Is it food poisoning or just a virus in my 18 month old?

Well, there can be many explinations for your childs sickness. Two of the most often are the common stomach virus and food poisoning. Unfortunatly, there isn't a whole lot the doctor can do for either. That is why they are telling you not to come in unless he gets worse.

However, vomiting or worse, dehydration can be a serious problem for children ages birth to 2yrs. Vomiting, diarrhea and dehydration form a viscious cycle. first you vomit or have diarrhea, then you get dehydrated which makes you vomit which makes you more dehydrated which......i think you get the picture.

Your goal right now should be keeping your baby hydrated. Try giving little sips (try half a teaspoon) of WATER ( NOT gator-aid or juice, the high sugar will make diarrhea WORSE! ) then wait 5 min and give another sip. Do this every 5 min. If he is able to keep the water down after 30 min, try giving a whole tsp of water. Do this every 5 min for 15 min. If he still keeps it down try a sippy cup or bottle. Let him get 3 or 4 sucks and take it away for 5 min and try again. Make sure the water is room temp and not cold. The room temp water will be absorbed faster becase the cold water has to be warm by the body first.

If at any time the baby vomits, wait 30 min to an hour and start over.

If at any time your baby gets worse or is not getting better call your doctor. If they still tell you to wait, then go to an ER. You know your child better than anyone. If you are concerned then something is probably wrong. I see dehydrated children in the ER every day and the sooner they get treated the better.

Hope this helps.

No but it sounds like whatever you guys ate made him sick too.

Make sure he has a lot of fluids and feed him easily digested foods, perhaps some fruit or some crackers. Avoid anything too heavy right now.

He's probably exhausted from throwing up. I doubt its a virus, since he'd probably be running a fever with it, especially since both you and your husband were sick.

Just let him sleep all he wants to today, keep him hydrated and offer him light foods. Check him for fever off and on.

It'll probably pass in a day or so.

How horrible! I hope you and your husband feel better soon.

as for your little guy: I don't blame you for being nervous. An illness like that can be very stressful for him. Let him sleep as much as possible and offer dry toast for him to nibble on. maybe even a few crackers. don't be worried if his appetite doesn't come back for quite a few days. jello will likely help.

make him as comfortable as you can. if you can spare it, just lay down with him on the couch and watch a movie or tv. it really is the best comfort for him and it sounds like you could use a break.

Well if you and your husband were sick as well it could be food poisoning. You should get him into the doctor ASAP if it does not go away in a couple days......food poisoning it NOT a fun thing to mess with.

If both you and your husband also get sick then I think its food poisoning. My son got food poisoning when he was about 2 just keep him as hydrated as you can I know he probably doesn't want to eat but push fluids so he doesn't get dehydrated.

I would contact your local health department and tell them that all 3 of you got sick after eating there. When at least 2 people get sick after eating at the same place around the same time it needs to be investigated

Call the doctor again. If he doesnt convince you, better approach another doctor.