2 yo DS throws up randomly..all the time

amother

Lawngreen

Sat, Sep 26 2015, 8:23 pm

Okay, not all the time. But I can recall at least 6-7 isolated incidents this past year where he just threw up out of nowhere. No fever, diahrea, crankiness before or after.. My doctor keeps shrugging me off but how could this be normal?? I don't notice a pattern in terms of what he's eating that triggers it, so I don't think it's a food sensitivity. Today he threw up his breakfast (sorry tmi) of fruit. But he threw it up 12 hours later!! And my older son ate the exact same fruit and is fine!!

I'm going crazy..It's awful for my son and a disgusting mess for us every time. Has anyone heard of anything like this??

simchat

Sat, Sep 26 2015, 8:48 pm

My son is a bit like that. Just throws up for seemingly no reason, no fever, diarrhea... Nothing. Plus once it`s over, he asks for food and eats a ton! No more vomiting. We`ve figured out with the help of a professional that he`s likely an emotional vomiter. He`s very sensitive and it seems to affect his stomach when he`s unhappy. He doesn`t do it so often anymore since he`s learned to express himself better (he`s now 3 1/2).

mom24.7

Sat, Sep 26 2015, 8:50 pm

My daughter used to throw up for no reason and it drove me mad. Dr claimed she had a sensitive gag reflex. When anything tickled her throat she simply vomited. She grew out of it with time.

simchat

Sat, Sep 26 2015, 8:56 pm

Oh, and I also know of a kid who throws up when she`s scared, unhappy or doesn`t want to do something (sheer stubbornness). Some kids are just really prone to vomiting.

purpleonion

Sat, Sep 26 2015, 9:01 pm

I used to have it as a kid , till we tested and it showed I was allergic to milk products . Once you ruled out allergies its very common that it's happening from emotional reasons

LittleRed

Sat, Sep 26 2015, 9:41 pm

One of my kids also gagged and threw up randomly but she just has a very sensitive gag reflex. If theres a tickle in her throat or coughs too hard or has a hair in her mouth she gags. Used to throw up from it but now she's 3 and she'll gag sometimes but mostly outgrew the throwing up and learned to stay calm if she feels sick. Do any food textures seem to bother him? In my experience, thats a sign of sensitivity. Also, he may feel a normal tickle in his throat and get nervous that he's going to throw up, which makes it worse.

amother

Lawngreen

Sat, Sep 26 2015, 9:42 pm

simchat wrote:

This would totally fit..as he's a sensitive kid too but there was really nothing going on today to upset him. He was just going about his business and threw up! I hope he grows out of it too!

amother

Lawngreen

Sat, Sep 26 2015, 9:43 pm

LittleRed wrote:

Hmm..interesting. He's a picky eater but I don't think he's too particular about texture. I myself have a sensitive gag reflex so maybe he inherited it a little bit?

OutATowner

Sat, Sep 26 2015, 11:38 pm

You mention he's a picky eater. If he drinks more than he eats that may be the cause. I will elaborate if you think this is the case.

miami85

Sun, Sep 27 2015, 12:05 am

We had something very similar-- vomitting randomly--though it got to the point that it was mostly in the car. We considered sensitive gag reflex and car sickness, but ultimately I took him to a GI and asked if it could be reflux and after 2 months on zantac he hasn't really had an episode (other than the occaisional episode which IS b/c of sensitive gag reflex). Also, check to make sure he's chewing well. My son still vomits if he doesn't chew well.

LittleRed

Sun, Sep 27 2015, 12:17 am

It's very possible that it's a family thing to have a sensitive gag reflex. I definitely do so it's not a huge surprise to me that my daughter does. Good luck! I hope he outgrows it because it is gross to deal with. As he gets older you can try to keep an eye out for him eating/drinking too fast or starting to gag. Teach him to slow down, breath calmly and maybe catch it before he's actually vomiting.

12rivkyk34

Sun, Sep 27 2015, 2:28 am

My daughter (at age 10) had this for about a yr (like once a month would vomit a few times one day and then be totally fine) and doctor recommended taking her off dairy products even though it didn't show up when tested at allergist. Ever since then it disappeared completely unless she accidentally eats something with dairy.

amother

Lawngreen

Sun, Sep 27 2015, 3:26 am

OutATowner wrote:

You mention he's a picky eater. If he drinks more than he eats that may be the cause. I will elaborate if you think this is the case.

There are actually days like this. I have to remind dh a lot not to keep just giving him sippy cups of milk bc it suppresses his appetite even more. Can you elaborate? TIA!

amother

Lawngreen

Sun, Sep 27 2015, 3:30 am

miami85 wrote:

We had something very similar-- vomitting randomly--though it got to the point that it was mostly in the car. We considered sensitive gag reflex and car sickness, but ultimately I took him to a GI and asked if it could be reflux and after 2 monthls on zantac he hasn't really had an episode (other than the occaisional episode which IS b/c of sensitive gag reflex). Also, check to make sure he's chewing well. My son still vomits if he doesn't chew well.

I am thinking of bringing him to a gi just to be on the safe side..the only reason I kind of feel like the gag reflex and the chewing ate unrelated though is because of the timing..he'll throw up a long time after eating; often right before bed. Also in the car, and I never let him eat in the car because of that gag reflex.

Thanks everyone for your helpful responses! If anything I'm glad to hear other kids had it and outgrew it!

OutATowner

Sun, Sep 27 2015, 12:18 pm

Sure. DS refused to eat many foods (we found out later it was because his recurring ear infections made it painful for him to swallow.) As he got older he would vomit without warning up to several times a day. The doctor explained that as his stomach gets bigger he need solid foods to absorb the liquid. Without enough solid food at that age the stomach doesn't digest the liquid properly and it causes vomiting.
As soon as he started eating more real food the vomiting stopped.
You mentioned he ate fruit one day. Fruit is very acidic. If he just has fruit and milk it's just not comfortable for his stomach to digest, even if he seems ok. This may also be why it happens hours later, it's not about chewing, it's digestion.
Picky eaters are not fun, I sympathize. Try giving him more healthy carbs and see if that helps.
Good luck! Have a wonderful, vomit-free yom tov!

notshanarishona

Mon, Sep 28 2015, 1:40 pm

My daughter does the same thing.. We haven't come up with a solution but have found certain things that help.
- raising her pillow if it happens more at night
- not pushing too much to eat once she says no
- trying to give less liquids
- It happens a lot after long periods of crying so even though chinuch wise it's probably a bad idea, try to appease if very upset
- distraction if you see that she is gagging noise

mommy12

Tue, Sep 29 2015, 10:07 pm

My son would throw up randomly. It would be when he ate, when he didn't eat, any time. He has reflux and a really sensitive gag reflex. I hated it. It's less frequent now but still happens every so often.

miami85

Tue, Sep 29 2015, 10:13 pm

amother wrote:

From experience, I took my son to a GI and he was about to not do anything for us until I made the connection of a possibility of reflux, so you may have to be pushy about it. We also so no real pattern of the vomitting other than 1)often in the car 2) I noticed he would burp frequently after drinking. He was also a picky eater and drank a lot. It was suggested we take away the sippy cup (we replaced with cups with straws) so that he'd drink less..