Vomiting and diarrhoea

What can you do if your child is vomiting and has diarrhoea? What should you pay special attention to?

The film provides simple advice and guidance on how to keep an eye on your child, what you can do to ease your child's discomfort, and when to call your general practitioner, medical on-call service, emergency helpline or 112.

The most important advice if your child is vomiting and has diarrhoea

Most children experience vomiting and diarrhoea. It is uncomfortable, but will often go away on its own after a few days.

It is important that you make sure that your child drinks a lot of fluid. It may be necessary to entice or urge your child to drink. Let your child drink whatever he or she feels like. However, soft drinks and juice should be diluted with water. Give small portions of fluid at short intervals. For example, a couple of spoonfuls or sips every five minutes. Large quantities can make the vomiting worse.

It does not matter if your child does not eat anything for a couple of days, as long as he or she drinks fluids and urinates.

Illnesses with vomiting and diarrhoea are contagious, so remember to wash your hands and use a hand sanitiser.

Advice:

Give small portions of fluid at short intervals.
Do not hesitate to give your child paracetamol (such as Panodil® Junior, Pinex®, Arax® Junior or Pamol®) if he or she has a fever. Follow the instructions on the package.
Wait a couple of hours to see whether what you have done is working.

Call your general practitioner in the daytime. After that, call the medical on-call service or the emergency helpline if your child:

Is younger than six months
Is lethargic or listless
Is not drinking much, and there are more hours than usual between urinating – even if you have tried giving small portions of fluid
Has blood in his or her stools or vomit
Has severe stomach pain, seems agitated, uncomfortable – or will not move

Or if you just feel that things are going in the wrong direction, even though you have tried the advice in this guide.

Call 112:

If your child is lethargic or listless, and you have difficulty getting contact with your child, for example, if you cannot get eye contact
If your child has a severe, constant stomach ache.