Out of mind with worry, dd (nearly 4) has decided she doesn't like food and had eaten nothing for over 4 days

[beatofthedrum]

My dd has always been a picky eater but eaten the food she 'likes' in decent quantities and have always been careful to ensure a balanced diet. Last wed she started behaving strangely with her food, holding it in her mouth a long time and wanting drinks to persuade her to swallow it. By Thursday she was saying she disliked all her favourite foods and mealtimes were stressful. On Friday she stopped eating. Totally stopped and no amount of persuading/telling her Santa was watching/trying to act casual and let her choose worked. She didn't eat Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday (I'm crying typing this, it is scaring me so much). She keeps spitting into her hands and sitting there with it and she is such a fastidious little girl usually, can't best paint on her hands etc. She is letting saliva hang out of her mouth, really regressive behaviour. Christmas has been totally spoilt by the worry of this. Everyone is telling me to act casual and I have tried, believe me, but how long can you leave a situation when a little girl is voluntarily eating absolutely nothing. I manage to be casual for a few hours then I lose it, either begging her to eat or (not proud of it) shouting at her. I've phoned NHS Direct twice and they've been great but all they could do was direct us to an out of hours gp who ruled out temperature, sores in her mouth/throat. He gave us oral thrush medicine just incase was that though he could see nothing but she won't let ANYTHING in her mouth, both hands over mouth screaming crazily. I am so scared. Last night she started eating while watching tv. She ate one babybel then asked for 2 more. Refused everything else I quietly slipped beside her. Went to bed feeling much brighter but she was up in night with very sore tummy and 2 big vomiting bouts - she lost all that she'd eaten. What can I do?? Surgeries not open till tomo. Does nit really seem a GP issue as she seems to be developing some kind of phobia about food. Could really do with some advice. Thanks.

Can children drink Complan?
Complan should be used with caution in children under six years old. It is not suitable for infants under 12 months except under medical supervision. this from the complan website....OP...I hope dd feels better soon...but really, could be a bad idea to use supplements after only 4 days of non eating....bad habits can form and her digestve system could be upset.

Have re read post , would avoid milk .

I'm not, SillyOldElf. Are you saying there's no possibility that the child has swallowed something which is causing problems with eating?

It was a priority for our hospital to x ray my son when he swallowed/choked on something. They just wanted to rule out any blockage. I don't see why suggesting this is worth ruling out is such a dreadful thing.

Imo the risk isn't worth taking, that's not to say it is LIKELY (as I said before) but I think it is something that ought to be checked.

Do you disagree? I thought I was being sensible.

Oh chill out Jennifer don't jam up the thread with your arguing.

Band - it does sound to me (as just a mum) that her mouth is sore/uncomfortable which was exactly the same as my friends dd when it turned out that she had herpes - desperate to eat but would end up screaming/crying/only having a mouthful.

I can only imagine hand/foot/mouth is similar????

It's very easy to pick up herpes from a coldsore especially one that hasn't fully erupted and not visible IYSWIM - can you think of any relatives that suffers from coldsores that you've seen recently?

If she is drinking, I wouldn't worry too much - the salivation could just be from feeling sick, I know I certainly start to salivate more when I'm feeling sick.
If you don't eat for a while, your appetite drops off anyway - so as well as possibly feeling sick, your DD may have no appetite because she's not eating, and eating may make her feel more sick.

Smoothies are a good idea - try maybe a banana in the milk, for extra nutrition.

I hope she gets better soon - it does sound like some kind of bug.

Thanks BandofMothers. I'll take off. And I hope your DH is better, now.

He is much better jennifer thanks!

Good

As I was reading the thread I thought hand, foot and mouth too.

Does she have any sensitivity and/or tiny white spots on her feet or hands? That's another symptom. I went to the doctor twice over it with my dd because it was so unpleasant and the spots did take a few days to appear. In the end there is really nothing you can do but wait it out.

