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

[OriginalOrbit]

DS is 3 and I'm really concerned about him tbh. I went into hospital at 33+6 due to reduced movements and a few hours later needed an emergency c section at 34 weeks exactly

He then contracted meningitis and he has hearing loss in one ear as a result, he's extremely speech delayed, I mentioned possible autism but was fobbed off and that he's speech delayed due to his hearing and the fact he was premature but he doesn't talk in sentences and doesn't say many words. He's now 3y 4m

His brother has ADHD and I know it's genetic although they do have different dads but I was constantly fobbed off when he was small too

The biggest thing is he doesn't eat much at all, I give him food and he just leaves it, he's best with lunch as he can have a plate of picky foods next to him while playing and eats through the afternoon but still it's not great
He was still on formula until a few months ago and I know that's bad but at least he was having something and ever since I stopped those bottles I've worried

Thing is he doesn't seem unwell in any way but he hasn’t eaten since yesterday and even then it wasnt much at all. I gave him porridge for breakfast and he ate a few spoonfuls and was done. Lunch was a few crackers and he left the rest on his plate and didn't eat any dinner. He suffers with constitution but did a poo last night and today he's not eaten a thing

We gave him weetabix for breakfast and he showed no interest, my partner tried to spoonfeed him it and he spat most, if not all of it out. He didn’t eat anything off his lunch time plate and refused dinner and just screamed and screamed likely because he’s overtired as he’s not napped either

I feel i should’ve called the GP but it’s too late now, wwyd? would you take to A&E as he can’t tell us what’s wrong either if he is in pain anywhere etc although he doesn’t seem it as he was happily playing/went to the park etc earlier and seems himself just he usually eats more than this even if it isn’t a lot more

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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