 I am Dr. Soufla Saxena. I am a consultant pediatric gastroenterologist and optologist at Manipal Hospital, Garkha and today I am going to talk about a very common condition vomiting in children and babies. As you know that occasional vomiting is quite common in children and babies and usually they get better on their own within 24 to 48 hours. Now if your child is persistently vomiting then that is something you are really really worried about. Now there could be various reasons or causes wherein your child can have vomiting so let's look at them one by one. The most common cause of vomiting in children is gastroenteritis as in common language we call them a stomach bug or stomach flu. Usually it gets better on its own within 24 to 48 hours. You will see sometimes whenever you know when you say in common language oh my child has got tummy upset the child may be vomiting or the child may have associated diarrhea or loose motion. And when you rehydrate the child the child gets better or tends to feel better within 24 to 48 hours. But sometimes this vomiting is persistent and it can be associated with severe signs or symptoms like the child may be having fever or the child may look very very distressed. The child may be drowsy then again it is very important to remember that this can be a sign of some severe infection which could be a brain infection or chest infection or an ear infection or a simple urine infection. So these are something you should remember by then there are other common and important causes which are on a rise like food allergies. Food allergies are becoming very very common in children and these are one of the reasons wherein child can have persistent vomiting or the child can have single vomiting in days over a prolonged period of time. So sometimes what happens if a child is allergic to a food the child will immediately react to it like the child will have persistent vomiting and there could be a company you know facial itchiness or rash or redness of the eyes or swelling around the lips. So you know that the child must be allergic to a particular food or it can be a prolonged allergy in which the child could be persistently vomiting over a period of days. So that is something which is important to remember. Secondly if your child is very severely constipated so you can see that the child has been complaining of tummy pain for few days and then suddenly you know the child has started to vomit probably once in each day. The vomit can happen any time of the day you know mostly that these kids are more nauseous during the early morning because they are not able to be fresh, feel fresh. So you know they may have early morning nausea or vomiting. So that is again a very important cause which is becoming important nowadays. Thirdly, reflux or peptic ulcer disease which we used to think that it is a disease of adults has now become very very common in children especially the teenagers and adolescents. More so because they have now a different kind of lifestyle. They have more sedentary lifestyle. They are spending more time on their abs, their habit of eating junk food. You will see that during nowadays exams are going on the stress level of students are very very high and their sleeping patterns is completely disturbed. So because of that also they might have increased incidence of reflux or vomiting or nausea. So that is something again which needs to be looked at can be treated. And then there are other common or other causes which could be surgical causes in children like you know the child may have appendicitis. But in that usually they will be vomiting with severe abdomen or child may have fever or child may be drowsy you know. In that case obviously you have to immediately rush to the hospital. Then there are other less common causes like eating disorders or psychic vomiting which is common in children. Now let's look at the common causes of vomiting in babies. Again gastroenteritis as seen in children is also common in babies as well. They may have a stomach flu sometimes and usually babies along with vomiting they may have diarrhea. But again with rehydration babies tends to get better. In that case you have to ensure that you know if you are breastfeeding you continue to breastfeed. Or if you are you know giving bottle feed then you continue to bottle feed as much as the thyroid is able to tolerate. Reflux is extremely common in babies but most of the physiological reflux or the normal reflux that we know they usually outgrow them by 6 months of age. But if the vomiting are persisting after 6 months of age in babies then it's very very important to seek a specialist advice. Then there are some surgical causes in babies. There could be some stomach condition like you know pyloric stenosis or other surgical condition which can lead to persistent vomiting at a very early age. That means again a specialist advice. So now what do we do? How do we care for our child at home when the child is vomiting? So obviously initially if you are suspecting any kind of you know mild stomach upset you ensure that your child is hydrated by means of giving them you know simple clear liquids. The liquid can be oral rehydration solution. Nowadays all these oral rehydration solutions are available in the TATRA pack as well. So kids prefer that as compared to the previous ones. Then secondly you can give them other clear fluids like coconut water or buttermilk whatever the child tolerates and don't force them to drink excessively. Give them sit by sit but at frequent intervals. If it's a baby then make sure that you are feeding the baby regularly or you know giving food regularly. Don't force the child to eat food. If the child has an appetite you can offer solid food but if the child doesn't want to eat then just make sure that the child is adequately hydrated. It's important to remember some of the dangerous signs. So if your child is vomiting persistently the vomiting is not getting better in 24 to 48 hours. There are other associated signs and symptoms like fever or your child is really drowsy or a complaining of severe tummy pain or you know headache. Or if the color of the vomiting is green or blood stain or the child is not passing adequate amount of urine or not having the babies are not having enough wet nappies. Then you have to remember that you have to quickly rush to the nearby hospital for an exoperative course.