After throwing up all night, the single most important thing to drink is water, taken in very small sips rather than full gulps. Your body has lost fluid and electrolytes, and replacing them too fast can trigger another round of vomiting. Start with about a teaspoon (5 mL) every five minutes and gradually increase as your stomach settles.
How to Start Drinking Again
The instinct after a night of vomiting is to gulp down a big glass of water. Resist it. Your stomach is irritated and hypersensitive, and flooding it with liquid is one of the fastest ways to start vomiting again. The clinical approach to rehydration is to start with 5 mL (roughly one teaspoon) every five minutes, then slowly increase the amount as you tolerate it. Over the course of an hour, you can work your way up to a few ounces at a time.
Room temperature or slightly warm liquids are easier on your stomach than cold ones. Cold drinks increase pressure inside the stomach and reduce its ability to stretch and accommodate fluid, which can worsen nausea and discomfort. If you’re reaching for something from the fridge, let it sit on the counter for a few minutes first.
The Best Drinks for Recovery
Plain water is always a safe starting point. Once you’ve kept that down for 30 to 60 minutes, you can branch out to other clear liquids that help replace what you’ve lost:
- Clear broth or bouillon: Provides sodium, which is one of the key electrolytes depleted by vomiting. Fat-free broth is gentle on the stomach and can feel more satisfying than plain water.
- Oral rehydration solutions (like Pedialyte): These are specifically designed to replace electrolytes. Pedialyte Classic has about 9 grams of sugar and 16% of your daily sodium per 12-ounce serving, giving your intestines the right balance of glucose and salt to absorb water efficiently.
- Diluted apple or white grape juice: Pulp-free fruit juices mixed with water provide a small amount of sugar to help with absorption without overwhelming your stomach.
- Ginger tea: Ginger blocks certain receptors in the digestive tract that trigger nausea, slowing digestion and calming the vomiting reflex. Steep fresh ginger slices in hot water, or use a ginger tea bag.
- Peppermint tea: Another option that can help settle nausea, served warm.
- Flat carbonated drinks: If you prefer soda, let it go flat first and sip slowly. The carbonation itself can cause bloating on a sensitive stomach.
Ice pops (without milk or fruit chunks) are another good option, especially if even sipping feels like too much. They force you to take in fluid slowly by design.
Why Electrolytes Matter More Than You Think
Vomiting doesn’t just remove water from your body. It strips sodium, potassium, and chloride from your system, and plain water alone won’t replace those. This is why you can drink water and still feel weak, dizzy, or lightheaded. Your intestines actually absorb water more efficiently when it arrives alongside small amounts of sugar and sodium, which is the whole principle behind oral rehydration solutions.
If you’re choosing between a sports drink and a medical rehydration product, the difference is significant. Gatorade Thirst Quencher contains 21 grams of sugar per 12-ounce serving but only 7% of your daily sodium. Pedialyte Classic has less than half that sugar (9 grams) and more than double the sodium (16%). Sports drinks are designed for sweat loss during exercise, not illness. They contain far more sugar than your irritated stomach needs. If Gatorade is all you have, dilute it with an equal amount of water.
What Not to Drink
Some beverages that seem helpful can actually make things worse. Avoid these until you’re keeping bland foods down consistently:
- Coffee and caffeinated tea: Caffeine is a diuretic, meaning it increases urine output and accelerates fluid loss. It also stimulates stomach acid production, which is the last thing your irritated stomach lining needs.
- Milk and dairy-based drinks: Dairy is harder to digest and can trigger more nausea when your gut is already struggling.
- Alcohol: Even a “hair of the dog” if your vomiting was alcohol-related. Alcohol irritates the stomach lining and worsens dehydration.
- Sugary juices and sodas at full strength: High sugar content can pull water into the intestines and cause diarrhea, compounding your fluid losses. If you want juice, dilute it.
- Citrus juices: Orange juice and grapefruit juice are acidic and can sting an already raw stomach.
A Practical Timeline
Here’s what the first several hours typically look like. In the first hour after your last episode of vomiting, stick to tiny sips of water, about a teaspoon every five minutes. If that stays down, move to slightly larger sips over the next hour, working up to an ounce or two at a time.
By two to three hours in, if you haven’t vomited again, you can try clear broth, diluted juice, or an electrolyte drink. Keep portions small. A few ounces every 15 to 20 minutes is plenty. By four to six hours, most people can tolerate a full cup of liquid at a time and can start thinking about bland solid foods like plain crackers or dry toast.
If you vomit again at any point, reset the clock. Go back to tiny sips of water and start the process over.
Signs You Need More Than Home Fluids
Most bouts of vomiting resolve on their own within 12 to 24 hours, and oral rehydration at home is enough. But there are situations where your body has lost more fluid than you can replace by sipping. Watch for these signs of dehydration that has gone beyond what you can manage at home:
- Dark yellow or amber-colored urine, or not urinating at all for eight hours or more
- Dizziness or lightheadedness when you stand up
- A dry mouth and lips that persist even after drinking
- Rapid heartbeat
- Skin that stays “tented” when you pinch it rather than springing back
These signs suggest you may need intravenous fluids to catch up on what you’ve lost. The same applies if you can’t keep even small sips of water down for more than 12 hours, or if you notice blood in your vomit.