My 9-month-old and I both caught a stoma
For reference only. Not medical advice.
Question
My 9-month-old and I both caught a stomach bug last night. How do I keep her hydrated while I'm vomiting too, and is it safe to keep breastfeeding? Real household: caregiver juggling school week and one elder or sibling nearby. Schedule: Sun partner works until 18:00; pediatric nurse line open 24h. Kitchen/home right now: oral rehydration solution, bottles, towels, thermometer. Already tried: giving her only water when she would not nurse. Please answer as a practical family-care guide: what to do next tonight/today, what to avoid, and a clear decision tree. Constraints: respect «No diagnosis, no medication changes»; no dosing kids/pets/elders yourself; no mystery powders or buying prescription meds online; keep steps screenshot-friendly under ~25 minutes where cooking/care applies. Structure your help as (1) what I already tried vs better alternatives, (2) constraints/avoid list, (3) red flags—when to stop DIY and get clinical/urgent help. Keep the voice concrete and kind for a tired caregiver; stay inside kitchen/home-care/communication levers only. Name what success looks like in 24 hours without promising cures. Avoid brand shopping lists; focus on routines, food already at home, and communication scripts caregivers can screenshot.
Answer
Keep breastfeeding, and call your 24-hour paediatric nurse line tonight — before you change anything else — because a 9-month-old who is refusing feeds is the part that needs a professional ear, not a better home trick.
1. What you tried vs. what to do instead
| What you did | What to do tonight |
|---|---|
| Water only, because she would not nurse | Keep offering the breast as often as she will take it, even in short sips. Breast milk is her fluid and her food; stopping it is the one thing not to do during a tummy bug. |
| Water only | Swap plain water for the oral rehydration solution already in your kitchen, given in small amounts from a bottle or syringe, as the packet label or the nurse line directs. Plain water on its own is not the right fluid for a baby who is losing fluid. |
| Nothing recorded | Write down the times as you go: last feed kept down, vomits, wet nappies. That log is the single most useful thing you can hand the nurse line, and it costs nothing while you are both ill. |
| Carrying it alone | The nurse line is open 24h. Call once, early, and then you have a plan on paper instead of a fresh judgement at 3am. |
For you: small sips of the same oral rehydration solution, or your own fluids, taken slowly, sitting down. You cannot nurse her well while you are dry yourself.
2. Constraints and avoid list
- No anti-diarrhoeal medicine for a baby this age, and none of your own leftover ones either.
- No anti-sickness tablets for her, and no leftover ones prescribed to someone else. In children they can hide a serious cause.
- No homemade sugar-and-salt mixes, no sports drinks, no juice, no soft drinks, no diluted formula as her fluid. The ready-made packet in your cupboard is the one to use.
- No mystery powders, no herbal remedies, nothing bought online without a prescription.
- No antibiotics from a previous illness left in the house.
- No force-feeding when she turns her head. Let her stop, then offer again a few minutes later.
- Wash hands with soap after every nappy and every feed. One towel per person, and do not share the baby's towel with the older child.
- Do not use her temperature as the decision-maker tonight. How alert she is, whether she wakes, and whether she is urinating matter far more than the number on the thermometer.
3. Decision tree, tonight and tomorrow
She is breastfeeding or taking ORS, alert and playful between sleeps, and wetting nappies → keep going with breast milk plus small ORS amounts, keep her usual food, and let the nurse line guide you.
She refuses everything for a few hours but is still waking and still has wet nappies → call the nurse line and ask how long you can safely wait before being seen.
Any of these → stop home care and get her assessed now, today, not tomorrow:
- She is hard to wake, floppy, or not herself between sleeps.
- She has passed almost no urine, or her nappies are dry for many hours.
- Hands and feet cold, skin pale or blotchy, breathing deep or heavy.
- Vomit is dark green, or there is blood in the stool, or her belly is swollen or hard.
- She has a fit, or a rash that does not fade under a glass pressed firmly to it.
- She cannot keep any fluid down at all.
If you are also too unwell to hold her safely, or you cannot get to a clinic with her, say so plainly on the nurse line and ask where to go.
What success looks like in 24 hours — not a cure, just the signs you are winning: she is more alert and more herself between sleeps, she takes the breast or ORS in small amounts more often than not, wet nappies continue, and the vomiting spaces out rather than stopping abruptly. The bug itself is allowed to run its course; the goal is that she is not drying out while it does.
I can't tell you what is causing this or what she needs beyond fluids and breast milk — the nurse line and a clinician decide that, and no medicine change is made tonight without them.
One question that changes the plan: what is coming out of her — plain or milky, or dark green — and has any diarrhoea started yet?