Quite concerned about DD, what would you do?

[ElfOnTheTopShelf]

DD recently has been getting really difficult to wake up in the morning. She is five years old and her bedtime is seven. Mostly she is asleep by 7:15. I wake her up approx 6:45/7:00 in the morning so we can get ready to leave the house, so nearly 12 hours sleep a night.
For a few weeks she was complaining every now and again of a tummy ache, took her to the docs who said UTI and she had a course of antibiotics.
This week she has become extremely clingy, difficult to wake up in the morning, very emotional, and has been going to bed sooner and sooner each night, and getting more difficult to wake in the morning. She's also a bit off her food, one day this week she had a slice of toast for breakfast, at lunch she ate half a sandwich, and tea she had half a toastie, and she didn't want anything else.
Yesterday she had spent nearly 45 minutes crying at the childminders house before I picked her up, she alternates between saying nothing is wrong / she's just tired / she's worried the new baby will be smelly (I am 35 weeks pg, but up til now, she's seemed fine at the idea of having a sibling). I took her home last night, she was in bed and asleep at 5:45, she slept until 7:10 this morning. I have picked her up, and apparently she has been asleep "several times" today in class, slept for an hour at the childminders, and is currently lying in bed now.
I did try to get her in our docs, but they cannot see her until next thursday.
In these cirumstances, WWYD? DH says to ring nhs direct, but I'm not sure if we're just being paranoid. Any advice would be appreciated. Some people have suggested that she may be naturally worried about the new arrival, and this is what is making her a bit emotional, but surely wouldn't put her off her food and make her sleep excessively?

I'm no expert but I didn't want you to go unanswered. Not wanting to worry you more than you already are but if this were an adult, I would say it sounds like depression. I don't know much about depression in children, but if there are no other symptoms like fever or specific pain, maybe it is anxiety about the new arrival. I'd ring NHS direct if I were you, or try an NHS walk-in centre if there are any near you.

I would try out of hours doctors or nhs direct. If no joy, maybe even A & E. My daughter has been in pain for weeks and I went to 6 doctors and then A & E as we were getting nowhere. In the end we have gone privately and she is getting the treatment she needs.

Is your gp any good? We've seen several for DD and they do very little, We've been to out of hours doctors 3 times and have been excellent each time offering great advice, it was them who said to push for a referral and that's what we have done. I would be worried too and not keen to wait a week for an appointment. If she isn't eating very much that could cause her to be sleepy as she has no energy, my gp suggested energy drinks. But if she isn't poorly with a cold etc then why is she off her food in the first place. It could be worry about the new baby but it's certainly something I would get checked out especially if she is difficult to wake. Does she still have a sore tummy?

I would call the docs back and insist on an emergency appt for a child. Absolutely insist.

There could be something wrong or maybe not. Gp might check her bloods etc for deficiencies.

Elf, I believe that you 'know' if your child is really not well and your post shouts that all the way through. I would ring the doctor back and ask for a telephone consultation, with a view to getting seen ealier than next week.

Hope she is feeling better soon.

I am going to ring nhs direct and see what they say. I tried the docs again today but they can only advise to ring in the morning to see whether there has been any cancellations.
I did wonder about depression, but when she's awake sometimes she is quite chirpy, she has been playing during lunch breaks etc, but she is not herself. I keep asking what is wrong, and telling her I cannot make it better if I don't know what the problem is, and reminding her that she can tell me / daddy anything, and if she doesn't want to tell us, she can tell the cm/mamar/pop pops etc, so she knows she can talk to somebody. When she cried Monday on the way to the CM, she said it was because she hadn't given her daddy a kiss in the morning, but he's always left for work at 6:00 so it was out of the blue, because she never has given him a kiss in the morning iyswim.
When she said she was worried about the baby being smelly, that was a bit of prompting, as somebody said to her "are you worried about the baby coming", and that was her answer, but when I asked her, she said no, she was just tired.
She's awake at the moment, just been drifting in and out of sleep. Today she says nothing hurts, yesterday was her tummy, the day before her tummy and her head.

"" * Excessive sleepiness is more common in adolescence and adult life but may also be seen in younger children. It may be caused by a variety of problems, e.g. medication, sleep-disordered breathing associated with upper respiratory tract obstruction. It may be interpreted as laziness or boredom. It must be differentiated from fatigue or exhaustion.
* At an early age, instead of sleepiness reducing the child's activity levels, it may cause overactive and disruptive behaviour.
* Management includes identifying and correcting any cause when possible, and behavioural methods to improve the normal sleep routine.""

HTH.

Age Sleep Requirement
1 year 13-3/4 hours
3 years 12 hours
6 years 10-3/4 hours
9 years 10 hours
12 years 9-1/4 hours
15 years 8-3/4 hours
18 years 8-1/4 hours

no temp.

FAB5 that sounds like my dd, she sleeps 12 hours a night (or at least is in bed 12 hours a night) but waiting to see specialist due to enlarged tonsils blocking the back of the throat which isn't ideal when full of cold and mouth breathing. She is extremely disruptive at the mo and could potentially have sleep apnea.

FABS - DD has always been an energetic little bunny, so this is really unusual for her to be a bit tired.

I am a worrier and a panicker but I would seek medical help now.

i'd be wanting to get her checked for poss diabetes.

very vague symptoms though so best to get her assessed generally. if she's very lethargic then asap.

Diabetes type 1?
Vitamin D deficiency?

Insist on blood tests.
Good luck

I have a dd this age. She has asthma and does go through bouts of being tireder than usual when she asks to go to bed earlier and she usually sleeps about 12 hours. Even at her lowest though she doesn't drift in and out of sleep during the day and has never fallen asleep at school.

I think you should really push for the doctors appointment.

Sounds like she could be deficient in something.
I'd definitely give her the day off school tomorrow as Pixie suggests.

The drifting in and out of sleep is worrying me.

My 5 year old has just spent 3 days at my in-laws and hasn't napped in the day for months but took himself off for a nap one day. Didn't worry me though. Your dd's sleeping does.

right, have spoken to some lovely people at nhs direct, and they have told me to go to the walk in centre. DH has just got home so we will head off and go get her checked out. Shall let you know later. Thank you for the advice.

good. please mention diabetes.

Good luck. Hope all is well.

It doesn't sound right to me at all. It sounds beyond the normal tiredness. I would imagine she's emotional because she's tired rather than the other way around. I think you need to get her seen and get some blood tests done at the very least. I may be a bit extra paranoid because when my friend's DS was like this it turned out he had leukemia :(. Chances are that this is not what is wrong with your DD but she really, really needs to be properly checked out.