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01/04/2006
Yes, again.
This time it started on New Year's Eve, with the regurgitation of the hot dog Charlie had enjoyed at lunch. Of course I blamed myself for feeding him a hot dog to begin with; they are a close enough cousin to Lunchables that their mating is, in fact, unlawful in 37 states. (I leave it as an exercise for the reader to guess which states might welcome the lovelorn lunchmeats, and to imagine what their unfortunate offspring might look like should they eventually succeed in slaking their unholy lust. Hints: below the Mason-Dixon Line, and I don't know, but I wouldn't want to meet it in a dark refrigerated supermarket case.)
Anyway, it started with a hot dog, and it all went downhill from there. By Sunday morning Charlie was not only vomiting but was made miserable by a high fever, and had a rash that alarmed me enough to call the doctor. Now, one day you may find yourself feeling the urge to call a pediatrician on a holiday. When that day comes, remember what I am about to tell you:
It's probably just a virus. If you're concerned, go to the emergency room.
There. I just saved you a phone call. Instead please use your valuable time to call Oscar Mayer and ask them what the fucking fuck they put in those hot dogs, anyway, as the tiny chunks I'd painstakingly cut at lunch were ejected entirely undigested almost eight hours later.
After the vomiting came the diarrhea. After the diarrhea came our 1,367th visit to the doctor's office. (According to the punch card in my wallet, if we go 23 more times this month, we get a free oil change. You can imagine how eagerly I'm looking forward to that.) After the visit came the deployment of the specimen cup. After the harvest — look, what would you call it? — came the mad flight across town to the hospital while the sample was still warm. And after the drop-off, several days after, in fact, came the verdict: Charlie has rotavirus.
Now, rotavirus is one of those bugs that afflict pretty much every child eventually: according to the Centers for Disease Control, most children in the U.S. will have some kind of rotavirus infection (for there are several varieties) by age 2. Those stricken initially have fever and vomiting with abdominal pain; as the vomiting tapers off, diarrhea then sets in, lasting from three to twelve days.
Worldwide, rotavirus kills upwards of 600,000 children annually, largely through dehydration that results from the vomiting and diarrhea. In the U.S., it's rarely fatal, but approximately 55,000 American kids are hospitalized each year from dehydration. Of course Charlie's doctor advised us to push Pedialyte, but that wasn't necessary; even the briefest of exposure to his diapers these days underscores the urgency of replacing that which is being lost.
Now, do you know how much Pedialyte costs? Here it's approximately $4.50 a liter. The only things I can think of right off the top of my head that are more expensive are Jo Malone perfume, printer ink, and scorpion venom, none of which I would suggest you drink, no matter how thirsty you feel. Since we'd capriciously blown the monthly budget on diapers, Desitin, and Dreft, Paul went looking for a recipe for homebrew.
one level teaspoon of salt
eight level teaspoons of sugar
one liter of clean drinking water
That's it. That's all Pedialyte is.
Wait, that's not precisely true. Among its medically useful ingredients, Pedialyte also contains sodium citrate, one of the components of citric acid, and potassium. If your child can keep food down without vomiting, as Charlie currently can, you can supplement your homebrew with some mashed banana at mealtimes; if not, you can add 1/2 c. orange juice to your homemade solution instead.
Mmmm. That's good rehydratin'.
The first batch tasted dreadful — or rather even more dreadful than it should — so Paul set out to augment it further, trying to recreate the insipid flavor of the single variety Charlie had finally deigned to drink (Gerber Liquilytes, fruit punch flavor, available here only in single-serving packets of powder, at a cost of approximately $7 per liter). After scanning the label of the Liquilytes package, he added:
1 packet unsweetened Kool-Aid, fruit punch flavor
...and offered it to Charlie.
He figured the Splenda supplied the Sucralose listed in the ingredients, and assumed the Kool-Aid would contain analogs close enough to the artificial flavors and assorted FD&Cs of the original to satisfy Charlie, who is, after all, a baby, and therefore kinda dumb — and who drank greedily of its blood-red depths.
