Baby still lethargic

[strawberrycake]

I've been to A&E thursday and friday night with DS (sent by out of hours GP). He has a fever, coughing, vomiting, refusing feeds and coudn't stay awake. Send home with diaoralyte, renetadine (throwing up streaks of blood) and told to give him 5ml by syringe every 5 min, all he could keep down.

There's some improvement today, no temperature. I fact he scared me the other way, temp fluctuating from a low of 34.5 up to 35.8. Quite cold despite blankets/ being over-wrapped. He has woken, but cries for sleep after 10min. He's wheezing still, though blue-inhaler helps. BArely sick, just cough/ gagging up small amounts. No more diarhhea, seems constipated. Working hardly than normal breathing, chest sucking, as noted at hospital.

The things concerning me are:
-cold temperature, since last night
-effort breathing (not dramtic, but more than normal)
-persistence refusing ANY feed. Very very tired of force-feeding water. He gargles what is syringed in and blows raspberries to avoid it.

Trying to ride it out and monitor him without being a fussy mum, but I'm wondering at what point to take him to out of hours GP. Or if I should at all.

Poor you strawberrycake. It is good he's eating, but yes I can see that is less than ideal for everyone concerned. I hope things improve soon. You must be exhausted.

I got angry for the first time ever at baby clinic today. I'd held my own just fine but today was the final straw.

I felt compelled to go in today. LAst week after the huge weight lose the HV spoke to me about how this excellent dietician was coming next week, wrote in her diary etc. I felt if I didn't go I'd look neglectful (I'm dubious of them I must admit after past experience). I dragged us in early, I tried.

The dietician was beyond useless. Some kid woman who was amazingly vacant and gave me some pearls of advice like 'feed him three meals a day' (Reallllly?) and the worrying, 'stick to meal times, if he misses one make him wait until the next. He'll soon fall into a routine when he gets hungry'. I was still calm when I pointed out that he could go 8/9 days with NO food and he'd lost a huge amount of weight so I was very uncomfortable with this idea of reducing his intake. When she summed up her useless advice with 'and you could weigh him' (weighed only last week) like it was a bloody solution I had enough. I asked her if she'd ever heard of a pig fattened by weighing it and put my coat on and left. I've never been rude before but I'm fucking sick of them tracking his weight loss and doing nothing but hmmm and errr over it. Why weigh him if they have no useful input.

Thats awful advice!! I have always been advised the little and often route when DS refuses food.

Would you GP refer you to a proper dietician?

We have luckily a dieitician at the hospital, unfortunately it's 4 months min between appointments. I only saw this one as pushed into it by hv. I felt I'd look neglectful if I refused her 'care plan' considering his weight loss of 1.5lb.

I've learnt

p.s. I do 'little and often' too. You'd have to be inhuman to refuse them it.

I couldn't refuse a child who was eating properly food but one who isn't eating is madness. I would actually be tempted to but in a complaint about her.

strawberry - I could have written your post. DD had a cough for three months solidly and it kept on getting worse. During the last period she didn't eat for 4 weeks, lost nearly 3 kg (she was chubby to start with so it wasn't as worrying as if she has been a skinny baby but not brill) and we took her to the docs FOUR times and the hospital once when her eardrums burst.

Each time they said there was nothing wrong with her lungs but we could hear things rattling around. She was given two types of antibiotics, one of which knocked her stomach for six - she had diahorrhea ELEVEN times in one day, not great for a baby who isn't eating - and they didn't work.

Like your GP they were utterly unfussed and made me and my DH feel like we were being PFB. I know they see lots of sick babies and have serious time constraints, but come on...

In the end we did go private and it was worth it. It was extremely expensive but we got an hour long appt in which she listened to everything that had happened opposed to hustling us out the door without hearing the full history. DD had bronchiolitis which had caused a secondary bacterial infection, her lungs had tightened right up with all the coughing and she was incredibly run down. The doc prescribed the RIGHT antibiotic (began with a z) which finally knocked the infection on its head, plus ventolin and vitamins. She also did follow-up calls as part of the service (which she didn't charge for).

We are out the other end and while we've had a couple more colds, they've been common or garden. The relief is intense.

I know you don't have the money so my only advice is to keep kicking and screaming at your GP. Also the fact your DS's tummy isn't right needs to be investigated as well by the sounds of it.

Good luck, I really feel for you. sending lots of 'getting better baby' vibes!

Just one last thing - I think my lowest moment was on the doc's surgery on her first birthday when we came in for an emergency appt. The reception forgot to tell the emergency doc I was there so I sat like a mug in the waiting room for 90 mins. She had diahorrhea twice in that time and I only had one change of clothes. And the second time it went all over me. A 90 min wait covered in poo, to be told she was fine when she clearly wasn't.

I had to wrap her in my jumper and went home on the bus in my trousers which were still covered in poo. I stank.

That was fun.

Something to tell her on her 16th birthday I think!

Kenobi - I feel for you!

I just went to the GP (again...). Told his chest is clear and the wheezing sound/ vibrating chest is his nose and throat. Because he has had the SAME cold (no change, not even for 1 day) for 5 months. Even if that's the case I'm sure it's not normal he can't shift it? Weirdly though ventolin helps this 'cold'.

Feeling :(

Big fat bear hugs, strawberry.