If you’re reading this, you may need information quickly, so I’ll cut to the chase.  You can continue to nurse a vomiting baby.  Not all pediatricians will encourage this.  You may be advised to stop nursing and give the baby electrolytes (Pedialyte) or water.   But if you’re like me, and your baby doesn’t take a bottle and has no interest in a cup when she’s sick, this is not a workable plan.  In fact, I can hardly think of a worse time to withhold nursing than when a baby is sick.

Nursing is comforting.  If you’re sick, you want comfort.  Babies are no different.  If they want to nurse, let them.  As our pediatrician said, even if they just absorb a little bit of the milk and throw the rest back up, they will still absorb a little bit (with a lot more nutrients than water or electrolyte fluid).

The key to watching for dehydration (the main concern during vomiting) is monitoring urine output.   Using Elimination Communication, going diaper- free, or using cloth diapers makes this much easier.

I have dealt with prolonged repeated vomiting twice (not bad for almost two years, I suppose).  The second time, I elected to rent a hospital-grade breast pump (the Medela Classic) to remove milk from my breasts so that my daughter could nurse on a drained breast.  Nursing on a drained breast is the best option because the flow is slower.  You can use the pump to empty the breast and offer the drained breast to your baby.  This concept comes straight from La Leche League’s The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding.  I want to advise caution, however, if you don’t typically pump; my short experience with pumping caused an oversupply, and I had to revert back to block nursing for a short time.  The whole thing was such a difficult ordeal that I gained a new level of appreciation for nursing moms who work outside the home and incorporate pumping into their daily routines.

Remember that time heals, so hang in there.  Assuming this is just a basic stomach bug and you have spoken with your pediatrician, rest assured that your baby will get better.  Promise.

As I was sitting up at 2 AM one night with vomit on the bed, my clothes, and my baby’s clothes, I felt a strong urge well up inside:  I need help.   I want someone to come and make all of the yucky stuff go away.  I want my mom. And then it hit me:  “I am the mom!”  

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