rotavirus, help!

[mandalamama]

my daughter was diagnosed with stomach flu last week and the dr. said it'd be gone in 3 days. but it's getting worse, the diarrhea and vomiting, so the dr. said it's rotavirus. i am not familiar with this at all! never even heard of it before. poor baby can't keep anything down, and when she vomits she screams, i think that's because she already has GERD. she's had nothing but diarrhea dipes, so i can't tell when/if she's peeing, so i just am constantly offering her liquids. it got so bad last night, i've been up all night giving her pedialyte 5ml at a time with a medicine dropper. which seems to be going ok, she only threw that up once. from what i understand, she can't get medicine for either the vomiting or the diarrhea because the virus must work its way out, and all i have to do is keep her well hydrated. is this right?

the dr. recommened yogurt for the diarrhea, which worked great at first, but now Willow can't keep anything down. so our dr. is cool, but she's not a naturopath, so i need to her how natural mamas handle something like this! any remedies, anything that would help. she's not breastfed unfortunately

[munchkinsmum]

Rotovirus takes a lot out of our little ones but it sure sounds like you are doing everything right by getting the pedialyte into her.
When my daughter had it we couldn't get any liquids except breastmilk and water into her and she ended up in the hospital on an IV for dehydration
The nurse told us if it happened again that we should just use a syringe and make sure she got 10 cc's of pedialyte or gatorade about every half hour. I know thta isn't the most natural solution but it seemed to work. Keep doing this until the diarrhea has passed. If you can keep them hydrated you will be OK! The one thing I remember is that if it really is rotovirus there is a really unique smell with the diarrhea (sorry to be so graphic).
We also used some bifidus (good bacteria) and a liquid echinacea and it seemed to help her get better faster.
I seem to remember Dr. Sears web site (www.askdrsears.com) had some useful information too.
It really does get better but it takes them a little while to fully recouver. Hang in there!

[mandalamama]

*nods* i've been doing 5ml pedialyte every 10 minutes, she just started spitting that right back up also, her dad is with her right now and i have a call in to the dr.

[earthcore]

Poor baby! Hope she feels better soon!

[chicagodawn]

I'm so sorry for your little one. Rotovirus is just evil for our babes, and is even worse for refluxers, as you know.

Benji had rotovirus for 2 weeks in the spring, when his reflux was still horrible. everyone has given you great suggestions. Now I have a boy, so seeing pee among the loose poo was easier, we wrapped a tissue around his penis. Maybe you could press a tissue up against her, if it is yellow, you could tell she peed? Again, I just think that part is easier with a boy.

Just wanted to send you hugs

[spacedog]

Sounds awful, poor Willow
Hope she feels better soon!



Andrea

[PortraitPixie]

Had to just say that my son had it not too long ago--and I know it doesn't seem like it now--swimming in throw up and well--I'm sure you kwim--dc will get better!!


My mom told me that even if they keep anything down for only 10 min--alot of the nutrients get absorbed by the body.

[Kindermama]

we just had this at our house last week...I think I might have it now :
try Veratrum Album (homeopathy) in 30C....three times a day...am, noon & at bedtime....it's for stomach "flus" and the like where diarrhea is constant and also vomiting. It was recommended by my homeopath. You should call around locally because not every health food store will have it. You can also order it overnight from homeopathyovernight.com

HTH

[Aziah]

Just watch her very, very carefully. If you don't see tears and if baby's mouth seems dry, take her to the ER right away. DD had rota for the first time in March...she was hospitalized for 3 days, sent home...then it got worse. The oncall dr said to just keep her home that it was better for her to be at home (which was against my instinct to take her to the ER). So I did and on Monday she saw her regualr dr and he sent her to the ER immediately, again, and she had a sodium of 174 and almost died. Not to scare you...just watch her carefully and always, always go by YOUR instincts....not the doctors word.
BTW - I also found out from this experience that just because they are eating doesn't mean they are getting the food. Sometimes rota gets so bad that the small intestine can't absorb anything. I could tell this was happening because when I gave DD yogurt it would pass in her diaper and look (and smell) almost the same as it went in.

