PLEASE give me your opinions - 3yo with emetaphobia?

[kickassangel]

at half term dd had a bad stomach bug - 24 hours without keeping anything down. since then she has made a few comments about 'it will make me sick' when given food, but has had her usual very healthy appetite.
this weekend she had a cough & a temperature. on sun night she was up a lot because of the temp, but kept saying 'i won't be sick' she has NO sign of an upset stomach but is now refusing to eat in case it makes her feel sick! apart from a slight cough she is fine, so i have sent her to nursery hoping she'll go with the flow & eat with the others. unfortunately, she showed no signs of eating breakfast when she got there.
so, please, any ideas/opinions?
how long should i leave her like this?
should i go into full scale alert, see a doctor, or just chill & assume that she'll eat when she's ready. she hasn't eaten a proper meal since sat, and last night woudn't even have a jaffa cake!

It sounds like she needs to associate vomitting with a bug and not with food. Can you do a picture of a girl with a cartoon bug in her tummy and explain that the only way her tummy has of getting the bug out is 'up or down' and how clever her tummy is to get rid of the nasty bug as she can't keep it in her tummy can she? Maybe explain that food will help keep the bug away because bugs hate fruit, veg etc... Not sure if it will work, kids can be so stubborn sometimes can't they? It's a nasty bug going around this time too, I hope she starts eating better soon

not very good at drawing but i shall try that if she continues.
has anyone else had this? is it normal? or is she about to go from a very easy child to one who won't eat?

Was this her first ever tummy bug? When my dd was sick for the first time she spent some days afterwards being very frightened of it happening again. Plus you say yours is also under the weather with a nasty cough so will be probably feeling off her food anyway.

Emetophobia at 3? I really don't know. But as a life-long sufferer of emetophobia (started age 5 but it didn't kick in in full-on mode until I was 7 or 8) if your dd is showing signs of fear of vomiting I would take things very calmly. At least she's telling you that she's scared, I kept my fear hidden from everyone and pretended to eat but secretly stashed all my food all over the place so if you can keep communication open I'd think that's the best thing you can do.

And I certainly wouldn't panic just yet. She's probably still feeling very delicate after Saturday.

since her tummy bug at half term she has kept mentioning it - it was the first time she'd been sick since last easter. she usually bounces back from things really quickly so this is very unusual. i've just phoned nursery & she keeps saying she wants a poo but not going, could be bunged up from all the phlegm etc? how many days without eating before i need to worry? she's had a few raisins & 2 slices of carrot so far!

but how long can she go without eating? do i try to make her eat, or just hope she'll start again?

kickassangel, if she's ill with a temperature still she won't have any appetite which will probably fuel her fears that she might be sick if she eats. When she's feeling genuinely well and hungry again I'm sure you'll find she'll eat something. If she doesn't then I'd think about seeing the GP although I haven't a clue how they'd deal with a 3-year-old with emetophobia when they seem unable to deal with adults with it! Have you looked at any of the websites dealing with fear of vomiting just to see what the youngest known age is to have it?

How has she been since nursery?

My dd is 4.5 and always goes off food in a major way when she's unwell, even with a runny nose I can't get her to eat a thing.

Califrau, I can't remember anything at 4 so I usually estimate my emetophobia as starting at 5. My mum says I was a difficult feeder from day one though. Do you know what triggered yours?