Estimated cost per liter: $.25.
I consider it only a minor inconvenience that Paul's concoction turns Charlie's effluvia a bright shocking pink, leaving an indelible stain on everything it touches, including Charlie's skin. Hey, it's still diarrhea — only now it's cheerful diarrhea. I think it's absolutely worth it: the money we've saved on Pedialyte can buy an awful lot of my own preferred oral rehydration solution, after all.
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Pink poo! Hehehe! Poor Charlie. Is there no end to the experiments you try on him? ;-) Thanks for the recipe. I'll definitely keep it for future reference.
Too funny, Liam was diagnosed with rotavirus last week! We too have been spending bookoos on Pedialyte and butt cream because his diahrea has been giving him HORRID, I mean HORRID diaper rash. Your pedialyte seems to be a bit more pricey than the Pedialyte in Indiana. I do the Gerber stuff to, because then it doesnt get wasted. Sometimes my Pedialyte goes past the 48 hours it suggests before I use the whole bottle. I too found those recipes and thought about trying them but was pretty skeptical. I may try them now since I actually know someone who they have worked for!
Oh, man, rotavirus sucks. My older (now 5) never had it, but I thought that my youngest would surely not last the night when she was afflicted. I'd never changed so many diapers in any 48-hour span and somehow the notches I started carving in the changing table (with those teeny tiny nail clippers you're supposed to use on babes) stopped being funny after about the 28th or so.
Good call on the homebrew. We never got anywhere with Pedialyte but had rousing success with lukewarm and weak sweet tea. I should've bought stock in Lipton for the number of decaf bags we went through.
Just some assvice, but researchers at Johns Hopkins have found that supplimenting under-two-year-olds with zinc (20 mg daily) while they have acute diarrhea can shorten the duration and severity of the illness (see http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/333/13/839) ...I work in maternal & child health in refugee settings and, when combined with ORT, I've seen this fairly inexpensive treatment have amazing results
OH MY GOD...poor Charlie should be in the Guinness Book for "Most liquid run through a baby in a one-year period."
Oh, Julie. We had the same crapola. Jr. had vomiting, diarrhea, rash on his face. My niece across country had it, my co-worker's daughter had it. Sounds like it is everywhere. I feel for you. Thank you so much for the cheap and easy pedialyte recipe!
I hope Charlie is better soon, with nice solid (but not too solid!) fecal matter.
Hi- I'm not a frequent reader, so forgive me if the facts are incorrect, but let me get this straight...
You have the money to get him in daycare, which is most likely where he would pick up such an illness twice, but don't have the money to give him the medically proven assistance of something like Pedialite? WTF?
Wait, let me get this straight:
nance, you have enough money for a computer, but not enough to afford a few sessions of psychotherapy to curb your passive-aggressive behaviour? WTF??
Oh... Nance accused you of (gasp) exposing your child to another child where he might have gotten sick!!
Lock up ALL parents who do such EVIL to their children. Call CPS! Alert the media! Kids get sick from other kids.
I am happy to know that Nance's children are kept in plastic bubbles where they will never be infected by anything!
(sorry, feeling snarky today and it's the 2nd daycare "jab" I've encountered... a bit of a hot button, perhaps)
Oops, I forgot the most important part -- I hope your little boy gets better soon! Great advice on the homemade Pedialyte solution.
Nance, here is the point: why should I spend money on Pedialyte, which is only an expensive packaged version of a very simple solution, when we can safely make it ourselves at home?
Brilliant. Brilliant. It's such a pleasure reading your blog, Julie. Seriously, thanks. And I'll be looking up that recipe the minute Anna Sofia contracts the dreaded RSV. It's only a matter of time, I'm sure.
Julie (and Paul!) That was brilliant with a capital B. If I ever need it, I will use your reciepe. Thanks.
