To not starve my sick baby?

[jamoncrumpets]

Baby, 6mo, has a gastro virus of some sort. Her last vomit was early this morning. She also did three explosive poos then too.

We took her to the dr who advised nothing but water or dioralyte for 24 hours.

She hasn't been sick or had diarrhoea since and is keeping the dioralyte down, but she's starving. Proper hollering the house down starving.

DH says we need to persevere with the dr's advice but it seems crazy to me to starve her half mad.

AIBU to give her a bottle and be damned the consequences? I really thought that starvation was an outdated concept anyway.

Sick bugs do not make you temporarily lactose intolerant

NHS advice is to give milk feeds and fluids as normal.

I thought the 111 staff weren't medically trained though.

I'd give her some of her usual formula but not too much. She will most likely vomit it up though. Just have lots of old towels nearby.

Yes this was what we were advised, to put less powder into the bottle. If breastfeeding the milk will be tailored for your child at this moment.

Sick bugs do not make you temporarily lactose intolerant

Yes, they can.
www.gosh.nhs.uk/conditions-and-treatments/conditions-we-treat/lactose-intolerance

111 are not medically trained but in all likelihood would put you through to an out of hours doctor.

I thought the mixed advice regarding milk / food etc was concerning. I know what I would do for my own DC. I also know every child is different and my personal belief is that if a mum is concerned enough about the health of her child to seek advice online then she should be getting a medical opinion (second opinion in this case).

Don't make the formula weaker/add more water as this can cause problems. Offer her usual formula using "half as much, twice as often" as a rough guide for how much to give and when. E.g., if she usually has 6oz give her 3oz now and if she keeps it down but is still hungry then give her another 3oz around an hour later.

I'd give her weaker formula... 2 scoops to 90ml.

I'd go with tiny amounts to start with - half an ounce, wait 10 mins, repeat, build up slowly, stop if there is vomit. I wouldn't starve, but I wouldn't just give a full (or even partial) bottle either.

Silvercatowner

How interesting, every day is a school day.

The advice from NHS though is to still offer milk feeds as normal, I'd guess it's on the basis that even if they're sick some of it will stay down and they'll still get some calories and fluids (alongside the advice to see a doctor if there are signs of dehydration or more serious illness)

Don't make the formula weaker/add more water as this can cause problems.

Second this. It interferes with the milk clotting in the stomach.

Might try with a tiny bit of rice myself if she keeps the milk down.

Go with your instinct, doctors advice is a guide

When DS had a gastro bug as a toddler it definitely made him temporarily lactose intolerant. A couple of days of lactose-free milk and he was back to normal.

Whenever my dc were babies, the doctor always said to give them formula as normal but skip the food. Very surprised the doctor has advised to avoid formula...

Our GP said give them what they want to eat, so a bottle will be fine.

The NHS advice others have linked to says continue breast or bottle feeding, do not give fruit juice, and do not make formula weaker.

I'd give her weaker formula... 2 scoops to 90ml.

Sooo wrong! Only ever make formula to the instructions on the pack. Never weaker or stronger.

I haven't read the whole thread, sorry (late at night) but if the baby likes the taste, long ago a paediatric nurse from Canada told me that in her hospital they gave babies and very young children with d&v who were so young they didn't want to give them medicines, one very simple thing to help soothe their stomachs once the worst was over: finely-grated raw apple, no peel. If you use the smallest side of a grater, the one you would zest a lemon with, it takes ages to do and a whole apple goes down to about two table-spoons of mush; leave it to get a little brown, then give a very little at a time to the poor small sick one over a half hour or so. I used this on my three and it did seem to work. And it makes them feel they are not starving.

Please just offer your baby her usual fluid, be that formula or not, and if she wants it then fine. Don’t worry if she vomits again. She will get increasingly ill if she gets dehydrated. Babies can manage without food for a day or 2 when they are ill but they cannot manage without fluids. Your doctor is old fashioned and dangerously misinformed.

Most definitely offer her her usual milk feeds, I find that strange advice. I have had a much younger baby hospitalised with 'gastroenteritis' or something, it was never diagnosed. Coming off food was never advice given. Dioralyte is a replacement strategy only, do feed her.

Formula or breastmilk half as much twice as often for me. I'd rather deal with shit than screaming personally. Doctor's talking a load of old pony.

If you have breastmilk in the freezer, I would thaw that. Otherwise her regular formula in small quantities. Start with an ounce or two. If she keeps that down you can give more

We had this with my DS when he was 5 months. Advice was to avoid the formula when he was actively vomiting (give water or rehydration stuff) but once he’d improved a bit then offer formula in small amounts. If that stays down then give more until they are back to normal!

Now that he’s 3 I usually avoid giving him milk or dairy products for a day or 2 after vomiting, but that’s totally different from a fully formula fed baby

The juice is to keep her blood sugar up. Milk can often make gastro worse as it often causes a temporary lactose intolerance in young kids. If she’s eating toast, then you could offer it unbuttered to her. Obviously if she vomits again follow the GP’s advice.

You don’t get lactose intolerance from 24 hours of D and V. You get lactose intolerance as a secondary problem to prolonged diarrhoea, particularly seen with rotavirus, and significantly less common since the rotavirus vaccination. The doctor’s advice was wrong: you can offer anything that’s tolerated. Oral rehydration solutions are just that: an efficient way to rehydrate orally due to their electrolyte composition and osmolality. Milk - either formula or breast milk - can be offered at any stage in small amounts frequently. If she vomits again it’s because she has ongoing gastro, not lactose intolerance and it’s just part of the process. Volume of vomits are massively over estimated and generally babies are more likely to vomit milk because they’re so hungry they guzzle a whole bottle/BF because they’re hungry and have a bit of gastric stasis.

Small amounts often, don’t exclude milk. Lactose intolerance is only worth considering as a diagnosis if diarrhoea is ongoing after 2 weeks when you’d expect the likely virus to have run its course.

Follow the NHS guidelines above to give milk slowly so she doesn't starve/dehydrate