Q: My one year old daughter has been vomiting at least four times a day for the last two days. She also has cough and cold. The doctor told us that she has developed respiratory infection and has prescribed Althrocin and Cinaryl for her. My daughter has been traveling with my wife and me for the last one month to many new places that have varied climatic conditions. Has she developed respiratory infection because of change in weather? Further, we have introduced vegetables in her diet last month only and prior to it, she was only breast-fed. Is she vomiting because of that?

A:Vomiting is a frequent symptom in infants and is most commonly due to gastro-esophageal reflux. This is a weakness of the muscle sphincter located at the beginning of the stomach, and weakness leads to vomiting. Vomiting can also be a part of any infection such as cough and cold, urinary infections etc. It the vomited matter is small in quantity, consists of undigested or digested food only, is not forceful or green in colour, and is not associated with weight loss or fatigue, it is not a cause for concern. Gastro-esophageal reflux and vomiting resolve with age, in a few years usually, and the vomiting is worse during cough or cold. Vomiting only after a bout of cough is a different entity and may be due to respiratory infections, wheezing etc. In this case as the infection resolves, the vomiting subsides. Treatment of vomiting consists of small and frequent feeds, thickened feeds rather than feeds of liquid consistency, upright posture for 20 to 30 minutes after feeds and not forcefully overfeeding the child. In some cases, medicines like domperidone may be needed if the vomiting is interfering with weight gain or causing choking, wheezing, etc.