When should we worry? 2 year old not recovering

[BlondieR22]

My nearly 2 year old daughter is so poorly .. day 5 of a stomach bug.

we have all had the bug my son brought back from nursery a couple of weeks ago. I was ill for about 3 days and it was brutal I was pretty much bed bound or on the toilet. My son got off pretty lightly and my husband went down for a day or so.

my daughter is a sickly kid, she has cmpa and soya allergy and is still on omeprazole for reflux at nearly 2 with no signs of improvement. Anyway, she started with the sickness bug Tuesday night and spend Tuesday - Thursday violently sick and unable to hold anything even water down. Since she has also come down with a very snotty nose and bad cough (symptoms we didn’t get)

day 5 now and she is still so unwell. She’s eating and drinking tiny amounts and was last sick last night but she’s so lethargic and upset. She just wants to be on me or in bed and doesn’t really lift her head of me. She has an on and off temperature.

shes always been small and now her little spine feels really visible on her back where she’s barely eaten all week.

my question is, at what point do I worry she has more than a sickness bug. Can it really take 5 days with no improvement… why do some kids get so poorly with everything! My heart breaks for her.

to add she has barely slept in the 5 days as she has this constant cough (possible aggravated reflux)

I just hate seeing her so miserable constantly with no let up.

I would contact the gp for advice and guidance. She may be very dehydrated if it was me I wouldnt hang around. All the best x

I'd also want an ooh appointment. I'd call 111 to arrange it. Dehydration would be my concern. It may be she's got back to back illnesses, but I'd say she needs to be seen.

Call 111. Get them to arramge an out of hours appt.
Or take to a and e
Better to be over cautious
No one here can see your child and know how serious. Go with your worries and seek medical help.

I would worry about dehydration

So since Tuesday night it's only been 3.5 days, which is just a little longer than you were ill, and she's not so robust at the best of times.

Call 111 for advice, but keep offering water and bland food - whatever she fancies will do her good.

Whilst I think it can be usual for a nasty bug to last 5 days or so, I would be seeking medical advice. You know your child and you know whether she's on the brink of recovery or not.
I also have a very small child, as in growth issues and she is tiny, she becomes unwell quickly and takes longer to recover and gets so so thin.
Hope she feels better soon

Is she weeing a normal amount? If you've any concerns that she's not passing urine I think she needs seeing today to assess for dehydration

Thank you all for your helpful messages.

my concern is dehydration. She isn’t weeing nearly as much but she is started to hold a bit more down so trying to give her lots of little sips of water.

I think I will call 111 for an out of hours appointment.

This is a good plan - keep giving her little bits but also call 111 for an objective assessment. Hope she's better soon xx

How did it go OP?

So I held back yesterday as she started drinking some oat milk and holding it down and I was praying that was a good sign. But this morning she’s still hot and so lethargic. My husband has just taken her to a&e to get checked over. She has developed quite a cough and a far bit of phlegm this morning. Wondering if all the throwing up has led to some sort of pneumonia maybe

Hope they are home now, or at the very least progress is being made. Thinking of you x

They are home. After hours, just told to keep offering her fluids and keep an eye on her.

since being home she is still the same just laying on me glazed over and her temp has now peaked 39.5. (Annoyingly she didn’t have a temperature when at a&e)

I just don’t know. I don’t get how a bug can make her this ill nearly 6 days on.. and no sickness or diarrhoea now so why still the temp and lethargy

Would she eat an ice lolly perhaps?

It's ok to ring 111 again as you are still concerned. Never let the fact you have been seen once put you off going back.

This! If you are still concerned, have her seen again.

Have you got some dioralyte or simiar? She’s probably pretty dehydrated so I would be really trying to get fluids in as much as possible but some form of rehydration/ electrolyte would be beneficial for her.

But agree with others that if you are worried there is nothing wrong with getting her rechecked. No decent medic will ever be irritated by a worried parent getting their child checked out.

I would keep a written diary of her symptoms, temperature and medicine each day. It is really helpful to be able to look back so you can keep track of everything just in case this carries on for an extended period of time. It can be referred to when explaining things to healthcare professionals. After a few days of dealing with a sick child everything can blur into one.

Get as much sugary stuff into her as possible, just water doesn’t cut it if she hasn’t been eating for days

I agree , people think that as long as you drink water you'll be ok but electrolytes and other things (can't remember what they are) will be lacking.

Yes, thats a big concern.

How is she today, @BlondieR22 ?

It's really hard when another illness causes a reflux flare. DD2 repeatedly got close to IV fluids at this age. When she was on the edge, the advice we always got was dioralyte, a few mL by syringe (think it was 5mL at that age, but not 100% sure), every 10-15 minutes.

That said, if you think she needs to be seen again, absolutely don't feel bad about going back to A&E/OOH.

Thank you all for the support and advice.

it seems the high temp last night was the final break and we woke up this morning to a much cooler, happier and hungry toddler! The change in her today is drastic and she’s nearly back to her usual cheeky self.

thank god, 6 days of no eating and she is finally picking at things.

so sad to see her little shoulder blades and ribs poking out but we will work on packing in calories over the next few weeks.

thank you all!

Pediasure milkshake is brilliant when they are sick or recovering. Or being generally fussy. It's high calorie but with vitamins and protein. I make it with full fat milk for extra calories rather than water. The chocolate flavour is delicious. I get it off Amazon.