to be annoyed at the emergency doctor

[allsquareknickersnofurcoat]

DH thinks I'm being very "mumsnet" about this!!

We had to go to the emergency doctor last night as DS (6m) was throwing everything back up. I wasnt going to go as he was fine in himself (happy, no temperature, no diarrhoea), but my mum told me off!
So we went and he was assessed, he has a mild ear infection that should clear up on its own and is showing early signs of dehydration (his fontanelle is slightly depressed)
The doctor was aware he is breastfed, however gave us electrolyte solution and told us to give him a sachet (200mls) in between each feed.

I was starting to worry this evening as it has taken all day to get him to drink ONE sachet (he wont take a bottle at all, he will drink from a cup, but literally a few sips) So I googled it and found quite a few links (inc Kellymom) saying:
"The best treatment for this condition (D&V) is to continue breastfeeding. The baby will get better more quickly while breastfeeding. The baby will do well with breastfeeding alone in the vast majority of situations and will not require additional fluids such as oral electrolyte solutions except in extraordinary cases."

So now I'm rather annoyed that I have been given possibly innacurate advice by the doctor, and have been worrying all day about nothing re the solution, as all I had to do was feed him more often.

AIBU?

That solution replaces electrolytes, that he needs, it helps the body retain some fluids even if vomiting.

He may like the "freezie" ones, not sure if 6 months old would choke on it or not, but if he is teething it may appeal to him?

pedialyte.com/products/flavors-varieties
That is what I gave ds1 when sick. He wasn't crazy about it, but did take some. I kept nursing him but also gave him the pedialyte. The hospital also gave me a recipe to make a home made version, salt, sugar and water, but I forgot the ratio's, I goggled it and found this www.ehow.com/how_2151092_make-pedialyte.html.
Hope he feels better soon!

on the subject of dyrolite - my Ds would no take the flavoured version only the plain ones (yuk) he had very bad tummy bug at 16 weeks.

If he's dehydrated he has the risk of an electrolyte inbalance, hence the sachet. Only way of knowing for sure if he needs it or not is a blood test. Dr has been sensible and rather than putting baby through trauma of blood test has erred on side of caution. Its not the drs fault that baby won't take it. How was he supposed to know you'd find it a struggle. Yabu.

Re the syringe thing

Where exactly have you been squirting it? I was told (when using it for FF top ups) to aim it into the inside of the cheek, NOT into the actual mouth if that makes sense

To be fair on the Op, I think people have been a bit harsh:

I had a deydrated baby (slightly sinken fontanelle) and the advise I was given - from a paediatrician at the children's hopsital (where I happened to be on another matter) was to feed more often - especially for D&V.

Without having been there, can't comment for sure, but it may be that the doctor prescribed the electrolyte so that the OP had a back=up if, for whatever reason, her ds wasnt breasfeeding. He probably didn't want it to get in the way of the breast feeding (as it appears to have done) as I am sure he wold have known that the best form of both nutrition and fluid for a baby is breast milk, espcailly in cases of D&V

I can undesratan her concern that she might have got more fluid into her baby if she had concentrated on breast feeding him than on trying to get a "foreign" fluid into him.

OP: I think the lesson is to trust your own instincts more and not to let other people influence you. You say yourself that you wouldn't have bothered going to the emergency doctor if it hadn't been for your mum - so why did you go?

I have to say I agree people are being too harsh. Of course you should have faith in your milk - it's just that dioralyte is a useful addition, and nobody can say whether or not it is essential in this case, but it's worth persevering as it's not going to do any harm IF it is given in regular small doses rather than all at once.

FWIW when we all got sick on holiday (:() we had no dioralyte and DS got better so much quicker than us, I'm sure because of the wondrous nature of breastmilk! But it's hit and miss, maybe it depends exactly what is causing the D and V? Either way, if we'd been at home I still would've given them a little dioralyte if I could TBH.

I'm assuming baby is still off food altogether, but afterwards stick to BRAT style food for a day or so. Small doses applies to that too, I'd give literally just a few cornflakes/frosties or one bite of cracker/toast every 10 mins, same if I'm unwell too.

And btw at least the dr didn't tell op to STOP BFing and replace with dioralyte, as was the case in a thread recently. That was truly stupid advice!

Phew, thanks for all the advice, I'm going to try to answer the last few points. By the way, DS is fine now, not eating much, but back to eating (BRAT) and no sickness for nearly 48 hours :)

Coccyx Next time your mum tells you off for not going to Drs, stand your ground and don't waste their time
TBH I was surprised that my mum was so insistent that I take him, as I thought he was fine. He was perfectly happy, even laughing as he was sick! And it was only sickness, no diarrhoea. As she has three of us, and I'm only on DC1, I'll admit I did go into panic mode when she was clearly worried.

Goblin and Freudian I have been syringing into his cheek as I was told by the HV for calpol? Is that what you mean Goblin , as its what Freud recommended?

Runawaywife Thank you for your constructive answer.

Madwoman That was my logic tbh! Good idea re blowing as I administer it though, I will try that!!

To anyone that has complained about me not instantly rolling over and pronouncing to the world that IADBU, I didnt realise you were only allowed to post on AIBU if you already knew the answer was no.
Although I have actually already said I think IABU, if you read my posts... :)

Thanks again though, to everyone

Glad to hear he's getting better! :)