My 6 year old is finally recovering from a really bad case of vomiting and diarrhea and now my 8 month old baby seems to have caught it. I had to take my 6 year old to the emergency room to be treated for dehydration and was told that rotovirus was going around. They didn't bother testing for it because they couldn't do much anyways (since anti-biotics don't work on viruses). For my 6 year old, I tried arsenicum (no luck), then ferrum phos (no luck), then made a trip to the store to get ipecac. It seemed to help for 2 doses (5 hours apart) then seemed to have no effect. Long story short, the 6 year old is slowly recovering (going on 5 days now) and the baby is sick now. I tried ipecac and 2 hours later she threw up again (plus diarrhea). Should I repeat the dose? (I'm worried I might make her sicker). It's hard to think clearly when your baby is sick - dehydration in an 8 month old is much more serious than in a 6 year old. It would be very difficult to do an IV on a baby - they have to be still for such a long time. Please help. Thanks.

Hi,

There is more information needed to properly differentiate among the remedies you'd think of in this situation. Arsenicum and ipecac are good choices, but they may not be close enough (and that is why there is still some lingering symptoms, and new symptoms in the baby.) Don't worry about naming it "rotovirus" or anything else, though: please
try to tell us about the symptoms you see in your baby and older child.

What is the body temperature? Note any fluctuations--when fluctuations occur. Does the fever spike up? Is there any redness in the face? Does the body feel hot only around the torso/not in the extremities, or vice versa? Did it come on suddenly, or gradually over the course of a day or so? Was there any kind of causal event, such as being out in the cold, and having caught a cold draught of air?

ARe the children restless in bed? Are they sleeping/crying/complaining? What seems to soothe them? Are there any cravings for foods or drinks you've noticed in their illness? Any ear/head pain?

here are the remedies which immediately come to mind for the nausea and vomitting with diarrhea that you describe:

Aconitum
Arsenicum
Baptisia
Belladonna
Gelsemium
Nux Vomica
Pyrogenium
Ipecac

and there are others. We'll need more information if we're going to be able to decide...out of curiosity, have you tried the arsenicum or the ferrum phos on the baby yet?
Also, what is happening now that the older child is recovering, symptoms wise?

Divina

Yes, please answer the above questions and say if any remedy has been useful for your baby in the past. If we know her background picture it is more straigtforward to prescribe for an acute.
Is your baby thirsty?
If she will breastfeed give her as much milk as you can, because, as another member of this bb who is an expert on breastfeeding told me, breastmilk is absorbed immediately so even if she rejects some of it, some will go in.

When Arsenicum doesn't work Verat. Alb. is often the next choice.

Thank you everyone for answering. It tears me up to see my children so sick, especially the baby. The illness seems to be progressing the same in both children. Sudden onset, much vomiting and foul smelling diarrhea. Children are listless, mild mannered, just want to lay around. Fever with red cheeks after 1 1/2 days in the older (doctor said this was due to dehydration). The older had no thirst or hunger (I really had to pressure her to drink even small sips of water). The baby just came down ill this morning. She ate breakfast just fine, then she threw up the whole thing. She seemed hungry whenever she saw me eating but this lessened as the day progressed. She has been nursing and she has only vomited that up once (I think you are right about the breast milk being absorbed right away - thank goodness I held off weaning her). On previous remedies for the children that have worked, the 6 yr old has lycopodium as her constitutional, and the baby, I'm not really sure but nat mur has really helped with her teething and constipation (from before, of course - at the present she has the diarrhea).
At present, I think the baby has a very mild fever but no red cheeks (maybe by tomorrow, as this is how it progressed with the older). Thank you again for any input.

daer
I may suggest four medicine which you can give after after symptom similimum or close to the complaints -sanicula ,silica,calc phos and aethus cyn.

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Dr.P.K.Sinha

It's not more than a repertorised guess, but given the lack of thirst, if the baby is clingy then you might try Puls 30 to see if it helps. Just one dose.
Otherwise, if there is just collapse and no clinging I think Ricky's idea of Verat was good.
To be honest it could be other things too - there is not enough info to go on.

ps NM is not indicated for constipation with problematic dentition. That sounds more like NuxVom.

Verat is a really good idea especially if the child is in a state of collapse through dehydration.

Hi
Just an update on the baby. I tried ipecac one more time and that completely took care of the vomiting, plus she regained her appetite and thirst, but then she still had fever and diarrhea. The fever reminded me of belladonna, but, as luck would have it, I had just loaned out my belladonna (and ferr phos) to some friends the day before. Being doubly lucky, my car just decided to break down and I am without transportation for a few days (nothing serious - just terribly inconvenient). I gave the baby some infant Tylenol to ease her discomfort - is this bad from a homeopathic standpoint? (I can't find any mention of this in my books). Later I gave her calc phos for fever,peevish, and diarrhea. I'm not real sure if this was a good choice - I only had a minute to glance at my books - but her fever is gone and she seems happier. I'm afraid I didn't do the best job in finding the right remedy for this illness. I have so little time to take a case properly. I've seen ads for software - is it worth the investment? (I've seen prices ranging from $150-$499). Oh - on the nat mur, it alleviated excessive drooling from her teething (plus constipation)(sorry I wasn't more specific). Thanks again.