7 year old fainting whilst ill with diarreah

[looneytune]

DS1 is nearly 8 and is hardly ever ill from anything (unlike his little brother) and has just suffered his first proper illness - a Diarreah bug.

It started with pains in his tummy on Wednesday night and the runs started the next morning. It was after his 2nd or 3rd bout that I went to the bathroom to check he was ok and he suddenly went an awful colour, eyes went funny and he slurred 'I feel weird' and I knew he was about to pass out so got him to the ground. I know that if I wasn't there, he would have fainted properly as you could just tell (he looked scary!).

Anyway, he appears to have stopped needing the loo now since yesterday afternoon and is certainly a lot brighter today.

What I want to know is if it's normal for a child's to faint with a bug? Is this anything we need to mention to the Dr or do we just leave it now? Dh does faint on occasion and once after he banged his knee badly, he fainted then fitted quite badly (I phoned 999 ).

I'm sure it's probably fine but I want to cover myself as unfortunately I'm paranoid as a result of my best friend dying when we were 9 - she choked on her tongue after fainting then fitting.

So if you could let me know whether I should be safe to forget this or should mention to the GP, I'd be very grateful :)

I'd be inclined to forget it if he seems brighter new

*now

That's what I thought. It was my mum who said 'oh, it's unusual for children to faint' which is what made me want to check :)

It must have been scary! Hope he bounces back quickly!

Oh he seems fine now thanks, he's back to winding his 2 year old brother up!!! LOL But yes, it was terribly scary at the time. I'm a childminder and luckily out of the 3 mindees who'd arrived just as he started rushing to the toilet, I'd taken 2 to school and called all other mindees off so only had the one here at the time. She must have wondered what was going on though, bless her, as I said I was just popping up to check he was ok then she heard me and DH rushing him out of the bathroom to lay him on the floor. I called her mum after that as I said I really wanted to keep an eye on ds1 (they know it takes a lot for me to close!) as was so paranoid about it happening again. He was fine though. We'd explained how to put his head between his knees if he feels light headed etc. and he mostly stayed laying in bed (apart from when rushing to the loo!) - we kept checking on him quite regularly! Just hope he doesn't take after his dad and suffer from fainting spells as I find it really hard to deal with (which is stupid as I'm training due to my job and I know exactly what to do!! )

trained (not training!)

My son had the D&V bug back in November (just a couple of weeks after his eighth birthday) and he just about, more or less, fainted in the same sort of way as you describe. I remember fainting when suffering flu at around the same age. Two of my friends had to have special arrangements for school assemblies (when at primary school) as they keeled over so often! I did briefly freak when it happened to my little boy but as rational thinking returned I had to acknowledge that it's probably just one of those things. Hopefully it won't become any sort of regular occurrence for anyone

Thanks for that. And yes, my friend who sadly passed was one of those who had to be watched carefully.

I dont know if its normal in children but could it have been he panicked? I am scared of being sick, and if I am sick I faint I think its beacuse I panic. Glad he is better, there is a horrible bug going round at the minute

Cheers, been doing some reading and sounds like it was probably down to dehyration but he's all fine now. I do look after a little girl who is scared of the word sick so I can see what you mean. I don't think it was panic in his case though as he seemed fine til he went all funny.

Yes, this bug is horrible. I'm not sure if my 2 year old is now coming down with it. I hope not for his sake but also because I'm a childminder and have already had to close for 2 days and I don't want to let parents down next week! Fingers crossed.

Not unusual for children to faint. Depends on the child. Apparently I fainted aged 3 after a paper cut to my finger. And when we had blood tests at school there were always a couple of children who had to lie down. But dehydration and exhaustion from a stomach bug could easily make you pass out too- I don't think it sounds that odd.

Thanks, that must have worried your mum if you were only 3! I must admit, I didn't think it was odd too but thought I'd check since my mum said!! I think what happened when I was young made my mum paranoid too!

Anyway, he was clear since Friday and today it's back, he's well in himself but obviously was sent home from school! I'll made sure he continues to drink well so we don't get a problem again! :)