Eeeew. I'm not extremely picky about what my toddler eats, but I do only do kosher hot dogs. They've got to be better.
That's all it is?
I'm so impressed. I would have NEVER thought of making it myself. And I consider myself somewhat intelligent.
Charlie is lucky to have you and Paul!
Eww. Rotavirus is naaaaasty stuff. When my daughter had it at 14 months, the only thing that finally firmed things up was rice water (which I see is listed on the homebrew link that Paul found). Seriously, after 5-6 days of non stop diarrhea, all it took was one sippy cup full of rice water and she was just about better. Worth a try ...
Great idea with the homebrew ... don't be an asshat, Nance, why should Julie waste her money on Pedialyte? Just because I can afford to give my kid something storebought doesn't mean I'm a bad parent if I give her the homemade version.
Nothing worse than a puking/ pooping kid, well maybe one that does it in high fashion pink? Good luck! (I'm a brand new reader, love it!)
awww.. poor bunny.
A little-known fact about Pedialyte . . .
it is a BITCHIN' hangover cure.
My best wishes to y'all and the little one, and thanks for posting the recipe--I'm gonna concoct a batch o' what shall henceforth be known as Julie Homebrew before the next big fiesta.
Hope he feels better soon! When Magdalena was 14 months old, we were hospitalized for four days with the rotavirus. It was four days of pure hell, I tell you.
Oh, the poor little fella.
Thanks for that recipe! I'll definitely use it if Muffin Man ever gets the runs (he tends towards the opposite problem generally. The only true cure for that seems to be drinking lots of water everyday)
Oh, and Nance? Even stay-at-home kids get sick. And why should ANYONE buy something from Corporate thieves that they can make at home themselves?
It's amazing anyone survived infancy in the dark ages before packaged, trademarked, artificially-coloured-and-flavoured salt 'n sugar water.
Also amazing that any athlete ever excelled before Gatorade® hit the market.
I'm glad to see this recipe, as my children both spurn Pedialyte in any flavour. The frozen Pedialyte pops are accepted, but you have to feed them the entire damn box in order for them to get as much as they need, and the frozen pops are about three times as expensive as the liquid. Yes, I've considered freezing the regular liquid myself--I'm not a total douchebag--but who has time to wait for it to freeze when a babe is ill? And no, I'm not together enough to do it ahead of time.
Also, the thought of happy pink diarrhea (what could be cheerrhea?) is enough to make me want to give it a try next time it's needed.
A story about rotavirus was on NPR just this morning (afternoon?) They were talking about a new vaccine being developed. Too late for Charlie, but they mentioned many of the same facts you do.
When you ridicule the woman who nurses her baby until the kid is in medical school, please remember the rotavirus. Breastmilk is the miracle cure for rotavirus.
But thanks for the homebrew!
Breastmilk probably won't hurt, but it sure is not a miracle cure. My daughter was exclusively breastfed until 6 months but had rotavirus at 5 months. Five days of total HELL, thankyouverymuch.
Nance has her head up her ass. But this is Charlie's second nasty experience transmitted by the oral-fecal route. I'd sit down with the daycare director and have a serious chat about handwashing and disinfection policies.
I wish you stamina and sleep.
Uh, Nance? The concotion Julie and Paul came up with IS medically proven. Pedialyte just bottled, flavored, and marketed it.
The homebrew works great for adults too, just remember it correctly. I advised it to my husband recently, and he called me back, sputtering with indiginity. That stuff was disgusting! Yes, it is, darling, if you try to dissolve it all in one cup instead of one liter...
I second the rice water as well. My Ugandan Indian friend got me onto it- it's a traditional remedy for the trots apparently. You just cook your rice for a long time, and strain, keeping the water. You add sugar to it if your kid will take it better that way, and it does work. Mind, I only ever used it when my children were toddlers +, but I suppose that any liquid he can keep down at this stage is good liquid.
If it's any consolation, they do seem to grow out of stomach bugs, as though they run out of them in the end (no pun intended).
