Rotavirus

Tina and I had the joy over the past week of watching our 2-yr old son suffer the effects of Rotavirus. This is a virus that almost everyone has experienced by 3 years of age, and is dangerous because of the dehydration that it brings on.

This morning, he was suffering the full symptoms (vomiting and diarrhea). We put him down for his afternoon nap, and as suddenly as the symptoms came on a week ago, they totally disappeared after he woke up. He appears to be fine now!

But, his twin sister woke up from her nap and started vomiting... Here's to another week of this fun!

One big problem with a toddler that has Rotavirus is that the child likely does not want to drink anything. Below are some tips that our Pediatrician recommended for keeping a child hydrated (the alternative is IV therapy in a hospital).

1. Give 2 fluid ounces of liquid at a time. Wait 15-30 minutes to see the results.

2. No fats: For milk, serve only skim milk. In Evan's case, he had absolutely no interest in drinking anything other than milk. Even though it came back up more often than not, he still got some hydration benefits from it (we just had to do MANY loads of laundry). BTW: Rotavirus is known to cause temporary lactose intolerance.

3. You can give Gatoraide if they'll take it. Yeah, yeah, it has loads of sugars, etc, but with this game, getting them to drink liquids is what's important, not healthy habits. Plus, the electrolytes will help.

4. Try small amounts of applesauce, if they are up for eating.

5. Try popsicles if they don't want to drink anything (this didn't even work for Evan).

6. Try ice chips.

7. Be persistant, but not forceful.