Baby is ill...next stage advice on feeding pls...

[jennyh]

HI

Just to confirm , we have had 3 appointments with the doc for this particular illness so I am clued up on diagnosis and treatment etc, now looking for some advice. :)

10 month old started vomiting on Thursday morning, thought it was a tummy bug but it hadn't passed by friday, went to the GP who said she could see some redness in her ears but to wait until today to get that looked at again. Said that if baby wasnt keeping down any fluids and had dry nappies to go to A&E on Friday eve. friday afternoon she picked up a little and kept down some Diaralyte which really helped. Still vomiting on saturday and very floppy and lathargic plus rubbing ears and gloopy eyes. By yesterday the eyes were swollen and bruised underneath and still not keeping down fluids. Went to seldoc and was prescribed co-amoxyclav for ear infection and told to give with calpol etc to control pain and fever.

Anyway, today we went back to the doctor because 4 days of little or no fluids seems to have really taken its toll on her. very upset, very sleepy, wont move much, dry lips, cold, pasty looking. STILL vomiting!

I got quite upset in the surgery as I feel a little desperate. Doctor said nothing else they can do and that my focus is on getting fluids into her as her stomache is irritated so...

On doctor's orders I have spent around 6 hours standing holding her and swaying, alternating 5ml spoons of milk, diaralyte in water and yoghurt every 5 minutes. Its sheer hell. She is starving hungry so has cried all day and just stares longingly at the milk, cant really sleep because she is hungry. On the plus side she hasnt vomited so I know she has had around 200ml of fluids today which I couldnt say yesterday. She has picked up a bit as she usually does around this time in the afternoon and I have been able to put her down with some toys to play with. for the last couple of hours I have given her 2 spoons of fluid at each 5 min interval and even upgraded to a little rusk soaked in fruit puree and milk in the hope of making her feel a little more satisfied.

I am not sure what to do next though and where to start in the morning after a night of nothing, she will be starving no doubt. Do I just try the same thing or perhaps do 15ml every 5 mins or every 10 mins? How do I get back to being able to give her a bottle feed of milk?? Sorry for the desperate tone, its just so upsetting and hard hearing your hungry baby cry and knowing I can feed her but that she's not well enough to keep it down.

Anyone out there has been through this sort of thing? Feels like such a prolongued period of no real feeding, I dont know how to get her better really! Also anyone know anything about ear infections and the effects on the tummy??

Help! :)

[Fuschia]

Take her to kings a and e

They are muchorevthirough on their testing and care, ime

[Fuschia]

They have done a urine test?

[jennyh]

they gave me a bag to collect a sample but it didnt go very well and she pood all over it. I dont feel she is desperately unwell right now in comparison to how she has been but will see how she goes in the morning and if worse then i will take her, feel like ive sought all other advice i can. just really wondering where to go from here with feeding...it seems to be the quantity that makes her vomit so i guesscarry on but a little bit more each time.

[bluesuperted]

I'd definitely go to Kings A and E ASAP, they are brilliant and in no way will belittle your concerns. I've taken E for far less severe symptoms and always been treated well and told we did the right thing going in.

Good luck, sounds really scary :(

[Fuschia]

I think probably use your judgement re the speed at which you offer fluids ... You are there to see how much you can give without promoting more vomiting

Is she keeping down the Ntibiitics? Does she have a fever?

[jennyh]

Yeah I guess, I'm just afraid of giving her too much and then starting from scratch again with her in such a state. She has kept down 2 days of antibiotics which is really good, whoopeee! The doc today said that the redness in her ears had improved which shows that they are working which is good. So just the vomiting to deal with now, perhaps a case of getting her tummy used to having stuff in it, I wonder if small amounts of porridge etc would be better than larger volumes of liquid, who knows!

I worked out that via the 5 min spoon-feeding today she prob had about 450mls of milk, half a yoghurt and about 40ml of rusk/milk/fruit puree mix. Better than yesterday so have to see that as an improvement. Sometimes hard to stay positive on day 5 of illness!

[Fuschia]

Tbh I wouldn't really expect vomiting to go on so long

I asked about the urine infection because my daughter when she had an awful

Kidney infection was diagnosed with a (viral) ear infection on about day 6, just before she had a convulsion (sure you don't need to worry about that if no high fever!)

But I found out later that c

Vomiting can be sign of a uti

Just sounds like this is dragging on for you

After 4 days, and 2 days of antibiotics .... Seems a bit odd.

[MrsLL2b]

Jenny you poor thing, you must be exhausted and so worried which won't be helping your emotional state. It sounds like you are being amazingly attentive and doing everything you possibly can.

I can't offer much help on the ear infection. But when my daughter had the terrible vomiting bug last month I went through a similar thing with trying to get her to take some food and keep it down. It's awful when you get a little over optimistic and they take a decent amount and then sick it all back up.

Your little and often approach sounds great. Her tummy will probably need to adjust to having more in it bit by bit. I just tried different things til I found some things she would eat. She seemed to regress a bit and preferred very smooth purees etc rather than the lumpier things she was having.

