DD 2.6 barely eating or drinking & can't stay asleep at night.

[RubyGoat]

For the last couple of weeks DD has been increasingly refusing meals, especially in the evening. Just saying "no" & getting upset to the point she retches. She has had a couple of bugs - a cold, then a D&V thing in the space of a month. However these seem mostly to have settled now. She's a normal temperature & fairly lively (given the low food & water intake & very poor sleep). Has been off nursery most of last week due to the D&V.

DH & I have been up with her for several hours every night for the last month. He has had both the bugs as well so not quite fighting fit, I recently had an early MC. We're shattered & not really coping.

Over the last couple of days, DD has started refusing almost all drinks. She is now hoarse, I suspect due to this, & is extremely subdued. However if we try to get her to drink, she retches & usually vomits whatever she has managed to swallow.

Is this par for the course for a toddler after a D&V episode, normal for her age, should we get her seen by a doctor? They were quite dismissive last time I took her to see them, I'm wary of coming over too PFB.

I would take her to the GP asap.

In the meantime, try ice pops, sucking ice cubes, melon, cucumber and anything else that is watery in order to keep her hydrated.

Thanks, will take her on Monday. I'll try the fruit thing as well. She usually likes melon so we'll see. The worrying thing is, she's usually a total gannet - eats pretty much everything, vast quantities of, with great enjoyment. She had a small cereal bar at 6 this morning & a couple of bites of ginger cake this afternoon. Totally refused 2 proper meals (both including chips which we offered in desperation ) & has drunk about 150-200 ml liquid today. She just sat there & cried every time we tried.

I wonder if she's refusing because of the throat etc rather than the hoarseness being the result IYKWIM. either way I agree GP Monday and keep offering drinks and watery foods like ice lollies and melon etc

oh and try some pain relief too in case her throat is very sore

Secret I wondered that, too. We did manage to get some Calpol into her last night & she was prepared to have some milk after (not a lot but it's a start), we thought maybe she realised it felt nice on her throat. However tonight she took tha Calpol but wouldn't drink after. So frustrating!

Going to bed now as no doubt I'll be up at 3 again!

Is she weeing? That's not a lot of liquid.

I would ring nhs direct or OOH GP, my doctor always tells me that they would rather see a well baby with a worried mum than a really poorly baby.

My 2 year old was like this when she had really bad tonsillitis. I found she would tolerate smoothies and cold Ella's breakfast pouches. Ice lollies went down well too.

Suppositories for pain relief? V normal here but i know people tend to blanche when they are mentioned in the uk.

We had the same with ds1 following a bout of norovirus. Turned out he had tonsillitis. We had to forcibly hydrate him with syringefulls of water [ sad]. Take her to the doc or a&e tomorrow before she gets dangerously dehydrated.

As predicted, woke at 3 on the dot. Crying for nappy change - it was barely wet. However she's just drunk about 100ml water (am using bottled water atm so can keep an eye on intake). And had more Calpol. She could have tonsillitis, she is very hoarse, and keeps pulling her ears which is not normal for her. I have a voice like Barry White at present so it's obviously bug- related!

We're going shopping for juicy cooling fruits, smoothies, a multi pack of bottled water, & ginger cake when the shops open (ginger cake & soft gingerbread is the only food she's not resisted for about 4 days).

Definitely Dr although I've just had the norovirus- it lasted 4 days but recovery was well over a week after and I didn't want to eat much just tiny sips of water. Ds (4 months) has had d&s for over a week but is drinking fine we've been to dr three times

Pulling at her wars might mean an ear infection?

Can you take her to emergency doctor? She needs to be seen before Monday in my opinion.

Will see if we can get her to eat something. She has had a small drink this morning at least. If no improvement, I think it will have to be doctor asap.

Thanks for the advice - it's really hard to know if you're overreacting, or not taking it seriously enough, when it's your own child.

Oh lego I'm so sorry she's ill. It's awful when it's DC, I always wish I could trade places. I don't think you're overreacting and would want to see a doctor today.

Poor little dd, and poor you.
I wondered if it was a kind of anxiety reaction after the D&V bug. I remember after very bad food poisoning on holiday I didn't want to eat anything more than very bland food - plain rice, toast etc - and very little of that, similarly didn't drink much, for several days.
Although pps might be right that it's a sore throat.
In any case, it's concerning and I really don't think you are overreacting and being PFB. I would get her seen asap.

Thanks Gunpowder she's finally fallen asleep on my lap, will try to get her back into bed. V tempted to just stay here & doze on the sofa so as not to disturb her...

Xpost. It might be anxiety, she gets v stressed if she thinks we're trying to get her to eat. Or drink. Usually she can eat lots. I suppose at least we don't have to worry about her getting too skinny, she's a solid little thing!

Poor little dd, and poor you.
I wondered if it was a kind of anxiety reaction after the D&V bug. I remember after very bad food poisoning on holiday I didn't want to eat anything more than very bland food - plain rice, toast etc - and very little of that, similarly didn't drink much, for several days.
Although pps might be right that it's a sore throat.
In any case, it's concerning and I really don't think you are overreacting and being PFB. I would get her seen asap.

Oh, the ears thing is very interesting. I agree that she could have an ear infection. Dd used to get them all the time and they made her really unwell. You need to manage the pain as soon as possible and I suspect she might start drinking and eating again. Try alternating paracetemol and ibuprofen up to the maximum dose. Google it to be sure.

Update - she's got ear infection & tonsillitis (as well as the D&V) so doc gave her ABs, which appears to be working. However, judging by her reaction, it doesn't taste nice... poor thing. She's still not sleeping well, but is eating & drinking a little bit now.