The littlest of us probably got the worst of it this past week. He had some stomach bug that had him out of commission for about a week. Anything that he ate was coming out from both ends. That was not pretty. It was hard to tell if it was actually a stomach bug or if it was his allergies. The Monster is the one that is allergic to milk, eggs, and soy, among other things. We tried not to give him too many new things; just keeping it simple for the week. I will say that we tried a cheese replacement when we had pizza night, but he was not too interested so I doubt that affected him too much. And it was made of rice! What?! Yeah, rice. So he should be good with that when we try it again.
A friend of ours came over and mentioned that she had a stomach bug recently and drank Pedialyte for a few days and felt so much better. I figured we could try that for the Monster; afterall it's a kids drink. He was not impressed by the taste so we had to mix it with apple juice. On the second day, the Monster broke out into a crazy rash with hives and red cheeks. This is a very rare occurrence for my Monster. Needless to say, I was in a bit of a frenzy.
Another friend with an allergy baby helped me regroup and think a little. She reassured me that this itchy phase would pass. There was no breathing issues; I could stick with the allergy meds and hydro-cortisone As I talked to her, we talked about the new things that I had given him recently. The only new thing we could really think of was the Pedialyte. In her daughter's case, sometimes it takes days for the reaction to come to a head. I had never experienced this because the Monster usually throws up anything that he can't handle. So, no more Pedialyte for the boy was the determination. 
I still needed to rehydrate him though because he was having diarrhea and throwing up. I remembered that coconut water is an excellent hydrant. This thought made me excited. The Monster has no problems with coconut. In fact, I put coconut milk in his oatmeal and he drinks coconut milk as his milk. I was ready!The next morning, Dad went to the store to get his baby some coconut water. This one is sweetened and has pulp in it. I put it in a shake bottle with a filter. I added a little pineapple juice and ice. We were in business. It took the Monster a few tastes to adjust to the change from apple juice, but he enjoys it now. Today, my Monster is back to his old monster self. He's eating full meals again, singing, and running around the house. I am so pleased that we were able to get through that adventure. Today, we're ready for the next one.