Am laughing at Mollie's response to passive-aggressive lady.
Poor little man - but good grief, those prices - it's 10c a sachet even in the prepackaged ORS that are distributed in developing countries.
Other recipes include salt in coconut water, salt in lemon juice (my favourite as it tastes less disgusting than salt in other fruit juice), and salt plus sugar in black tea. Can you tell I've had it a few times myself?
A while back I worked for a project with children who have PKU, which means they can't have phenylalanine, a major component of Nutrasweet - and Pedialyte. I posted on their listserve a recipe for homemade ORS. I got SLAMMED I tell you SLAMMED, "not a doctor" "how dare you dispense medical advice" "back off".
Good grief.
For potassium, alternatively just substitute a teaspoon of Morton's Lite Salt for the regular salt in your formula.
Thanks for that. With two kids who could potentially be sick at the same time, that cost difference makes a HUGE difference.
Here's a link to that piece Heather mentioned was on NPR. Looks like at least a couple of pharm. companies are close to a breakthrough on a vaccine. I hope it works as well as they say it does, because if so, it could save thousands of kids in poor countries.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3262013
Thanks for the recipe. I'll add that to my list of stuff to have on hand for my soon-to-be-here little guy. Hope Charlie feels better soon; someone above mentioned 12 days and I certainly hope that's not the case for you and for him.
I've never come back for comment seconds, buuuuuutttt...
1) When my aforementioned daughter had rotavirus, she was at home with me - no daycare or even as much as a church nursery two hours on Sundays. Nance, you're gonna have to cope with the fact that sometimes kids get sick -even those not in the dreaded and evil daycare.
2) And, Ozma, my daughter WAS breastfed during her bout with the endless runs that the virus brings and...nope, no miracle cure. Let's not oversell the breastmilk thing, o.k.? Really, it's no betrayal of the cause to *not* bring it up as the miracle solution to everything from earaches to runny noses to rotavirus.
Ok, well..I was gonna be snarky about Nance's comment because of the judgey overtones (and undertones and sideways tones and all other tones that could possibly be there) but I'm not going to.
Here's the deal Nance, when you can provide your kid with something that is just as good, if not better for lots less money, why wouldn't you?
Get better soon, Charlie!
I was going to comment on the timeliness of the NPR piece, but I see your wildly astute readers beat me to it (no surprise there!).
Thanks SO much for the recipe. I know I've got roto in my future (bambino is 4 months on Friday and just started daycare), and while I was prepared to purchase the Pedialyte when that lovely moment arrived, I was mighty damn bitter about the price.
You doth rocketh much.
Hey, that's really usefull. Poor kid, but mostly, poor you guys.
Hope everyone gets better very soon.
Have written down recipe, and will use it much (my daughters drink Gatorade like it's going out of style!).
Hope dear Charlie is back to his happy, less-bodily-fluid-jettisonning self very soon!
Long-time lurker, first-time commenter, love YOU & your blog. . .
I just have to say this first:
Unless you are never going to take your child(ren) to restaurants, stores, church, your other children's activities (i.e. at their schools), playgrounds, etc., there is just no way to avoid having sick children. I have 5 kids, been at home with all of them & I clearly remember when my 3 older ones were puking/pooping off & on for a 2-month period. And I barely left the house back then -- yet they still got sick. Imagine that.
There is a Wal-mart version of Pedialyte that is quite a bit cheaper (about 1/2 the cost) but still expensive if you are using a lot of it. Why not make your own stuff instead of letting the "oral rehydration solution" people scam you out of your hard-earned money?
Very very clever.
Cautionary tale: you might want to re-think Friendly's. Last week a fly flew out of my chicken oriental salad. Two years ago I saw a wall full of flies at a different Friendly's. As far as I know, flies don't trasmit rotavirus, but a place that has an insect problem might not have the highest health standards.
Just saying...
