If you’ve been following the saga on my personal Facebook page, you know that the sick has been a major part of our house for like 2 full weeks now.

What kind of sick sticks around for 2 full weeks? The kind that your baby girl picks up, passes on to her brother, who in turn shares it with his dad. It brings with it losing everything you try to put in your stomach for five full days.

Not exaggerating.

So when someone mentioned the BRAT diet in one of my Facebook posts about cleaning up hazardous waste, and then someone else echoed their recommendation, I did what anyone else would do. I googled “What is the Brat Diet”.

I was super relieved that it has nothing to do with calling my kids ill-behaved.

So what is the Brat diet?

The brat diet isn’t for jerky kids – it’s for anyone experiencing stomach issues, folks having problem keeping food down. Brat stands for Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, and Toast. If your kid is throwing up everything and the kitchen sink, start at the beginning of that list of super mellow foods. Give them a couple of slices of banana, and a little sip of water or a cup of ice chips to munch on. Or maybe even a popsicle to bribe em into getting fluids into their system.

But the key is just a couple of slices of banana. Not the whole thing, don’t overwhelm that upset tummy.

When they can handle a couple slices of banana, next meal do a couple slices of banana and a small bowl of steamed rice. If it seems like they’re on the upswing, maybe add a tiny bit of butter to the rice to jazz it up a bit.

When they can handle that, next meal do a couple slices of banana, a little bowl of steamed rice, and a small helping of applesauce.

And when they aren’t losing that, go nuts and add toast to the mix!

I’m super grateful to my friends for suggesting the brat diet! Phil was on the last day of his illness when I tried this with him but I’m convinced that the super mellow foods I served him on that last day on the couch had a major hand in helping him to get his strength back.

Have you used the brat diet before?

What was your experience with it? Do you have any helpful tips to share in the comments?