Won't eat or drink - baby - hold my hand please

[OpheliasWeepingWillow]

DD has silent reflux and is 8.5 months. She has been doing brilliantly apart from some feeding quirks and it's been a long road.

She has been teething her top teeth for what seems like weeks. Yesterday she saw the dr - clean bill of health. But in the evening she started vomiting and continued in the night. Took a bottle this morning but since then nothing apart from a few sips of water. No vomiting but clamps her lips shut at sight of bottle or solids. Lots of gagging.

Worried now. It's a different time zone here and we are both in bed - she is sleeping now but what if she won't drink or eat in the morning?

Everyone says just make sure there are wet nappies but for there to be wet nappies she needs to drink!

Worried :-(

She will need to have five very wet (heavy) nappies in a 24 hour period, if she doesn't have that she is at risk of becoming dehydrated. So if you are in doubt you need to seek medical advice.

Can you try to give her milk or a rehydration drink from a cup? If you give a rehydration drink it is best to first seek advice on how much to give in a given time period (usually in a 30 minute period with 5 minute intervals). With milk that won't be an issue. If she vomits milk or water then a rehydration drink might be better. In the UK they sell dioralyte amongst others.

Hopefully, she is over the worst and perks up soon.

open cup?

DS2 had a horrid vomit bug this week, everything came right back up again. We were sent to the paed ward in hospital to keep an eye on us. I managed to slowly slowly get little bits of dioralyte down him taking sips out of an open cup (70ml evey 2 hours was what they told us when they sent us home- he is 8 months and 8.9kg). Once he had kept little sips down he then took a larger amount in a sippy cup. In between sips though he was still begging for a breast feed and bouncing it up again!

If its a vomiting bug, it should pass quite quickly, within 24-48 hrs. Give her rehydration solution in a sippy cup, a free flowing one. My DS had norovirus back in August and refused everything other than breastmilk for a few days and he's 17 months. She can go without food for a few days, just focus on the fluids. I would say as long as the nappies look wet, it'll probably go without saying that she might not pass as much urine if her fluid intake is less. Just look for signs of dehydration, but if shes happy and active otherwise, try not to worry.

Alos, my DD used to get a poorly tummy when her teeth were coming through, the most horrendous nappies coupled with a few vomiting episodes. If you think it might be teething, keep her topped up with paracetamol/ibuprofen as she'll be more willing to feed if she's not in too much pain. The usual remedies too like a chilled soother, bonjela or teething granules (not sure if they actually work but we used to use them anyway).

Thanks all - I will start giving her rehydration fluid via a syringe in the morning (is night here). I had to do that once before when she refused feeds because of her reflux.

Poor thing.

Little sips. If everything keeps coming back up though then get her checked out.

Have taken her to hospital and she is on a drip. Poor thing

She cried for a bottle this morning but half way through vomited it all back up. Wouldn't take much water at all from a cup.

Poor little thing, and poor you :(

You've done the right thing though - I really hope she gets better and can go home with you soon. Xx

Poor thing. I hope she feels much better for having fluids.

She seems perkier but has slept in my arms all day. Had 60ml of milk earlier but since then has refused all bottles again. Am so worried but she has had water from a straw and cup so has fluids. About to put her to bed and hope tomorrow will be a better story.

With all her issues with reflux and feeding I hope this hasn't set her back

Hope she gets better soon.

Are you still in the hospital?

We are home with some rehydration salts and some anti emetic medicine. Horribly fussy and sleepy baby but hope tomorrow will be better. I worry about her weight as she is already failing to thrive and now basically 48 hours with no calories.

She has passed out asleep and I am going to join her soon (not in the UK)

Thanks everyone - wish us luck for the morning.

Try not to stress about weight now, it doesn't matter. She is poorly but once she feels better she will get back on track. Little sips of liquid will probably be better tolorated than bigger amounts so jsut keep giving her little sips,even through the night.

Is she on normal formula? Can you switch to formula which is hydrolysed to help?