Baby on her third day of sleep?

[endcityspawner]

First time mum so forgive me if I’m being over dramatic!

Baby is 11 months old and on 23rd Dec was sick after her tea but we assumed food went down the wrong way as that’s how it sounded. 6am on Christmas Eve she woke up on her back bringing up bile I assume. She slept the whole of Christmas Eve, we didn’t see her for more than an hour and then all night again. Christmas Day was the same, she had to be woke and as soon as you do wake her she falls back to sleep. She’s difficult to wake and her eyes just roll back to sleep.

Last night (Christmas Day) she vomited again baring it mind it had been 38 hours since the last vomit and the time before that was 13 hours so I know it’s not noro etc.

After she was sick last night she went to bed and slept for 14 hours, again we had to wake her this morning. She drank 2oz of milk and fell asleep sat up and went back down for another 2.5 hours before we woke her for Calpol. She had Calpol, vomited and went back to sleep. She’s been asleep since. We can’t wake her, she opens her eyes for a split second before rolling them back to sleep.

She hasn’t eaten since the 23rd which I’m not overly concerned about because I know she won’t starve and will eat when she’s hungry. She also hasn’t had any milk bar the 2oz today which again, not overly concerned about as fluids is most important and she’s sipping water when we wake her for it.

I guess my main concern is the sleep? I know it’s a red flag when baby is difficult to wake and it’s not even as if she’s sleeping all day then up at night. She is literally sleeping all day and all night for now the third day straight. She’s been awake for no longer than an hour today.

Is it just a case of letting her keep sleeping and sleeping or does she need to be seen?

I’m reluctant that I’m just being an overly paranoid first time mum. Like I said food and milk isn’t my concern as she’ll eat when she’s ready it’s just the sleep.

Definitely A&E.

Make sure your little one is OK.

A and e now

Get to the hospital!!! You can never be too careful with babies. Go now!

Please never wait this long again if your baby is sleeping this much.

I hope youre seen quickly, and it is nothing. But absolutely agree that A&E is needed on this one.
Awful when these things hit over Christmas and you second guess where best to get them checked.

This.
I generally think with little ones it can be safer to be over cautious.

We’ve just got out after a 5 hour wait of which she slept the whole time. She even stayed asleep whilst they did a heel prick and for a usually wiggly and crawling 11 month old they was very odd! The triage nurse observed she was lethargic but her blood sugars and temp were within the normal range which I expected as she has no issue drinking weak juice.

With all due respect to the doctor I don’t think he understood what I was trying to say. Personally her sleeping all day and all night is very unusual especially with no other obvious symptoms. She will be 1 in a few weeks she is a very bubbly, outgoing child who is always into stuff and crawling around but now can’t stay awake for longer than half an hour? Very odd. He made us do a fluid chart giving her 5ml of water every 10 minutes now she took it fine but she was falling asleep between each one! He suggested it’s likely viral and something going on which she needs time to recover from but no indication as to what when she has no symptoms of a viral infection other than being a zombie.

He said if he admitted her they’d just keep pushing fluids so just keep doing that at home and we’re “welcome to bring her back if she doesn’t improve”.

I completely understand there’s no explanation for her lethargy but I feel as though they could’ve atleast done bloods to check for infection markers? I’m not sure 😕 In their defence it was very busy and full of parents losing their patience.

I will continue to monitor her as I have been doing but she’s asleep once again like she has been for the last 5 hours in A&E and I don’t expect she’ll want her milk before she goes to bed because when we try to wake her she whines and falls back to sleep.

What a 1st Christmas for baby hey!

Thank you for all responses and I agree with previous poster, if anyone stumbles across this thread do get it checked out if not to put your mind at ease.

Honestly on Christmas Eve she slept the day away bless her heart and expected she’d have perked up for Christmas but nope still poorly :( Her 1st Christmas too!

She has no snotty nose, cough, temp anything like that just very defeated and sleepy!

No idea what I can do to make it better, she’s never been like this before and as a FTM I feel so out of my depth

My dd had something similar recently. No obvious illness as such but she was hot to touch and was sick once or twice. Mostly she was just miserable and very very sleepy, she slept for two days solidly with only an hour or so of being awake. She is 2 so a little older.

I think I would have tried to push for bloods since you were there. But there are a lot of nasty viral bugs around at the moment that are totally wiping kids out. And they do say sleep is the best way for the body to heal itself. I hope she's back to normal tomorrow.

Thank you 🙏🏻 What your DD had sounds very similar to my DD. Very strange but like you said a lot of germs this time of year.

Yeah I’m regretting not standing my ground a bit more 😕 I will keep an eye on her and if no improvement I will take her back

I'd take her back urgently, honestly I'd really be asking why no more tests were done eg bloods / urine etc

I don’t think I would be happy with this. I would want a second opinion to be honest. Can you go to a different hospital? Or a specific childrens A and E?

