Nocturnal Vomiting in Children

my sister, now 27, threw up all the time as a kid...dont know if docs ever figured out why, but I remember hearing something about how when lying down, her uvula or tonsils or something would trigger the gag reflex and cause her to vomit. She was always fine during the day, it was not illness related, and she apparently outgrew it. Try letting him sleep elevated, or a variety of sleeping positions, and think about anything in his sleeping environment that might have changed to trigger the gag reflex again. Good luck!

1 mom found this helpful

A neurological problem when he gets into REM sleep?

Hi S.,

My twin son was waking up with puke on his sheets for a few weeks nearly every night and the drs all thought it was the stomach bug. I kinda came to the conclusion it was him choking on his own phlegm at night and just vomiting everything up. I think he had post nasal drip. I'm not sure if this helps but good luck! N.

Hi S.,
I'll bet this is scary for you. I can't imagine. I have no real concrete advice for you, but, as a mom, if YOU feel you need to see more docs, tests, etc, then you should do it. Go with your gut feeling on that. The idea of elevating his top half seems to make sense. You can fold up a blanket/quilt and put it under the top half of his mattress- or you can put blocks under the top legs of the bed. Good luck to you! God Bless. D.

My daughter is almost five now but when she was turning three she started with similar symptoms. She was diagnosed with abdominal migraines which just means the migraine causes vomitting. I had started with them at the same age. The doctor told me to give her motrin when she started with them and it did help. She tends to get them first thing in the morning or at night. We started to notice her eyes get red all around the rims when one is starting. Hope you find out what it is soon. Good luck.

A little about me:

I'm a SAHM of a 4 1/2 year old girl and 3 year old boy.

S.,

Try going on the Discovery Health Channel Site. I watch that channel alot and one episode of Mystery Diagnosis or Diagnosis X they had a little girl on there doing the exact same thing as your son. (these are real shows). I believe they did a sleep study because CTs and MRIs didn't show anything. It ended up being something in her brain that caused the throwing up, that they only could see during an episode of the throwing up. It is treatable. I dont know if this will help but do some research on sleep studies.

S.,
I watched the same Discovery Channel Mystery Diagnosis show and the little girl was eventually diagnosed with a form of epilepsy. Her symptoms are similar to your sons. However, I don't know if she actually woke up when she threw up. The doctors finally were able to diagnose her during the sleep study by examining her brain waves when she began throwing up. She was much better after she was treated for epilepsy. Good Luck!M.

A little about me. I am a stay at home mom of 4 children ages 10, 9, 7,(all boys) and 4 yr old girl.

Hi. You didn't mention this, but if he is coughing at all, it may be asthma. My son does the same thing, but he coughs first. You might want to see an allergist. Good luck.

my daughter had the same thing. they even tested her for seizures! it turns out she has severe reflux. we had to cut a few things out of her diet (dairy and pork), plus she is on prevacid, and it's been almost six months now vomit free!!

It was on Diagnosis X, I believe and it is a form of epilepsy. Ask to see a neurologist. Maybe he can have a sleep study done so they can be sure. Don't let it go as if it's nothing and see a different doctor if yours won't help you. You know there is something wrong and he needs to be diagnosed. Take charge of his health care and be his voice and go to doctors willing to look outside of the box.

Best of luck.
L. S

I two have gone threw that with my son and At first it started around the hoildays. We had him in the er a couple of times due to dhygratoin. We where seeing a doc. That wanted to put him on migrane medciane and Thinking that it was due from that. We even had at one point that he looked yellow. Which usaly means proublems with the liver. Still have no idea what the proublem was. My son has stoppped for know.

Doc. have an idea what it might be. But they don;t have a cause for it yet.

My stepson had what they call Abdominal migraines. He would get horrible stomach aches out of nowhere and vomit. Then the next day would be fine. He had to go to a lot of doctors before they figured out what this was. He has done this since he was a baby. From what we have learned, this conditions is worse during times of stress. His mother used to live in Virginia and would bring him to Pennsylvania to visit us about once a month. He would usually have a "flare up" while he was here, or as soon as he returned to Virginia. We figured out that the trip back and forth was stressing him out and now they have moved back to Pennsylvania. He has not had them for awhile now. Maybe take him to counseling to see if stress is causing the problem.

Hi S. ....

My son would feel fine all day then would go to bed and start coughing so much so that he would throw up 3, 4, sometimes 5 times a night. This went on for a long time because I would give him cough medicine trying to stop the cough and it would never stop it. When I talked to his doctor he gave me a sample of Advair to try. After 24 hours he's MUCH better and no longer sleeps with a "belly-ache bowl". He actually had Night Asthma. I had never heard of that but it works and he's much better!

I hope you find a solution. I know how frustrating this can be. Good luck!

- J.