My husband has taken baby daughter to A&E

[Sapphire387]

She's five months old.

Has a small patch of pinprick bruises / non-blanching rash on her leg. Noticed it when I was dressing her after her bath.

Otherwise seems well in herself, no temperature etc.

Can someone tell me we have done the right thing and that I'm not being silly? Feel so worried. Please no scary stories. She's not our first and we've dealt with non-blanching rashes before. The fear never really goes away.

I'm waiting at home with the three older ones. Can I please have a handhold?

Instead of spouting drivel like this, why don't you do some research and find out the real reasons why waiting times are so long?

You'll find out very quickly that it has absolutely nothing to do with parents being cautious when small babies get non-blanching rashes 😡

They don’t do blood test on babies at the drop of a hat so there was obviously something that the drs did want to check which means the OP was in the right place. Glad you little one is better.

There are too many of these threads where there are posters accusing the OP of being a time waster when there is actually something seriously wrong with them. The lady with the black poo springs to mind as a recent one. There were people who had spotted she was seriously ill and there were still people posting telling her not to go.

No wonder wait times are so long

Non-parent here (who in her time has spent hours in A&E). I'd rather wait so a baby/small child can be checked over and his/her parents reassured. And I was told by a doctor when I presented with what turned out to be severe health anxiety that they'd rather see that and send me away knowing nothing's wrong physically than me sitting at home having a real heart attack because I didn't want to trouble A&E.

It's a new week, poster. Decide you're going to be nice for the rest of it.

I hope any DC in your care never display any potential meningitis symptoms. I'm not one to rush to A&E or even the GP, it there are some symptoms you should never ignore.

Heya OP ignore the negatives, my baby had at around the same age, 2 Rash and
Eczema at the same time! It wasn't blanching and I took her into A&E because of what we've been told rather than wait for 111 to call back. I was like 'it's not going under the glass'. And we were seen pretty much right away, and the doctor was like if he was on the phone he would have said to come in. He'd rather it be nothing than be worst case. No one wants to see a poorly baby. We're doing it right. And thank goodness it wasn't serious. X

Yeh god forbid a terrified mother take her baby with meningitis symptoms to get checked over. No doubt you’re one of those dickheads who would also be sticking the boot in if she hadn’t bothered and it did turn out to be serious

I’ve had bacterial meningitis. I hope this helps settle your mind but by the time a small amount of the rash came up I was pretty much in a coma and very very very unwell. It always makes me laugh when I hear 111 say do you have a rash that doesn’t disappear as by that time no way could I of made a phone call. Let alone speak clearly.

the rash is the last thing to appear and the doctors told me most people don’t survive the illness once that happens.

so if you’re worried about that then if she’s happy and playing there’s no way…

hope this helps. I’ve got it all crossed for you xx

See my post above. I had meningitis and had the radh

i was unconscious by that time and very very unwell

you’re totally right

My DD had been sick for 12 hours already when I noticed the small pinpricks in the fold of her elbow. I'd just picked up some antibiotics from the pharmacy and was in the shopping centre putting her in her car seat. She had been very clingy and a bit flat all day, just wanted to cuddle. I gave her the first lot of antibiotics then and there. (Doctor just thought it was an ear infection when we saw him just before, prior to the rash which came up between that visit and the time it took to get the medication). It was meningitis as diagnosed at A&E a few hours later. The doctors said having given her the antibiotics in the car straight away might have made all the difference for her. GP said if there'd been that rash when I'd seen him, he'd have had an ambulance there immediately. She was clearly very sick but not at all near a coma.

No. Not all people are. But what if saying is usually at that point people are quite unwell. Like your child and like me.

Maybe the type of meningitis makes a difference as well?

A GP on a Sunday evening? If OP had rang 111 for an out of hours appointment, not only would they have been waiting ages for a call back, but as soon as the rash was mentioned they would have been advised to attend A&E.

Yep. Be unnecessarily spiteful to a worried mother

That's good news.

And it proves you were right that there was something wrong.

The big black box at the very top of the page describes a non blanching rash as a reason to go straight to A&E. It’s the second to last bullet point. Not trying to be snarky just think it’s important that people know that they should take it seriously every time just in case! Also with babies it can be very hard to tell if they have other symptoms as they can’t tell you.

We had a non-blanching rash here over Christmas and 111 sent us straight in. Luckily it was just viral but they said without doubt, go in. I hope she is ok. Thinking of you xx

Non-blanching rash should ALWAYS be considered an emergency.

In lots of cases it is the last visual sign of meningitis but there are cases where kids are asymptomatic bar the rash.

It can also be a sign of sepsis.

Never worry about wasting people's time with something like that, the outcome of it being serious and not escalated are too awful!!!

Hey, thank you all for your support. She's doing ok today. I'm glad DH took her to get checked over.

You've done exactly the right thing.

Great news, OP. I hope she's fighting fit in a day or so

@Sapphire387 I'm so glad she's ok 😊. As a mum of a DD17 and also a previous NHS employee I can assure you no-one would ever want you to second guess when it came to a poorly baby.

When my siblings and I were growing up (I'm now 42) there were a few cases of meningitis near us and our school sent out a list of symptoms. My poor DM really became anxious and stuck them to an inside of a kitchen cupboard. We only had to mention feeling poorly and she had us touching our chin to our chest and asking us if we had a headache or if the light hurt. As we've gotten older it's become a bit of a family joke and we always start by telling her we don't have meningitis if we're poorly.

A few years ago we're enjoying a family BBQ when my DF suddenly realises he has a rash all up his arm with no explanation as to why! This happened to coincide with him saying he had a stiff neck as he thought he'd slept funny so next thing the glass test is performed and lo and behold the rash goes nowhere. My DM is genuinely worrying now and so is DF as he admits he does actually feels a bit off it. I gently start asking some probing questions about what he'd done earlier that day and symptoms etc and it turns out the 'rash' was actually where he'd splashed himself with hot fat frying an egg for his breakfast 🙈