Baby with tummy bug refusing fluids - 29 degree bedroom!

[LovelyWeatherForDucks]

Hi all,

DS (9 months) has come down with a tummy bug today. He had his breakfast milk at 7am and has refused everything since, apart from a few sips of water, a bit of rice cake and banana, and half a bottle of milk, which he then vomited up all over the car. No wet nappies since this morning but lots of very loose poo...

He's just gone to bed, but its baking in his room (and the whole house) despite a fan, cold wet towels, door and window open, and I'm worried about how little he has had to drink and dehydration. Plus he's been hot and sticky all day because of the weather. At least during the day I could keep him cool with a flannel/baths etc and keep offering him sips of water.

Should I try and dream-feed him some water? He is more likely to drink if sleepy. Or assume he will wake if thirsty? Or leave him be? I'll take him to the doctors in the morning if he's still not drinking/no wet nappies but just after some immediate ideas/advice!

Thank you!

I would try giving more water - perhaps with a syringe even?

Dehydration is very dangerous at this age and is more than likely in this weather. If he is vomiting I would give him Dioralyte as it is suitable for children over 3 month old but they say you need to check with GP before that. Is it 29 all over the house? Do you have any north facing rooms? I would move him there with fans and wet flannels. I hope he gets better soon.

Thanks - he had a few spoonfuls of dioralyte earlier, leftover from a previous tummy bug (same symptoms), but not much. He spits it out from a syringe too - is there a knack to it? I've offered him a bottle, two types of sippy cup, open cup, syringe, you name it!

I've just added another fan outside his door with a cold wet towel in front, to hopefully blast some cooler air in.

If it doesn't start to cool down and he won't take any more water I'll see about bringing him into the front (north) spare room to co sleep.

I'll go in now and try and get some more water/Dioralyte down him.

Worried

Thank you

Don't quote me but I'm pretty sure that the recommendation is 5mls via syringe, every 5mins. Babies can absorb fluid orally do he doesn't need to keep it all down.

Is his tone ok?
Is he crying tears?

Hope he feels better soon.

Thanks - I think I've heard of 5mls every 5 mins, but he seems to manage to spit it out. I'll do a bit of googling to see if there a technique to it!

He's fine in himself - a few (proper) tears at bedtime but generally fairly perky. I'd be more worried if he was sleepy/lethargic but he's been pretty energetic today.

Best bet is to syringe to the back of the side of their cheek iyswim. Where your wisdom teeth come through - but obviously not down into the throat!

Thanks.

Just went in and managed to get him to drink about 2oz of dioralyte without him waking up properly - so i'll give him little and often that way.i think he would have kept drinking but don't want to risk him vomiting it back up.

It's cooling down a bit too, so a bit less worried now!

In case he's still poorly in the morning, you can freeze dioralyte into ice lollys which might go down better

Have u checked his temp?

Good idea on the lollies - I have some baby ice lolly moulds so will do that now.

Haven't checked his temp since he went to bed but it was ok then and throughout the day. I will check it again if he wakes up properly later.

He's had bugs like this before, and the not-drinking hasn't ever lasted more than a day, so hopefully he'll be back on track tomorrow.

Just bad luck that this came on the hottest day of the year....I'll keep giving him little and often through the night.

Thanks for the advice everyone, I feel a lot calmer now!

The trick with the syringe is to dribble it into the cheek, do not squirt it all in one go. You can also tip him back and rub under the chin to encourage him to swallow.

Breastfeed little and often as much as he will accept.

Try not to feed both sides in one go, if you fill his sensitive tummy in one go, it is more likely to come up.

Keep an eye on his nappies, if you do not have a wet one over and he is still refusing fluids take him to A&E. Babies can dehydrate really quickly and if you can't get more fluids in he may need an IV drip.

I hope you all had a restful night and your DC is full of beans (and fluids )

Thank you - he is much better today and drinking normally (but going easy on the milk today just in case!). Managed to dream-feed him plenty of Diaoralyte throughout the night too and he got plenty of sleep. All is well, thankfully!

Brilliant news, it is so worrying when they are little and have D&V.

Don't be in a rush to restart food, keep it simple when you do, toast fingers, rice cooked in chicken stock, potato. Leave dairy and acidic fruits for a week. Introduce meat such as chicken after a few days. The lining of his stomach will be quite sensitive and his intestinal lining may take a while to regrow if the virus has damaged it (rotavirus known to do this) so he might not be able to fully absorb nutrients easily straight away.