[mandalamama]

Originally Posted by Aziah

BTW - I also found out from this experience that just because they are eating doesn't mean they are getting the food. Sometimes rota gets so bad that the small intestine can't absorb anything. I could tell this was happening because when I gave DD yogurt it would pass in her diaper and look (and smell) almost the same as it went in.

we just got back from the hospital, she got much worse after i posted yesterday and they said this is what was happening. i mean, no matter how much i could give her, she was having problems absorbing it. it was horrible, it took 3 tries to get a vein to work for the IV the hydration did her a LOT of good, she looks much better and is sitting up and playing next to me right now. they did a urine collection with a little bag they taped onto her, it looked only slightly darker but their lab test showed it was major dehydration. they were telling me i can't always tell by the color, if it's an absorption problem. just to go on how much she's vomiting vs. how much she's drinking.

some local mamas are donating banked milk for her for when we try to go from clear liquids to something more substantial. for now she's taking pedialyte 50/50 with white grape juice, thank goodness she's drinking something. i'll look into the homeopathic route as soon as i get a chance, thank you!

[mandalamama]

i have questions about the communcability of rotavirus but no time to look them up on the web right now ... i got 3 different stories at the hospital, the ER doctor said once the fever is gone it's no longer contagious, the pediatric PA in the ER said she'll be contagious for 48 hours but hand-washing kills it, then we got up to Pediatrics and they put us in isolation, they said rotavirus is extremely communicable and is contagious for *3 weeks* from onset, and not to expose any other children to it. which is true?!

[maxwill129]

I've heard that the last one you mentioned was true. That's it's extremely dangerous from onset for about 3 weeks and keep all kids away! I don't know if that is true or not, but that's what I was told by my DS's ped and the dr's at the hospital.

[mama2annabelle]

Rotavirus is passed through fecal matter, so WASH WASH WASH and wash some more!! My 2 year old daughter was hospitalized for it for 2 and a half days a few months ago and the nurses even wanted me to wear gloves to change her diaper. Now I had a nursing baby as well whom we were trying very hard not to pass it to, so that could be why they insisted on the gloves.

And yes, rotavirus is contagious for up to 3 weeks even after all symptoms have gone. As long as you are vigilant about cleanliness with diaper changes you should be fine. It is hard though...even with as careful as we were my son did end up getting it although his was very mild and only lasted a day with him.

A good probiotic is ESSENTIAL to heal the gut. Jarrow has one called Baby-dophilious that our ped recommended.

[True Blue]

Melly how is Willow feeling now? Been worried about her!!

[Periwinkle]

Ds and dd had rotovirus last spring at age 2. Ds got it first and it was awful. He couldn't keep anything down for more than 5 minutes max and had the wateriest diarrhea I've ever seen constantly. After 3 days, he was clearly not turning the corner and losing ground. We spent the night in the PICU with fluids/electrolytes which helped him a lot.

If you can actually get a definitive diagnosis of rotavirus (i.e., via stool sample) then you can give PeptoBismol. This helped tremendously. But you can't give it otherwise b/c of the danger of Reye's Syndrome (Pepto has salyicilates).

The other things is... forget the pedialyte if your dc won't take it like mine wouldn't. We were so deparate I would've given him Diet Coke and I'm not kidding. There are *ideal* fluids and then there is the point where you'll go with anything. Don't wait too long before going with anything you can. Bring on the Gatorade, etc.

[mandalamama]

just a few secs to type, a local mama brought some EBM and Willow drank that and is keeping it down! she's also able to keep down pedialyte+juice 50/50. she's exhausted right now but can't sleep, i'm gonna go lie down with her

[Kindermama]

Originally Posted by mellybean

just a few secs to type, a local mama brought some EBM and Willow drank that and is keeping it down! she's also able to keep down pedialyte+juice 50/50. she's exhausted right now but can't sleep, i'm gonna go lie down with her

hugs!! definitely give homeopathy a try....veratrum album also mentions exhaustion from the lost of liquids and restlessness. Can't hurt to try...homeopathy is very very safe if used as directed. It kicked my kids' rotavirus to the curb in a day...even my 4 month olds!