5yr old vomiting for 5 days

[LucindaJane]

My 5yr old child has been vomiting since Sunday night. 4 times on Sunday night, 4 times on Monday and then just once Tuesday, Wednesday and now tonight.

She's not eating much, understandably. Drinking a little water. I thought she'd turned a corner because she was singing and playing yesterday evening after having been really lethargic since Sunday night. And then today she has been dancing and playing. But still has vomited up the little she ate for dinner (1 or 2 forkfuls).

She has no diarrhoea, no fever (a little colder than usual though - temp reading 35.7/9 mostly). She does say her tummy hurts but that's not surprising.

I'm thinking of calling GP in the morning. I tried calling 111 this evening but they couldn't help as she was asleep and I really didn't want to her wake her as she's just so tired and I think needs the sleep. Do I need to do anything tonight or just call GP at 8am?

If she’s drinking well and peeing then I don’t think there’s any urgent need tonight. There’s a lot of tummy bugs going round, nasty ones. It’s definitely a good sign that she has been happier today

Is she dehydrated? If not I'd probably keep an eye on her overnight and ring the gp first thing. I'm surprised 111 didn't make you wake her, a friend had similar and they got reported because between the first call and 111 getting back they had been to the urgent care centre and therefore didn't want to wake their little boy when they got back, but 111 were insisting. Anyway thats an aside. Never heard of it happening to anyone else.

She is drinking a little, yes. She has been doing wees every day (less than usual but she hasn't been drinking quite as much).

I don't think she is particularly dehydrated. Lips aren't dry, her skin is normal, her wee is an okay colour.

111 asked me to wake her, but she had just fallen asleep and is really tired (couldn't make it to the end of the movie we were watching and she loves it - and normally takes ages to fall asleep) so I said I didn't want to. They just said I can call back when/if she wakes tonight.

Could she have eaten or drunk anything that would have caused this? I know stomach bugs can go on longer than we think. But my youngest had 6-7 days of sickness and diarrhoea at a similar age which turned out to be food poisoning. We had a drop in centre near by at the time and they were monitoring her throughout. One more day and they would have admitted her to hospital due to worries about dehydration. So I would be mindful about this if she's not eating or drinking enough on top.

I don't think it's something she's eaten. The rest of the house are fine and she's not a baby who would accidentally get into something. She did once swallow a toy and we went to hospital in case and so she knows to just tell me if she has swallowed something and she won't be in trouble.

She is stirring now - I think her tummy is hurting her. She's moaning in her sleep. Think I will have to call 111 and wake her.

Ah I see, I think my friend was refusing to wake her son and didn't want to phone back, that was the difference.
Poor little thing, sounds like you will have to phone anyway. Hope you get somewhere with it.

Thanks guys. 111 clinician is going to call back in 30 minutes.

How is she today OP

Try get her on coconut water to restore electrolytes.
I hope she feels better OP, never fun when they're unwell.

Hi guys. We had a bit of a palava getting help. Phoned 111 as above and a GP called us back. Said maybe uti, maybe sickness bug. Couldn't give is an appt at our local hospital for OOH GP due to an Internet issue, but unfortunately I don't drive so couldn't take her further out. We agreed to see GP in the morning. Went to GP who very quickly said sickness bug and didn't even want to dip her urine. We felt quite fobbed off. Got home and little one was sick and writhing in pain - phoned back GP to be told to go to A&E. A long 6 hour wait and we got a diagnosis of a bad UTI. She has antibiotics and is hopefully on the mend now.

Thanks for all of your advice.

Hi there, I've been lurking on these pages for a week now desperately trying to read up on something similar because our 19 month old daughter has also been vomiting every other night for the past week. We cannot understand what's happening and she's too young to tell us and articulate how she's feeling. She must be exhausted because we certainly are.

@LucindaJane what were her symptoms please? Our daughter was sick repeatedly last Saturday/early Sunday morning and bizarrely every other night since then she's vomited once sometime between midnight and 3.00am. She seems otherwise fine and during the day there's nothing wrong with her, she wants to eat, drink and play, no temperature etc.

We have an out-of-hours appt this evening and I'm trying to get a urine sample to take with me but with a young toddler this isn't proving easy! I'm kind of hoping it is a UTI because I hate second-guessing and being told to ride it out when our washing machine is about to explode through over-use

@Rawlsss So sorry to hear about your little one. It's awful when they're ill.

My daughter was sick every day and lethargic. Tummy pain which made her whimper and cry. But not constantly - intermittently. The doctor at Urgent Care felt her tummy down to her pelvis and tested her urine which was super clear - UTI. We were asked to do a sample when we went to Urgent Care. My daughter didn't do want to do one at home, but the novelty of being at hospital made it a bit easier.

Hope you get an answer.

We've also had a bug in our house over the last 2 weeks resulting in the two kids basically taking it in turns to puke every 48 hours - just as they're ready to go back to childcare. We're exhausted and on tenterhooks and they're shadows of themselves at this stage. One had been diagnosed with an ear infection but re the other we've just been told to get on with it and wait for it to pass. It doesn't feel like it will at this stage.

It's so frustrating isn't it. It's also confusing because everything you Google says vomiting normally ends after 1/2 days with just diarrhoea continuing for longer (for most bugs), yet the 111 GP said to me that vomiting for 5 days in this age group is a concern. And it's just horrible seeing them get weaker.

@KeepYaHeadUp Can you take your kids for another opinion?

Our little one also tested for a UTI, although they said it was quite mild (only after I asked them to test for a water infection) so they gave us antibiotics. We're 3 days clear of vomit so far but I'm not holding my breath...!

There's definitely a horrible stomach bug going around that doesn't seem to want to go away any time soon :(