16 week old dd and stomach bug

[TwentyTinyToes]

Dd is 16 weeks and breastfed, for the last week ds has had a stomach bug, sickness, high temp and diarrhea. I think dd may have picked it up, she is unsettled and wants to comfort feed constantly. She has had five big, leaky nappies and they are bright yellow. In between feeding and changing nappies she is alert and smiling etc. She is unsettled a lot of the time anyway, she often does green mucousy poos sometimes with specks of blood - are waiting for the results to come back of a blood test to determine allergy/ intolerance. She does not have a high temp and i think she is ok- but doubting myself.

What do i need to be aware of with a tiny baby and diarrhea? Dehydration? What do i look for? Thank you.

Yes dehydration. Less wee, no tears, sunken fontanella.

However as she's feeding a lot I wouldn't worry. Only if she stops feeding or cuts right down.

Thank you. Will look out for those. She is asleep on my lap, gets me out of playing with ds i guess.

I have found this schedule useful for breastfeeding when my babies have had D&V bug.

Keep an eye out for signs of dehydration as it can happen very quickly in younger babies, particularly if she starts vomiting.

I ended up in A&E recently with my 14 month old who was clinically dehydrated due to a week of D&V, even though she was breast feeding loads and drinking water. They gave me dioralyte (plain one more successful than blackcurrant) and I had to syringe 5ml into her cheek every 5 mins until she improved, plus breastfeeds.

Other signs of dehydration are a dry tongue, Floppy and less alert, suck weaker when breastfeeding, weaker cry, pinch tip of finger (if skin does not bounce back instantly).

Thanks. She has vomited now although it was when i tried to put her down and it was just milk, not digested.

Oh a fun night of checking her constantly ahead, just as ds seems better!

Hope she is ok Twenty, put a towel under her just in case and if you can prop her on her side in a sort of recovery position, just in case she vomits in her sleep. If she does vomit, offer the breast again little and often to replace the fluid she has lost. If you are at all concerned about her hydration (trust your instincts) then phone OOH GP or take her to A&E.

Well she vomited again after her bedtime feed, absolutely loads and was partially digested too. She promptly went to sleep and would not feed much, just comfort feeding and dropping off constantly. I noticed her her soft spot was slightly sunken and she would not feed much ( although i think she was just asleep rather than unresponsive due to dehydration. Rang nhs direct and they said keep feeding and give her drops of cooled boiled water. I managed to get a little more milk in and decided to squirt breastmilk into her cheek instead of the water. There was a small wee in her nappy so i let her sleep for an hour and then roused her and fed her, this stayed down. I fed her again at 4 and she vomited again but have given her another 2 small feeds and they have stayed down for a good half hour now. She is asleep on my lap.

I tried to follow the feeding schedule recommended but she gets so cross when i take her off. How did you manage that?

I have stomach ache now, whenever i eat or drink anything. Does this mean she will get antibodies from me?

Thanks for your support.

Yes she will, plus other immune factors in the breastmilk too. Rotavirus type bugs can be quite destructive to the gut lining (villi), which can affect water absorption, breastmilk helps protect it.

If she is holding down small feeds for half an hour then you won't need to follow that schedule so rigorously, that is for when they are vomiting straight away after each feed. Continue to offer the breast even when she doesn't appear to want it when awake. A wet nappy is a good sign.

I did the feeding schedule when dd started vomiting everywhere (just came back and checked the link!)

Dd went mental at first but got used to it. I used a light show to distract her between the feeds.

Thank you both. She has not been sick since 4 am and only two bouts of diarrhea. We have had one wet nappy, did smell quite strong, but she has been feeding on and off all morning so hopeful that will be better next time.

Glad she is getting better, if it is anything like the bug my dd2 had the diarrhoea will continue for a few days (the smell was horrible).

She has just vomited four times in the last couple of hours and has now gone to sleep. Going to let her sleep for a bit and then try to feed her again. Her nappies are wet but smell very strong. Her soft spot is pulsing too. Worried about dehydration again.

Has she fed again after vomiting each time?

When you are feeding her try to keep the feeds shorter, but more frequent. I found with dd2 that she would keep milk down if I fed one side only, but two sides and the whole lot came back up.

See if she will latch on in her sleep for a feed too.

With dd2 using that schedule and also when syringing in the dioralyte, I found singing to her helped in between feeds/forcing nasty tasty fluid through clenched teeth dioralyte. At the hospital I had to keep waking her up every 5 mins to get the dioralyte into her and she was screaming, thrashing and fighting me, but better that than admission and IV lines etc... Children always do better in the comfort of their own home.

If you have some dioralyte you can always try to get some into her alongside the breastfeeds if you feel she is vomiting more frequently and you are finding the breastfeeding schedule too difficult. 5ml every 5 mins for half an hour will get a lot of fluids into her, you will need a medicine syringe. Should be easier with a little one to get it into her mouth, wait till she cries and pop it in her cheek.

Also my two have both loved to calm them down/send them to sleep, you could try it as a distraction.

Thank you. Love the clip, will definitely try it later as a distraction.

She is keeping some down i think. Have had some success with the schedule, she is tired now and would normally be asleep but she will dream feed for a short while when roused.

She just had more diarrhea and when changing her nappy she was smiling and grabbing her feet, that reassured me that she is ok.

She seemed so much better earlier, they always are worse at night aren't they? Typical!