Very ill Baby and no idea what to do

[Wineasaurous]

My 13 month old baby is really poorly.
He's gone off and point blank refusing anything but water. Can't get any milk into him or food. He's lethargic and very clingy. He suddenly won't sleep through the night, won't nap at usual times, bad cough, diarrhoea, runny nose, temperature etc.
Thing is before he got poorly, he is a very independent baby. He loves to play and explore, eat everything, slept through the night and regular nap time. I rang 111 because every time we try to feed him food or formula he vomits it back up. Effortlessly. It just pours out of him. 111 told me to get him to the hospital who just sent us away. We went to the GP who checked him over and sent us away but I'm worried. It's been since Christmas Eve and he's just getting worse. Any advice?

Well, I guess if he has gastro then he won’t want to eat. Especially not a spoon of butter or coconut oil - sounds disgusting and would make me puke too.

Offer plain carbs - rice cake, toast. Will be easier for his tummy to digest.

Did the doc ask you to go back? Did they suggest anything your baby could eat? If doc says it’s ok, it must be. Sounds like he’s not ready to eat yet if he’s vomiting everything back up.

Poor wee thing. Hope he’s on the mend soon.

I know its hard when theyre not eating and youre instinct is to nourish them but as long as he's drinking then not eating isnt a problem just now. Just make sure its either dioralyte (rehydration salts) or sugary juice so he's getting some energy. When it comes to introducing food avoid dairy to start and go for simpme plain foods like dry toast, plain biscuits etc.

Obviously if youre worried somethings worsening get him checked but if hes got 3 bugs going on at once its going to take time to get him back to normal. Make sure you look after yourself as well, can be exahusting looking after them.

Don’t worry about not eating - hydration is absolutely priority. My son would go off food almost completely for a full week when he was ill, and it always made me worry. He might lose a little weight, but he’ll put it back on when he’s well again. It’s not a problem.

Keep him hydrated, but see if you can get some sugars and salts in too. Some dioralyte if he’s eating absolutely nothing at all. Crisps, rice cakes, whatever he likes in nice and small quantities - all fine until he’s feeling hungry again.

Hope his medicines do the job and he’s back zooming about soon.

saladdays66

Especially not a spoon of butter or coconut oil - sounds disgusting and would make me puke too.

your rubbish advice should make you puke Coconut oil heals the gut when inflammatory which is what gastroenteritis is...

Is he still having bottles?

If he usually has sippy cups, try bottles.

FWIW DS had ear infections and often didn't eat for days, as long as they are drinking.

Will he take puréed fruit? Dr suggested that to me. My DS will only take porridge now really are you able to get any of the above? 💙💙

I really hope he gets better soon, I would say by the morning if absolutely no improvement then get back to a&e.

My daughter when she was a baby had gastroenteritis which gave her dairy intolerance we had to cut out dairy for 2 weeks and re introduce slowly. Maybe try soya milk/almond milk/lactose free

You could try apple sauce, he might eat that?

I've not read every comment but banana seems to be the only thing both me and ds van ever keep down when we're sick. You could maybe mash some down? Sorry If you've tried this. Hope your ds is ok x

Coconut oil heals the gut?? Really? How?

Yes poison and don't have time to go into it. Have a google or ask a doctor

He’s ill - Not eating wouldn’t bother me as long as he’s drinking. Try some petit filous and ice pops but water / milk is the most important.
Would you want to eat if you had gastro?!

Dts has something similar and didn’t really eat for about two weeks at the same age. They were ravenous once hey got over it and put the weight straight back on. They were 31weekers so didn’t have any to lose either.

I have googled and there is no scientific evidence that it heals the gut. I'm a research scientist though, and I rely on scientific evidence. Maybe if I was a doctor it would be different.

I’m a little bothered still thinking about the fact he has so many unrelated things all going on at once. Logically, surely, it is much more likely to be one (or possibly two) things that are causing diverse symptoms. I wonder if they have misdiagnosed him? Did they take bloods swabs etc to confirm?

I sympathise and no how scary it is. My son (now 14) had gastroenteritis at 18 months and didn't eat for 3 weeks. Like you we got advise and was told to just keep a close eye on fluids as he was a stubborn little so and so.

Hope he picks up soon xx

Sorry I'm shattered so going to reply to as many posts as I remember reading.

As I said in a previous post I've been syringe feeding him ORS which is oral rehydration solution- basically a diorilyte type thing. Have considered flat coke to break it up and try and make it more interesting for him.
Advice was every 10 mins just give him 5mls of the ORS.

Haven't tried banana but tried purée fruit, may give banana a try.

I have never had gastroenteritis before so I have no idea. I can imagine but I'm so worried that he hasn't eaten.

He has been checked over on 3 separate occasions now and I had to fight for the last doctor to give us anything.

Was told to worry when he went more than 10 hours without a wet nappy. He's had very marginally damp nappies and very dark in colour but apparently that's okay. His lips very dry but inside his mouth is still wet.

No follow ups, no indication of how long this may last.

I feel sick with worry and keep checking on him as I'm so paranoid about him being sick in his sleep. DH has come down with gastroenteritis now too so it's just me.

I don’t think you need to worry about how many times you are getting him checked over - that’s what they are there for. I’ve had to take my children multiple times often then resulting in an admission.
I wouldn’t try Coke personally - if he’s really not taking anything then I would just keep going back.
Is he improving at all?

He was showing an interest in the tv remote and one of his books this evening before bed which he hasn't done in days so I'm hoping that this is the beginning of the end. He pointed at the dog on the telly too which is a good sign (he loves dogs).
Still hasn't kept anything down though. Still using ORS. Doctor did actually recommend flat Coke in A&E. I was recommended it years ago too when I was little and it always stuck with me. I just never thought about offering it to a 1yo

Sorry I didn't know what ORS was. Unmumsnetty hugs x

Me neither until yesterday

@Wineasaurous keep going with the ORS it's designed for this it's got the right amount of sodium and potassium etc to stop him getting really ill. Then move on to rice, white boiled long grain rice. Once he's keeping that down you can add other white foods like chicken breast. I will try and find the guidelines to post.

Keep going, you are doing brilliantly. You must be exhausted.

Try Ice lollies. Easier to keep down than sips of fluid and the sugar will do him good. Something salty might be easier on the stomach. When I had Noro the only thing that stayed down was cheese twists.

How scary. Hope he's on the mend.

@MynewnameisKy if you have the guidelines that would be amazing. I've googled it and just kept finding links to horror stories about babies who ended up seriously ill or worse. The internet is full of extremes