Our son couldn’t keep any kind of solid food down and had diarrhea. We had no idea what to do, so we called the doctor.

The diagnosis was a stomach virus. According to the pediatrician, it has to run its course naturally while feeding our son a special diet over 72 hours. We were a bit skeptical, since he wasn’t keeping anything down.

But the menu she gave us has worked pretty well and our son was feeling great today.

Here’s a suggested diet for a infant with a stomach virus - assuming they’ve been fully introduced to solid foods and are off breastmilk and formula and on to whole milk.

If your baby is still vomiting in the 24 - 48 hour stage, call your pediatrician and get some more advice.

0 - 24 hours - Pedialyte or Gatorade, exclusively. They’re geared specifically to replace fluids lost from vomiting or diarrhea, and your baby will probably be able to keep them down better.

24 - 48 hours - A diet of bananas, rice, applesauce and wheat toast or bread. These bland foods will sit better in your baby’s stomach.

48 - 72 hours - Back to the normal diet, but no dairy just yet. What you can give them that’s dairy is Activia yogurt by Danon because of its bifidobacteria. The active culture bacteria is meant to augment the body’s natural mechanisms for regulating the digestive system.

At this stage, our son was feeling a lot better and he was ready to chow down. We gave him green beans, which he usually picks at. Instead, he wolfed them down. Then he ate a whole container of the Activia yogurt with a gusto. He was probably just glad to get some real food in his belly.

72 hours + - Introduce dairy back into their diet. The diarrhea can take up to two weeks to finally go away, so keep lots of spare clothes on hand.