad and lying down makes it worse.
Maybe try raising the head of her bed. Gaviscon is suitable for ages 6 and over.

Thank you for your suggestions. I have wondered whether it could be reflux but she doesn’t get any pain or a burning sensation, would it still fit? I have also wondered whether it could be caused by a food intolerance but it happens after eating all sorts of things so I’m not sure that’s it.

How's her chewing? I know it may sound disgusting but have you seen the sick and if there's large chunks of food? Sometimes when they don't chew properly could cause this as well. My younger brother was like this and would literally swallow and would vomit before bedtime or would wake up when asleep to vomit.

Could be hiatal hernia?

I think I have this (tho am much much older!). It is aggravated by tomatoes in food. No pain with mine, just vomiting.

No help but interested to read the replies. My 3yo had silent reflux and colic as a baby but by 1yo seemed fine. However, he is prone to random mild vomiting, usually in the evening or soon after bedtime. There are often larger lumps, and he did tend to shovel in his food and not chew fully. So both the speed and size of the food might be triggering it. He otherwise seems fine in himself.

No help but interested to read the replies. My 3yo had silent reflux and colic as a baby but by 1yo seemed fine. However, he is prone to random mild vomiting, usually in the evening or soon after bedtime. There are often larger lumps, and he did tend to shovel in his food and not chew fully. So both the speed and size of the food might be triggering it. He otherwise seems fine in himself.

Is she too full or overeating? Sounds like maybe eating too much too close to bed time. Could you do dinner earlier (say 5 pm) then a very light snack before bed (yoghurt and banana or bowl of cereal or plain toast etc) if she’s still hungry

Some good suggestions for medical issues to eliminate though.

Meant to say sometimes a good diary can help..... if you write down what she’s eaten how much and what times..... you could also make a note of activities and emotions across the day and see if there’s any correlation.

I dod this for myself with my own disordered eating and was very interesting to see the links between daily activities, emotions and eating habits

Thank you for your suggestions. I’ll try giving her lighter meals but more snacks and will start keeping a food diary and see how she is.

Sounds like stomach issues GURD etc