3 year old not eaten anything in over 24 hours - A&E?

No this is not an A&E situation. It's not unusual for children to eat less or nothing occasionally. He's drinking and seems fine in himself.

How is your little one doing OP? Did you have a chance to think over the weekend about what your next step might be?

If he’s drinking fluids I wouldn’t go to a & e and keep an eye on it. My daughter is and always has been (8 now) a terrible eater. I remember when she was around that age I was so worried as she was my first I took her to the doctors and because there was absolutely nothing wrong with her they told me she would eat when she’s hungry and wouldn’t starve herself. I offered milk and water as fluids anything to get her to drink and eat so just keep with it. Even like ice lolly’s cucumber watermelon etc are good to try. He’ll eat when he wants even leave out a tray of picky snacks things for him to graze on throughout the day without the pressure of sitting at a table

It might be that he’s feeling pressured about eating if you’ve been a bit worried since you stopped the milk.

I’d try making yourself a plate of snacky bits that you know he likes (each thing seperate, nothing touching), sit in the room where he is playing, eat a few pieces, pop your plate on a table/floor near him and leave the room to make a cup of tea.

If that doesn’t work, I’d try tv on, sitting next to him and occasionally spoon feeding him something like porridge that you know he likes. No pressure if he says no, give it 5 mins and then try another spoonful.

I know that you’ve stopped the formula, but would he drink cows milk do you think? That’s a good way to get nutrients into reluctant eaters…

I'd make a GP appointment to get him checked over but longer term I'd be asking for a dietician referral - either via your GP, or the Health Visitor. My daughter has complex needs and has had feeding issues her whole life. She dropped off the percentile chart for her weight at one point (and was on the verge of being tube fed). The dietician prescribed high calorie milk drinks she is on to this day. So if he was happy to drink formula, would he potentially tolerate something like that? The drinks my daughter has are 300 calories in 150mls so it is a lot of calories in a small volume.

I’ve a difficult eater and I’ve always given whatever they’ll eat when I’m similar situations. Crisps, chocolate, fruit anything they will eat
Jelly and Ice lollies are good for keeping fluid intake up and they’re fairly sugary.
Ask the GP for a dietitian referral as they have been really helpful for us.
Mine ok with food now and eats a reasonable range and will try some new foods. I think it’s still a long way from normal though.

I dont think a well preschooler being off his food for a day or two is either an accident or an emergency.
Try not to make a fuss about it, just act unconcerned. If he realises not eating is winning him a lot of attention and treats he may do it all the more!

would he eat crisps?
melon?
perhaps he is nauseous

Was he NG fed as a baby and/or when he was poorly? My dd was premature and had a lot of health issues, I now believe the NG feeding, although unavoidable, had a severe effect on her relationship with food, hunger and sensory issues around food. Long story short but she needed calorie drinks until she was around 10. I'll post more later if this is helpful at all.

Sorry, I think you’ve taken the tone of my posts completely the wrong way. Im absolutely not precious about it, at all, I just haven’t ever had to think about giving fizzy pop to a 3 year old. This thread has educated me on when it might be appropriate. So no, I wasn’t being ridiculously precious. Just ignorant!

No they don’t, and I haven’t ever been advised by a doctor to give them fizzy pop. I’m glad I stumbled across this thread as it’s educated me somewhat.

Definitely not precious about it, just didn’t really ever think about it because as you say, mine doesn’t have issues with food. Definitely given me food for thought!

Definitely not A & E. That’s not what it is for

Has he had an accident? Is it an emergency? Is it life threatening? No. So not A&E then.

Seconding this, my prem, now diagnosed autistic child has needed to be on long term laxatives for years - even though they eat a good diet. But in the early days we assumed as long as they were doing poo’s every few days it wasn’t a long term issue that needed laxatives. We didn’t really understand the overall impact it was having, eg bladder capacity is reduced due to lack of space to expand so they drink less to avoid using the loo as much, feeling full and uncomfortable tummy doesn’t make you want to eat and I’m guessing he can’t tell you he is in pain. Once connected to the right person, in our case a knowledgeable childrens nurse through health visiting team and the ERIC charity it got managed. Things improved not just with the constipation but with drinking and eating. GP knowledge/resistance to prescribe about this was/is variable -said nurse offered support around this if needed.

Adults can last 3 whole weeks without food. A child going a day or two without food is fine.

Spoon feeding him whilst he’s spitting out the food sounds really stressful for everyone. Just put some healthy fruit and snacks on the table and let him help himself when he’s ready.

Actually a paediatrician told me that 7up was the nearest fluid you could buy to what’s actually in a drip, (not the sugar free one the normal 7up.)

I have given it many times to a sick child, and jelly, also under medical advice.

Oh for goodness sake, you sound ridiculously precious. No, pp are not suggesting regularly giving a 3 year old fizzy drinks, but in this case where it’s important to encourage drinking, why not? It’s not poison.

I’m guessing your 3yo doesn’t have severe issues with food and you’ve never been advised by a doctor to give them whatever they’ll eat or drink, even if it’s nothing but fizzy pop, crisps and chocolate.

Yes thanks, sorry I just saw that, she said 3 cups today. As long as he is drinking and weeing then that’s good news.

They also don’t know what a million pounds is but it still exists.

The OP has said that he’s still drinking fluids.

There is nothing wrong with giving some 7up to a sick child. He should still be drinking fluids, could he have tonsillitis??

Give him some calpol and try to get some fluids into him over the next hour, and he will will not drink fluids then you have a problem.

My DD used to regularly skip 2-3 meals in a row at that age. She had been too reliant on formula for sustenance and we cut that out to encourage better consumption of solids. It was a very frustrating and worrying time though as she was a skinny and very active toddler so really did need a lot more calories than she would take on board. However we persisted and somehow made it through. I think eventually she just decided one day that eating wasn't as bad as she'd previously thought and started picking things up and putting them in her mouth.

If he is drinking & otherwise well I really wouldn't take him to a&e. It's traumatic for any child (and you!) let alone one that's possibly autistic/ADHD.

Sounds like it's ARFID which is very common in autistic children. A&E won't be able to diagnose or refer you they will only check that he doesn't need emergency fluids & check for severe malnourishment. That doesn't happen in a few days if he is drinking

You need specialist support for ARFID & your best option is your GP. You might need to be persistent as it's quite hard to access.

I don't think it's an A&E issue. Keep an eye on the pain though as that's the only thing that sounds urgent.
The rest sounds like speaking to a GP about in general and seeing whether a paediatric referral would be made. Though reading other posters comments then it's unlikely they will do anything much.