My oldest got rotavirus as an infant (and while still breastfed, BTW), and it was awful. But the worst part came upon our return from the emergency room -- in our haste to leave, we'd just thrown all of the nasty diapers full of the runs into the upstairs bathroom trash, figuring we'd throw them out when we got back. Instead, our vile excuse for a dog decided to have a "snack' throughout the top floor of our house. So just remember, it could be worse -- you could find yourselves picking up shredded pieces of rotavirus contaminated diapers out of your bed at 2 a.m.
Maggie just went through a bout with diarrhea as well--she didn't have a fever and only puked once, but I thought it may have been a virus of some sort because I ended up nauseous and generally icky right afterwards. If you would like some pedialyte, I have one unopened bottle in my house and a baby who refused to take that, water, anything. We wasted practically half her college fund on stuff she wouldn't drink. I ended up shooting it into her mouth with her medicine dropper just so I could get some liquid into her. Thanks to the posters who mentioned rice water and tea--I wil try that next time.
Is Sucralose and Splenda the same thing? I didn't think you could give Splenda to kids. I'm pregnant and was told to avoid it, so I figured that passed on to the kids I already have. If anyone knows, I'd love to find out.
Anyway, thanks for the recipe...we never did the Pediatlyte thing here, despite many, many, many gastrointestinal crisis over the years. But I suppose it's inevitable someday, and I do not have it stocked in my pantry for that emergency 2am dose. Nor will I feel like venturing out to an all night pharmacy covered in vomit, I'm sure.
Oh, man! Not another illness! I'm so sorry, Julie! Poor Charlie. My tot in Guat. has adenovirus, the evil stepbrother to rotavirus, and I'm told it's diarrhea for about 2 weeks. The poor foster mom.
Hey, for electrolytes, V-8 splash is pretty good, I think. Not sure of the ingredients but they do make a splenda version if you don't want all that sugar.
Feel better soon, Charlie! (Give your poor parents a break, kiddo!)
I remember in high-school chem class making gatorade. Yup, the same stuff that some U of F college kids concocted and the had the good sense to market. It tasted a bit icky, but I don't like that stuff anyway. I bet some kool-aid flavoring would have done the trick.
Too bad I didn't keep my notes from that lab.
Here is ANECDOTAL advice from my geography professor, who spent several years in Bolivia when her kids were little, and saw a lot messy sorts of illness.
If a child or adult is struggling keeping liquids down too (it sounds like Charlie isn't having that problem, thank God), what you want to do is make one of those rehydration formulas - which seem to universally be diluted sugar/salt water, juice, or starchy broth (I'll bet pasta water would work too) and give them one teaspoon every fifteen minutes. That seems to be too little a quantity for the body to reject, but enough to be effective. She said studies had shown that it was as effective as intravenous rehydration. I haven't seen those studies, and small children dehydrate fast, so my first choice would be to use it as an interim solution while getting a kid to the doctor. Nonetheless, it's a good thing to know about, and it works for adults too.
Lisa, Splenda is merely sucralose (one of Pedialyte's ingredients) plus maltodextrin, a starch used for filler and a common ingredient in infant formula. I can't imagine why it wouldn't be safe for a baby and in fact, I don't know why you were advised to avoid it while pregnant. Maybe one of my more chemically sophisticated friends inside the computer could advise...?
Erica, I'm so sorry your kiddo is sick, but I have to confess I laughed like a loon at "my tot in Guat."
Regarding the Splenda thing, I was actually informed that it was one of the FEW artificial sweeteners believed to be safe in pregnancy. There is another one (though the name eludes me at the moment) that sounds similar to sucralose that isn't so safe and tends to cause explosive shits. Maybe that's what Lisa is thinking of?
Kid spewing is SO bloody unsettling. Though once the spewing is over I do enjoying the knowing looks that my 2-year-old give me when she lets the massive juicy farts that invariably follow. Ahh, brings me back to her infant days, except for the addition of the radiactive deadly stench.