I wouldn't be happy with this either. How is she getting enough to drink if she's permanently asleep? This is unusual for an almost one year old. Take her back.

I normally avoid commenting on these threads as worry about being too pushy or too passive - and it's someone's wellbeing at stake, but on this occasion, i've jumped in to say take her back.

I think they should check for infection markers at the the very least. We are moving into day four now and that's a long time to be struggling to stay awake. And there is no way she can be taking enough fluid.

Hi Op - I’m sure you’re exhausted now but great that you took her in. You’re right to not be happy with the outcome, it sounds like you got no real answers at all. Can you also ring 111 or take her to another a and e?

Oh sorry OP, I'd be beside myself with worry.

This level of exhaustion in a baby her age is completely unusual.

They didn't do any work up at all? That's actually shocking.

Genuinely, I wouldn't have left the hospital and would have asked tests were run. I'd also have wanted a 2nd opinion from another doctor if the first suggested you went home.

She sounds really unwell. She didn't wake up for her skin prick? Even a sleepy newborn does that.

Yep, it may be viral, but they need to at least to rule out other things (sepsis, meningitis, anaemia). I couldn't wait another night, and I'd want tests run now.

It's busy? OK, a&e often is. It's still their job to take care of your baby and make sure they know why she's unwell.

Just to add. You mention you're a FTM, and I know that can come with some uncertainty and it sounds like you're quite trusting of the doctors.

Don't be afraid to speak up. Let them know how worried you are.

One tired doctor trying to shuffle along a full waiting room can easily make a misdiagnosis.

They may hear "very sleepy" and think you mean she had 30 mins longer for her nap today.

You need to shout from the rooftops how unwell she is and get her seen again. Don't be afraid to make a fuss, she's your child and she needs you.

I agree, I’ve spoke to my partner (the driver) and showed him the comments and he agrees she should go back. I don’t think my age helps, I fell pregnant with her at 19 and there’s been many instances they haven’t taken seriously for example she has a floppy larynx they led me to believe she was underweight because I couldn’t produce enough breastmilk so I stopped entirely and put her on formula 😞

Thank you all for giving me the push. I assume we will have to go through triage and everything all over again,

We expected her to react to the heel prick! She was sleeping in my arms, would occasionally open her eyes to look the nurse and straight back to sleep. I don’t even think she knew they pricked her considering there was other children similar age to her kicking and screaming - she has no fight in her at all

We rang 111 in the first instance and the on call nurse said to take her straight in due to lack of fluids and lethargy.

The nearest children’s A&E to us is just over 45 miles crossing the border to Liverpool as we’re in Wales but there is a few other A&E’s around us so perhaps go back there? I’m not sure I want to go back and see the same doctor at the original one we went to

I'm really glad OP, as how you've described her is worrying.

When I've had a sick baby and got sent home (only for her to deteriorate and me to rush back to a&e a few hours later), they wanted me to queue up again.

However, I wasn't happy (DD was really unwell and having a hard time breathing), and they did manage to get her seen on children's ward without us re joining the queue.

It's worth letting them know what's been going on, as they may be able to do something so you're seen sooner.

If you felt something was miscommunicated, or you weren't happy with the first doctor you saw, ask for another opinion. Hopefully you'll see someone else though x

That's a tricky call.

I think a children's a&e would be best equipped to assess her, but I appreciate it's a fair drive.

Still, if she does need to be admitted, they may want you to go there anyway.

Go back now and stand your ground. It's not normal for a child to sleep through a heel prick test and is a red flag in my opinion. Ask for a second opinion and for a different doctor to assess her, I would ask for a more senior doctor too depending on the grade of the first one that saw her. Be polite but be assertive. Its completely reasonable to ask for the above. Good luck, hope your little one is better soon.

I echo what everyone else is saying. I was a young mum with my first - 19 when I had her - and I completely hear you as I was dismissed many many times - but use your voice and stand your ground - and if you don’t feel like you can speak - get your partner to do it for you. Kick up a fuss x

My second baby had this - we called the ambulance as he wasn’t waking up at all and had shallow breathing - the scariest thing ever!! But we sat in A&E - the difference was that the heel prick woke him and he returned to normal. I couldn’t tell you what it was.

Check her temperature too - and what she is wearing as babies struggle with controlling their temp - ask for more tests.

Hey OP. I’m a Paeds doctor and a first time mom too. I’d be worried about this if I saw you in my A&E and would definitely look for a urine test, throat swab and possibly bloods too depending on how your child looked. It’s important to me to interact with a child awake when I examine them, even if they’re screaming their heads off the entire time. I’m much more reassuring by that than by lethargy.

I hope you go back and stand your ground. Asking for your requests to be documented may get an eye roll but generally gets people listening to you. For example ‘can you please explain the reasoning to me and then make sure the decision not to do bloods is documented in her notes’

Hope your little girl is feeling better soon !!