Diarrhoea and sickness in children - Preventing gastroenteritis in children

As gastroenteritis can be highly infectious, it's important to try and stop it spreading from your child to other children.

Even if you isolate your child, it's still possible for adults in your household to spread the infection to other children without realising it.

To prevent the spread of infection:

encourage your child to wash their hands thoroughly after going to the toilet and before eating
clean the potty or toilet thoroughly using disinfectant after each episode of diarrhoea and vomiting, making sure to clean the toilet seat and handle
wash your hands regularly, particularly after changing a nappy or cleaning a potty
do not share your child's towels, flannels, cutlery or eating utensils with other members of your household
wash soiled clothing and bed linen separately from other clothes and at the highest temperature possible (for example, 60°C or higher for linen), after first removing any poo into the toilet
do not allow your child to return to school or nursery until 48 hours have passed since their last episode of diarrhoea or vomiting
do not allow your child to go swimming in a pool until at least two weeks have passed since their last episode of diarrhoea – even if they no longer have symptoms, research has found that the rotavirus can spread to other children through pool water before this point

Read more about preventing germs from spreading.

Preventing food poisoning

Practising good food hygiene will help your child avoid getting gastroenteritis as a result of food poisoning. You should:

regularly wash your hands, surfaces and utensils using hot, soapy water
not store raw and cooked foods together
keep food properly refrigerated
always cook food thoroughly
not eat food after its use-by date

Read more about food poisoning and home hygiene.

Rotavirus vaccine

A vaccine that helps protect children against gastroenteritis caused by the rotavirus is now part of the routine childhood vaccination schedule.

This vaccine is given as a liquid that is dropped into a baby's mouth. It is given in two doses, with the first given at two months and another at three months.

Two possible side effects of the vaccine are diarrhoea and irritability, but these are usually mild and short-lived.