Eating, nausea, and mouth pain
Practical ways through the weeks when food is a battle — and when weight loss stops being something to manage at home.
Nausea
Anti-sickness medicine works far better taken before nausea builds than after. If it is prescribed regularly, give it regularly, even on a good morning.
Small amounts often beat three meals. Cold or room-temperature food smells less and is usually easier than hot food.
Tell the team if the current medicine is not working. There are several classes and they are genuinely different; nobody should white-knuckle it.
Mouth pain
makes the mouth and throat raw. It peaks about a week to ten days after chemotherapy and then improves.
Soft, bland, cool food. Avoid citrus, salt, crisps, and anything with sharp edges. A soft toothbrush twice a day still matters — mouth care reduces infection.
Ask about pain relief early. Children stop drinking when swallowing hurts, and dehydration is what usually brings them back into hospital.
Steroid weeks are different
Steroid phases can bring intense hunger, mood swings, and disrupted sleep. This is the medicine, not your child and not your parenting.
Salty cravings at 2am are typical. Within reason, let it happen; these phases are time-limited.
Call the team if
- No fluids kept down for 8 hours, or no wet nappy or urine for 8-12 hours
- Ongoing weight loss, or your child is skipping most meals for more than a few days
- Mouth pain that stops drinking, or white patches and bleeding gums
- Vomit that is green, or contains blood or coffee-coloured specks
Where this comes from
- Paediatric oncology antiemetic guidance. Regimen-specific emetogenic risk determines which medicines are used.
- Oral mucositis management guidance. Mouth care and analgesia principles.
Next review due 2027-02-01.