School is ending and summer is here! You may think that illness is behind you for the season, but say it ain’t so! There has been a stomach bug circulating around.
Symptoms can include nausea and vomiting, watery diarrhea, stomach pain, and sometimes fever, chills, headache, or muscle aches.
How does it spread?
The virus is in the feces or vomit of infected people. It can easily get on a surface via airborne droplets or from improper hand-washing after being sick, using the restroom, or cleaning up after an ill person. Kids can get the virus if they put their fingers in their mouths after touching a contaminated toy or surface.
The number 1 prevention of spreading illness is frequent hand-washing and prompt disinfection of contaminated surfaces. Soiled clothing should be removed and cleaned as well as avoid food or water that may be contaminated.
What can we do to support the body through this illness? The key word is support as this illness must typically run its course and supportive management is the key to feeling better sooner.
For those who are ages 12 mos and younger focus on hydration! If you are nursing or formula feeding, offer small sips and watch for wet diapers. There should be a wet diaper every 4-6 hours.
Ages 1+ continue to focus on fluids. Monitor for urination every 6-8 hours or at least 3x in 24 hours. If vomiting continues and unable to keep fluids down can utilize activated charcoal.
Children who experience a lot of vomiting or diarrhea can become dehydrated easily.
Hydration is key! Provide clear fluids like bone broth, electrolyte water, or coconut water and encourage frequent, small sips. Additionally, offer brothy soups, popsicles, and tea. Encourage one sip every 10-15 mins until able to keep fluids down. Once fluids are staying down can incorporate the BRAT diet which consists of bland and binding foods.
Some homeopathics to support are: Nux vomica, Arsenicum album, Nausea Calm, and Diaralia. Use as directed by your healthcare professional.
Kids with a norovirus infection should not go to school or childcare until their vomiting and diarrhea has stopped for 24 hours. They also should not go in swimming pools until they’re well again. Children in diapers should stay out of pools until their diarrhea has stopped for 7 days.
Hand washing with hot, soapy water is the best defense against getting or spreading norovirus. Alcohol based hand sanitizers DO NOT kill norovirus.
Comfort care at home is the best remedy.
Symptoms usually begin to improve within 24 hours of onset and should continue to improve over a few days. Sometimes symptoms will disappear and reappear and linger for about 14 days.
Call the doctor if your child:
goes more than a few hours without drinking
has signs of dehydration, such as a dry mouth, few tears when crying, peeing less than 3 times a day, or no wet diaper in 4–6 hours
still has diarrhea or vomiting after a few days
develops a high fever
vomits blood, or has bloody diarrhea or severe belly pain
We love Well-Rooted Pediatrics. On every visit I feel like Jessica listens to my concerns and cares about my opinions on things regarding my kids. She looks at the whole child and treats the body from the inside out while still knowing there’s a time and place for medicine. With this approach I absolutely trust her and the care she provides for my four kids. Highly recommend, your family will love her too!!
We love this office! Jessica was the first practitioner to tell me about sublingual therapy allergy drops for environmental allergies. I had 3 out of 4 of my kids suffer from extreme eczema. Daily itching, bleeding, open wounds. Other doctors and allergist just told me to keep putting lotion on because it was due to dry skin. Believe me when I say I lathered my kids multiple times a day and tried every natural product out there and it didn’t help! Steroid cream was the only thing that was able to calm it down but it would come right back once we stopped using it. Well, a year into the allergy drops and my kids have beautiful eczema free skin! No more tears, no more fear of swimming pools and fear of infections. All thanks to the wonderful providers at Well-Rooted Pediatrics!! They truly care and think outside the box to get to the root of the problem. I am forever grateful for them!
Our family loves Jessica and her whole practice. We feel well cared for, seen and heard! In this day and age of quick doctor visits and high costs of care, the care we receive here is integral to wellness.
They healed my daughter’s eczema in 2 weeks (by finding the root cause, her leaky gut!) which regular doctors haven’t been able to do for 5 years! We love well-rooted!!
We LOVE Jessica and the team at Well Rooted, and are so glad we made the choice to take our son there. I love their natural, holistic approach so much, my husband and I just started going to their adult practice, Functional Medicine. We’ll never go anywhere else!
390 Congress Pkwy # J
Crystal Lake, IL
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Oak Brook, IL
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Crystal Lake, IL
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