HELP, sick baby, no doctors, am I doing the right thing?

[steppemum]

My ds has been ill for a couple of days, I don't trust the doctors here, so would only take him as a last resort. I just need to know that I'm doing the right thing, and what i should look for to know it is more serious.

I think he just has a tummy bug, as I had an upset tum yesterday too, and so did the children we saw at the weekend. He started getting "off" on Tuesday, he had slept badly and was crying, miserable and tired all day, slept loads, and then in the afternoon started a mild temperature. Wednesday he had 6 dirty napppies instead of the usual 1 or 2. They were very loose, but then he had had kiwi on Tuesday before I realised it might be a tummy thing, and he does sometimes have pretty sloppy nappies anyway. He threw up twice on Wednesday (I mean real major vomit, not spit up) and slept loads. This morning (Thursday, it's now lunchtime here) he was still runnning a temperature, and was pretty quiet, usually he is pretty physical, but he just wants to be cuddled. He was doing these little whimpers all the time, which was heart breaking. I gave him 1/2 spoon of calpol, and he has slept all morning. I've just given him some sloppy baby rice and that seems to be staying down, but he is still very quiet, and not himself. I think he still has a temp. (was 37.5 on Wed, and 37.9 on Thurs am) He has stopped doing the whimpering, but that may be the calpol.

He IS still drinking (breastmilk) regularly, though not as much as usual, his skin colour is OK, a bit pale but not grey, and his fontanella is fine, so I don't think he's dehydrated.

I think all of this adds up to him just being off colour and he'll be fine, but just wanted to check, am I missing something, is there something else I should be doing? When should I call the doctor? I think I'm a bit worried because it is now the third day, and he's no better, and because the whimpering was so miserable. The books I brought with me are totally useless over tummy bugs, they say things like "diarrhea could be due to a number of things, and the treatment depends on the cause" very helpful!


Oh, forgot to say, he is 5 1/2 months, big and strong normally, has 3 small solid meals a day plus about 5 breastfeeds. I haven't added anything to his diet this weeks, except changed brand of baby rice, but the contents seem to be the same

[Tissy]

It sounds like a tummy bug, as you say, steppemum. As long as he is not getting dehydrated, he should be fine. Give him as many breastfeeds as you can, and keep the solid food to a minimum, unless he really seems to want it.

I would call the doctor if he gets dehydrated, if the vomiting starts again, if the diarrhoea gets worse, or if there is blood in it. Otherwise give it another 24 hours or so.

HTH

[steppemum]

Thanks Tissy and Sobernow, I realised after I posted that it was the crack of dawn in the UK, nice to see mumsnet is 24hours! I don't trust the doctors because I live in Kazakhstan, and 50% of what they say is fine, and the other 50% is horrendous, and you never can tell which is which. They are very interventionist, so they will start giving injections at the drop of a hat for nothing at all.

He hasn't been sick today, and only one dirty nappy, but he doesn't want to breastfeed. He had a good feed early this am, and hasn't since (it's now 4:45pm) which is why I gave him sloppy baby rice, which he took, and I've started spooning him water. I can't work out why he doesn't want to suckle. Still pretty listless though and has slept most of the day.

Thanks for the advice, I didn't realise NHS direct had a website too, that's very handy. It is nice to hear advice from other mums though.

[mears]

If he is not breastfeeding I would see a doctor. I am alarmed that you said he was listless. My ds no.2 had meningitis at 6 months old and thankfully recovered, but one of the symptoms was not feeding. He needs breastmilk more than water or rice. Hopefully he has fed since you last posted.

[steppemum]

Thanks mears. He didn't feed all day yesterday (thurs) but would let me spoon water and EBM into him (I know he needs milk most, but was trying to get any liquids in) Then at 9:30 last night he started feeding again and had 4 small feeds during the night and now has had a really good feed this morning. His temperature is still up, 38.4, but he seems a bit more active. By listless I meant he was just content to sit, not play, or move around, just sit snuggled up and sleep most of the time. I think the not eating and him being so quiet was more worrying than the throwing up etc of the day before.

I am relieved that he is now feeding again, but I'm going to try and find a doctor today. Thanks for your advice

[steppemum]

mears, just wanted to say thanks for your post, because it kicked me into finding a doctor. Ds has a big throat and chest infection (they said mild pneumonia, but I think it would probably just be called a chest infection in uk??), so is now on anti-biotics, the tummy bug is unconnected, but was probably the reason he couldn't shake the cold (which seemed very minor) and it turned nasty. The doctors were extremely kind and patient with my bad Russian and me questioning everything they did, we spent the night at the hospital (like a trip back in time to 1950's complete with stern head doctor) and we are now home. He picked up brilliantly once the antibiotics kicked in. I think the feeding thing was because his throat was so sore.

I feel really pathetic, I didn't even know he had a sore throat, and he had no cough at all
Anyway, thanks mears, I needed a kick to send me out into the unknown to find a doctor.

[mears]

steppemum - please do not feel about missing your baby being unwell. When my ds had meningitis, he had actually been off colour for 3 weeks before he became really ill. He kept getting a temperature, being seen by a doctor, getting a course of antibiotics, getting better, finishing antibiotics then getting temperature again. The day he became unwell again I had thought 'here we go again'. I left him with dh and took ds no.1 to toddler group. When I came back, he wasn't any better and hadn't fed since the morning. I phoned the doctor at 4pm who said he would visit after surgery closed at 6pm. I said fine because i didn't think it was anything serious. When the doctor came, ds had not fed since 10am and was lying listless. He asked me whether I wanted him admitted ,or whether I wanted to stay at home and see how he was overnight because he couldn't find anything wrong with him. Thankfully I did want him admitted because he developed the other classic signs of meningitis as we sat in the admissions area. Turned out he had pneumococcal meningitis which had caused the symptoms before it reall took hold. If I had stayed at home overnight he would have died. I vowed after that I would not delay in seeing a doctor if I was concerned about my children's health. That was why I posted that info to you. It was only because of my own experience. Do not be hard on yourself at all.
Glad to hear your baby is improving.

[steppemum]

thanks, his is loads better. I think I'll be followinf your advice mears and going to a doctor more quickly in future.

[Tissy]

Steppemum, I've been feeling rather guilty, as I advised you to wait a bit (although in my defence, m'lud, your baby was still breastfeeding when I said that...). Mears is right (she always is!) if you're not happy go to a doctor.

Glad your ds is so much improved.

[mears]

Tissy - your advice was not wrong - did say wait if baby was feeding. Your post was there prior to the one about baby not feeding. I would have said the same as you at that point. Thanks for the vote of confidence by the way. I am not always right about constipation though....

[steppemum]

Oh Tissy, please don't feel guilty, when i first posted he had all the symptoms of a tummy bug. It was only in the next day or so that he stopped feeding and his temperature went on going up, so then it was obviously not the same situation. I really appreciated the support and advice, and it would have been fine if he hadn't had 2 things at once!