Why are vomiting and diarrhea so dangerous in children?
Vomiting and diarrhea can be harmful to your child because they can cause dehydration. Dehydration occurs when too much fluid is lost from the body. Signs of dehydration are listed below. In bad cases, dehydration can cause death. Young babies can become dehydrated very quickly. But if the vomiting and diarrhea are both really bad, dehydration can occur very quickly in a child of any age. Signs of dehydration Crankiness Not eating Weight loss Not urinating (“peeing”) as often as usual Urine that is darker than usual Dry mouth Thirst (babies may show thirst by crying and being cranky and eager to drink when something is offered) Sunken eyes No tears when crying Sunken soft spots in babies younger than 18 months Skin that isn’t as springy as usual How can I prevent dehydration? If your child has had several bouts of vomiting or diarrhea, he or she will need to drink fluids to replace those lost with vomiting and diarrhea. To start, you can get an older child to take fluids such as water,
