Vomiting 18 month old - Only at Night!

Hi just wondered if any of you had any advice or similar experiences...

My daughter is 18 months old and for the past 4 nights in a row has been vomiting at night time. She is totally her normal self during the day, eating fine, pooing and weeing normally, running around and having fun just like normal. Then we put her down at night and around midnight, she wakes up with a HUGE vomit. So we change her sheets and everything. She seems ok after this and re-settles easily, but some of the nights this has happened 2-3 times.

I am going to take her to the DR tomorrow. I just rang that 13HEALTH number and the nurse (she was lovely) told me I should go to the hospital to check she wasnt dehydrated. Im thinking if she wakes up and vomits again tonight, I am going to take her straight down there now but otherwise, might wait til morning. I only think this because of how she acts during the day, totally her normal self...

So was wondering if anyone had any experiences... Is this just a flu, should I be really worried and head straight down to Emergency or becasue she is fine during the day should I just see if she is ok again in the morning...

Thanks guys!

Sorry no help- that is a tricky one as she is okay during the day? I wonder if it something she is eating in the evening? I am sure you will take her somewhere if she is not well tonight- fingers crossed you will just see the GP tomorrow. Let us know how she is.

get her checked out for ear infections..my son did this for a few weeks before we had him checked out and it was because its not a raging infection he could cope as the pressure was off during the day but when he went to bed the pressure built up and the pain made him vomit even though he never cried...

Aww Becky,

I am sorry to hear that little Chels still isnt well, i have no idea as to why she is ok until night time.....maybe keep a note of what she is eating before going bed and see if you can see any pattern happening, as in if there are any triggers. Seems rather strange that she is waking up at the same time every night and being sick then is her usual happy self during the day.

Goodluck i hope you get some answers really soon. Let me know if i can do anything to help.

Take care :hug:

I find my son does this exactly when he is getting teeth.

All my 3 children have gone through a similar thing while they were/are toddlers.... infact my 2yo has been through it within the past month. What I find is that a cold/flu will go to their chest and the cooler night air will set off a cough... also lying down will set off a cough because (I think) the fluids (congestion) in their lungs tickles as it resettles into the lying down position IYKWIM? Anyhow after a bit of coughing the gag reflex is often triggered... and voila: vomit! ...and yes, only at night, about half an hour after going to bed it seems. After they have their vomit they usually settle well into sleep for some reason. It could also be the ear... so yes, if you see a doctor make sure the ears are checked.

Yeah, mine did this for a couple of nights a few weeks back... she was completely normal during the day, and I'd put her to bed, then ten minutes later I'd have to go in and get her out because she'd spewed everywhere and was crying... this from a child who has NEVER thrown up in her life, apart from a couple of newborn *bleurghs*!! So DH and I freaked out and thought she was dying or something, we took her to the hospital and they diagnosed a mild case of gastro, gave her Panadol for the fever which had magically appeared out of nowhere, and sent us home!
Apparently it was a mild enough case that she could ignore it during the day, and then when she was falling asleep it would get the better of her and she'd yack... a quick course of antibiotics, some Panadol at bedtime, and a few sheet changes later she was back to normal.

So, if your DD is functioning normally throughout the day, I daresay it would be something like a tummy bug, cold/flu/chest/throat/ear infection, kwim?? Nothing terribly major, but pop off ot the doctor to see if they can find out what the deal is and maybe prescribe her some antibiotics if it's an infection. If nothing else, the peace of mind is worth the trip as far as I'm concerned :D
Good luck, hope she gets over it soon and feels better!!

Oh no, poor Chelsea :(. How is she going now Becky? Did you take her to the Dr?

I hope she's feeling better.

Becky, i'm so sorry to hear that poor little Chelsea had another bad night.

Might be worth taking her to another Dr for a second opinion, she is only 18mths old so surely they should be looking into it a little more then they have, it's not normal something obviously isn't quite right. How long did they say it could go on for?

Thinking of you and hoping little Chelsea stops having these bad nights asap.

She doesnt have any temperature at all... Not even slightly... She has hardly eaten anything today though... Been her happy little self still but not eaten much. Which is bad too cause it really cant be good to be throwing up so much at night AND not eating anyhting...

Leah - Yeah I think I will go down on Tuesday and just wait... I have seen 3 doctors now who have all told me it is abug but it just doesnt seem right does it.....And none of them have ever suggested antibiotics so maybe I will ask on Tuesday. They all thought initially that maybe it was a bowel obstruction, but after listening to her tummy, feeling her and knowing that she is still doing poo's, its not that...
I have just given her some Brauers Stomach Calm so lets see if that does anything tonight... It has been 6 nights in a row now... :(

Fingers crossed ladies...

thats strang my DS sis that around easter i thort he was getting teeth of just had a vomit version of gastro but it coulda been his 2 yr old molers which are causing him grief and me!!

I just happen to stumble across this thread and it sound eerily familiar to what my son is doing. He is 18 months and for the past two weeks he has been waking up at midnight and throwing up. Usually, he has more than one vomiting episode and he screams like someone is poking him with a hot prod. He has his 18 month appointment tomorrow, so I am for sure going to bring it up, but it concerns me. Along with the vomiting, he also gets diarrhea. He gets real restless, until about three am when he finally dozes off and then in the morning he doesn't vomit anymore but he has diarrhea, about every 20 mintues or so for about three to four hours. He seems like his normal, fun and playful self, he never runs a fever with this and he doesn't have a cold (I first thought post nasal drip but he doesn't have a cold), I suppose it could be an ear infection, but this has been going on for a number of weeks. I am hoping it has something to do with something he is eating, but I was wondering what the diagnosis was of Becky's little girl. Any insight would be so wondeful!

Thank you,

jaren