Just try different things. My baby would eat the following : cold, plain, pasta shells, cow and gate apple & pear pur?e in the squeeze pouch (from the pouch only not the spoon!) a little bit of custard, and sometimes some squash and sweet potato pur?e. I also gave her milk before each nap and whenever she woke in the night. Even if she gulps down the milk maybe limit it to 3 or 4 oz per feed or whatever you think she can take without being sick. When my daughter was on the mend she started drinking full bottles again but then would sick it up whereas if i only gave her a little bit she could keep it down.

I agree with the others that if you feel it is more than just being a bit weak from the lack of food and drink then go with your instinct and take her to A&E. I think you tend to know as their mother if it is serious or not.

Good luck, really hope she is better soon and you get a bit of sleep and peace of mind x

[jennyh]

MrsLL2b Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Jenny you poor thing, you must be exhausted and so

> worried which won't be helping your emotional

> state.

Yes you are right! I spent most of the day whimpering with her! :) The GP looked at me like I was crazy when I was snivelling through her symptoms. Its quite overwhelming having a poorly baby, ive been fortunate that she has always had an ongoing cough/cold etc and nothing of massive significance. My back is crippled under the weight of her as well! only so much rocking and carrying you can do!

Thanks everyone, and Fuschia I think you are right...I plan to take her to hospital tomorrow morning if she vomits her morning milk or if there are any issues overnight. I have been going to her every hour or so which does mean that I can monitor her quite well.

[candj]

It is quite stressful having a poorly baby. Seems you're doing the right thing by giving her small amounts of liquid. Would also try any liquid to keep her from being dehydrated, ie, not just milk, but water mixed with apple juice, etc. Agree with the fruit purees being good for upset tummy.

Also, how is the ear infection? I would be inclined (admin don't shoot me down, no I'm not a doctor) to try children's neurofen for earaches over paracetamol as it reduces the inflammation as well as pain. And agree go with your instinct would take her to A&E if she's still vomiting as you just want them to check her over again.

Hope she's well soonest.

[jennyh]

Hi

Just an update - she was still vomiting her milk yesterday morning so we took her to A&E. The doctor there said there was no evidence of an ear infection and he wondered if the antibiotics had been prescribed prematurely. He said it is a tummy bug that would have more than likely cleared up after 2-3 days but the antibiotics have prolongued the upset stomach, hence the vomiting. I did ask if its possible that the antibiotics were necessary but that they have done their job in making the ear infection clear up and he didn't really comment other than to say maybe she did have a little ear thing going on but apparently all linked to the stomach?? Not sure to be honest.

Anyway, we followed advice and stopped the antibiotics yesterday and have stopped giving her milk/dairy for a couple of days as this seems to have been upsetting her tummy even more. She perked up a lot yesterday and managed a fair amount of carrot puree, apple and banana puree and a few bits of bread and biscuit along with water. This morning she was starving and water just won't do it so I look forward to when we can offer her a bit of milk, perhaps tomorrow. She had a big bowl of porridge and fruit so her appetite is good.

I'm just really confused because all the doctors have said different things and whereas one has said that milk is the best thing to offer, the other says not to. I guess all babies are different and there is no one answer for viral infections, it would appear dairy is hard for my girl to tolerate when she has a tender tummy but carrot is fine!

Thanks everyone for your support. Fingers crossed she keeps improving!!

[Saffron]

Little Saff had an extended viral tummy bug earlier this autumn. It started with vomiting every 2 hours all night, until I ran out of bed linen and we had to co-sleep on towels in the vomit. Terrible, went on for days, but the vomiting did lessen as the days passed. (Then after vomiting came a runny bottom and thrush!) Even after we'd both had baths, I kept sniffing little bits of vomit-smell in her hair. Top tip, a bit of Sanex-type alcohol-based hand sanitizer gel will get rid of this smell. A godsend!

Re milk... is it cow's milk formula your LO has? Try switching to goat's milk formula. Goat's milk is much easier to digest. It's much closer to human milk than cow's milk is, so goat's milk undergoes less processing than cow's milk. It's not a magic bullet, but it might help.

You could also try adding a little probiotic powder to the milk, to help prevent thrush and repopulate the good bacteria which antibiotics may have upset. Live yogurt is helpful, but a large proportion of the probiotics in the yogurt will not survive the stomach acid. Probiotic powders seem able to reach the intestines with larger amounts of the active cultures intact.

Re ibuprofen vs paracetamol, it's whatever you think helps. You're the parent, with the child all the time, so you'll observe which (both?) helps most. Some people might be reluctant to give ibuprofen in the case of upset stomach, but small doses over a short period of fine should be fine. xx

[Fuschia]

I am glad she has perked up

I must say that I find gps very variable and after a few bad experiences (missed kidney infection, convulsion,ambulance, lumbar puncture, prolonged hospital stay. Then missed pneumonia... I now head straight to a and e if I am

Seriously worried

For a start they will do urine test,

Blood tests, chest X-ray etc until they find the cause

[paps]

Baby paps going through same thing at the moment

so thanks all for the advice!!

His been being sick since Sunday but doc said to keep

going with milk so will try water/pur?e route.

Really helpful post :))