When your child has a stomach bug, the priority is fluids first, food second. Most kids with viral gastroenteritis recover within one to three days, and what you offer during that window can make a real difference in how quickly they bounce back. The goal is to prevent dehydration, keep their energy up, and avoid foods that make diarrhea or vomiting worse.
Start With Small Sips, Not Big Drinks
If your child is actively vomiting, don’t hand them a full cup of anything. Their stomach will reject it. Instead, offer tiny amounts of fluid every five minutes for at least two hours. Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia recommends these volumes based on age:
- 6 months to 1 year: 2 teaspoons (10 mL) every 5 minutes
- 1 to 2 years: 3 teaspoons (15 mL) every 5 minutes
- Older than 2: 2 tablespoons (30 mL) every 5 minutes
A syringe, medicine cup, or measuring spoon works better than a regular cup for keeping these amounts precise. Continue this pattern for two to four hours. Once your child keeps these small sips down consistently, you can gradually increase the volume.
The best fluid choices are oral rehydration solutions (like Pedialyte), which contain the right balance of sugar and salt to help your child’s body absorb water. Plain water alone doesn’t replace the sodium and potassium lost through vomiting and diarrhea. If you don’t have a commercial rehydration solution on hand, you can make one: mix 8 teaspoons of sugar and half a teaspoon of salt into 1 liter (about 4 cups) of clean water. It’s not as precisely balanced as a store-bought option, but it works in a pinch.
What to Feed Once Vomiting Slows Down
Once your child has kept fluids down for a few hours and shows some appetite, you can start offering bland, easy-to-digest foods. Complex carbohydrates are your best bet because they break down slowly and don’t overwhelm a stressed digestive system. They also provide vitamins, minerals, and fiber that help recovery along.
Good first foods include bananas, plain white rice, applesauce, dry toast, saltine crackers, and plain boiled or mashed potatoes. You might recognize the first four as the classic “BRAT diet” (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast). These remain solid starting points, though you don’t need to limit your child strictly to these four items. Plain pasta, oatmeal, and simple chicken broth are fine too.
Keep portions small. A few bites at a time is plenty. If your child isn’t interested in food at all, that’s okay for the first day or so, as long as they’re taking fluids. Don’t push meals. Their appetite will come back as the virus clears.
Breastfeeding and Formula During a Stomach Bug
If you’re breastfeeding, keep going. Breast milk is essentially a built-in rehydration solution, and the CDC recommends increasing feeding frequency during diarrheal illness rather than cutting back. You should not replace breastfeeding with other fluids or foods during this time.
Formula-fed babies and toddlers are a slightly different story. A Cochrane review found that switching to a lactose-free formula during acute diarrhea can lead to earlier resolution of symptoms in bottle-fed and weaned children. This happens because stomach bugs can temporarily damage the lining of the small intestine, reducing its ability to digest lactose (the sugar in milk). This temporary lactose intolerance resolves on its own, but during the active illness, lactose-free options may help your child feel better faster. If your baby is on regular formula and diarrhea seems to worsen with feedings, a short switch to a lactose-free version is reasonable.
Foods and Drinks to Avoid
Some common things parents reach for actually make diarrhea worse. Fruit juice is the biggest offender. Apple juice, pear juice, and other fruit juices contain sorbitol, a sugar alcohol with known laxative properties. Even in small doses (5 to 20 grams per day), sorbitol can cause gas, bloating, and cramps. Above 20 grams, it actively increases stool water content and total stool output. One glass of apple juice can easily hit those thresholds. Sports drinks like Gatorade have too much sugar and not enough sodium for a sick child, making them a poor substitute for proper rehydration solutions.
Also hold off on dairy products (milk, cheese, yogurt, ice cream) for the first 12 to 24 hours, and reintroduce them gradually. Fried, greasy, or heavily spiced foods are harder to digest and can trigger more nausea. Sugar-free candies and gums containing sorbitol, xylitol, or mannitol should be avoided entirely, as these polyols have well-documented laxative effects.
Probiotics Can Shorten Recovery
Certain probiotics have solid evidence for reducing how long diarrhea lasts in children. A large network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials found that Saccharomyces boulardii (sold under brand names like Florastor) shortened diarrhea duration by about 1.25 days compared to placebo. It also cut the odds of diarrhea lasting two or more days by roughly 78%. Lactobacillus reuteri showed similar benefits, reducing duration by about 0.84 days.
These are available over the counter in child-friendly formulations. Starting a probiotic early in the illness, alongside rehydration, gives the best results. Look for products that specifically list one of these strains on the label.
How to Spot Dehydration
Knowing what to feed matters, but knowing when fluids aren’t keeping up matters more. Watch for these signs of dehydration:
- Mild to moderate: fewer than six wet diapers a day in infants, fewer tears when crying, dry-looking lips and mouth
- Severe: only one to two wet diapers a day, wrinkled or tented skin, extreme fussiness or unusual sleepiness, sunken eyes
For mild dehydration, you can usually catch up at home by offering about 50 mL of fluid per kilogram of body weight over four hours. That’s roughly 12 ounces for a 15-pound baby or 24 ounces for a 30-pound toddler. For each additional episode of diarrhea, offer an extra 10 mL per kilogram, up to about 8 ounces.
A Simple Timeline
Putting it all together, here’s a practical sequence. During active vomiting, stick to small measured sips of rehydration fluid every five minutes. Once vomiting slows (usually within a few hours), offer slightly larger amounts of fluid and see how your child tolerates them. When they show interest in eating, start with bland carbohydrates in small portions. By day two or three, if symptoms are improving, you can begin reintroducing their normal diet, adding dairy back gradually. Most kids are eating normally again within three to five days.