In any rate, if she is drinking, great. Try making the smoothies and wait a few days

Thank you to everyone for your responses. You've all been trying to help and I appreciate it. Have been out and got assorted smoothies and fruit purée pouches and we have another doc appt at 12.
She's drinking the smoothies happily but rejecting the fruit pouches for the same reason she gives for spitting out food - 'the food is so itchy'. Ds had HFM a few months ago and can't see any of the lesions/blisters on her and GP checked her mouth and saw nothing. Is a mystery. Maybe it is still on its way and they will appear?

It does sound like her mouth rather than anything else, and I'm sorry, I think I overreacted.

It was just the thought that if one of my pets (sorry!) was not eating, then when they tried they were sick, I'd be really concerned that they had swallowed something they shouldn't have.

Anyway I'm sorry if I went OTT. I didn't mean to. I just couldn't bear the idea that if something was seriously wrong, and no one had taken it seriously enough, iyswim...anyway. I'm glad she is drinking smoothies. Good luck at the GPs and i hope they can figure out what's causing the problem x

Op, do continue to give milk. I'm sure fanjo's post was with the best of intentions but medical advice has changed in last few years...used to be to avoid milk during tummy bug but now known it does no harm so please continue full fat milk.great source of calories. Hope your dc feels better soon. Worth getting gp review tomorrow as sometimes there is something to see after a few days. Does she have any blisters on hands & feet or in her mouth? Poor little thing hope it passes soon.is reassuring that she's drinking well.

I remember getting it at the same time as my DD. I had nothing in my mouth but my feet felt like I as walking on pins and my fingers had tiny little white spots on that also felt like pins sticking in me.

My DD had spots in her mouth and a few on her fingers. But the spots took a few days to appear and I had already been to the doctor once at that point. We went back when the mouth spots appeared and thats when we got the diagnosis. I think the 'itchy mouth' comment from your dd is telling.

And I think the symptoms vary from a range of possibles between sufferers.

However it could be something different entirely. But its a great sign that she can drink fluids and children get hungry again very quickly

Good luck with the doctors!

Sorry I think I was on pg 2 when I posted and didn't see other comments re hfm.good luck at appt today

How alarming for you. Well I think the others are right and there's something up with her mouth. If fruit is a problem but smoothies aren't then could be some sort of ulcers - but I know the doctor checked for that. Anyway the important thing is that she's taking in fluids and will be getting some sort of calories etc so just keep a close eye on her.

I'd go with ice lollies , ice cream , milky drinks ect . Sore mouth is awful . Poor wee girl .

First time you get a cold sore , it's often on the inside of the mouth or throat .

Chicken hand foot and mouth does that too. Hope trip to doctor helps.

Hi really not as uncommopn as you think !!! where i work we see children like this occasionaly ,have you ever had a bug where you feel quesy or morning sickness ?? she probably feels a bit like that, please don't worry especially if she is drinking, children in this age group rarely develop aversions to something for no reason, lots of hugs and it will probably pass.

How is she now?

My advice was based on personal experience with my DD, not outdated medical advice :) but ll kids are different

On way back from doc, who thinks it is behavioural (what I was dreading tbh). No rash, mouth fine, soft tummy, slightly red inside her ears was only area of concern and she said no action necessary on that at present. Don't see how waking up at night vomiting can be behavioural though. She also woke up last fri screaming as she'd been dreaming there was food in her mouth...
So once again been told to keep an eye on things.

*all

PUMBA that is reassuring, thanks

I'll ask again, in case you missed it - has anything significant happened that might make her behave differently?

Any traumatic experiences, has anything happened at school (if she has recently started school).

If it is behavioural then you need to get to the bottom of it before you can help her to eat again.

Are her teeth Ok?

I think she threw up because she'd eaten cheese which isn't that easy to digest on top of a lot of fluid and nothing else. Wouldn't worry about that. I would just leave a lot of tempting stuff around.