Worried about dd1.

[SheSellsSeashellsByTheSeashore]

She has stopped eating again. She has lost 2 lbs. It's not just that she is not gaining enough weight anymore, she has actually lost weight this time. It's the first time that she has lost weight.

Her eating has been up and down lately but she seemed really good when she started school and was eating like a normal child.

The last three weeks however she has been slowly eating less and less. Ending this week with her eating virtually nothing.

She was off school all last week with chicken pox but didn't seem particularly ill just spotty.

This week though she has been ill. She has been pale and tired with a bad cough, she has been in school but I'm not she was well enough to be going to school and it hasn't been doing her any good. I had a really snotty phone call off the school secretary today so I don't want to keep her home tommorrow.

She has no energy at all. she won't eat anything at all. She has no energy because she won't eat. She can't shake this bug because she won't eat.

She is 5 btw.

Will she have smoothies? with banana to give her some energy? I am sorry she has not been well. I do not know what advise to give. I have had picky eaters and was one myself. Is she drinking liquids?

I think you need to take her back to the GP and get him/her to listen to her chest. If she has a cough and is not eating and loosing weight then I'd be asking for a chest x-ray to make sure there's no infection there. She will be pale if she's not eating. Chicken pox can have some complications so I would take her to the GP for a check over. Sod the secretary.

oh dear, how worrying.

Is there anything she will eat? Even if it's chocolate or summat.

With ds I find even if he eats something crappy and sugary it gives him a bit more energy and then we have a bit more luck getting him to eat something more sensible.

What is she drinking? Can you give her milkshakes/fruit juice/something sugary to give her a bit more energy to see if she will eat something then?

Would she have build up shakes like complan?

I would take her to gp as well, even if just to get a note for the school.

she doesn't like smoothies, I have tried that trick before. I managed to get some garlic chicken down her tonight but it was a struggle and meant she ended up in bed later than I would have liked by the time I got it down her. So now she will be tired again in the morning and won't eat her cereal

I think I'm going to get up earlier and make her pancakes for brekkie (her fave) she won't have them with fruit but I always hide some banana in the batter mix.

What happened with the secretary was she phoned me up at work to say that I hadn't phoned the school enough last week. You are meant to phone every day I didn't know this so I only phoned once. also they didn't have a correct phone number for me

She will only drink water atm Armadillo, or fruitshoots

tell the school to bollox

sorry but dd's health is more important.

gpo back to gp's and ask for more tests.

hope she's ok.

They can't report you if she's ill, which she clearly is! They only fine parents for not taking their children in to school because they can't be bothered, not because their children are ill. Her teacher would have seen her today and she should confirm that your ds is still unwell. I would keep her at home until starts eating again and feels well enough to go to shool. If you send her like this then you run the risk of her catching something else of becoming really ill and needing more time off. I would take her to the doctor for a check up.

Thanks I think I might do that. I was hoping that a few days of rest and good food (if I can get it down her) might bring her around. Our meal today was planned around what dd1 likes to eat and I think I will do the same untill she starts eating again.

DH got a bit annoyed when I was feeding her chicken because he said I was babying her. But I just need her to eat. I don't care how it goes down as long as she eats.

She does seem to be ill a lot because her weight is so low if there is anything going around dd1 catches it.

Agree with Phantom - if she's sick, keep her off. Just call them and tell them she's not well enough. They can get a bad chest after chickenpox so take her to the GP if you're worried.

Have you tried Minadex Tonic? I used to give it to dd (chronic ill health) all through the winter. And let her eat when/whatever she wants to.

Poor thing. Milkshakes are good and nutritious.

LOL Saggar. My grandad came around earlier. My nan had made him drive to Tesco to buy minadex because she was worried about dd1.

She normally will eat milkshakes but not atm. Its water, apples or nothing.

Definitely no school. No way. Keep her off. If she's ill, she's ill. Frankly I would be outraged that secretary suggested that a post-viral child, having only just had chicken pox, should be in school. Ridiculous.

It didn't sound like she believed that she had the chicken pox pooka. More like she thought I just couldn't be bothered which is strange as up untill then she hadn't even been late never mind absent so why would I suddenly decide to keep her home all week for no reason?

I think what I have decided I will do is get her up as usual see if she will eat her pancakes and have some milk and see how tired she is. If she won't eat and still seems tired I will send her back to bed.

I just wish that she would eat. I had enough of worrying about her last time we went through her non eating phase.

Do you think she could have food intolerences so eating is actually uncomfortable for her?

I don't know cargirl would't they show up in the blood tests and things she had?

She has been under a peadatrician and nutrionist for not eating and low weight most of her life. They did loads of tests on her (bloods, sweat and urine tests) to see if there was any physical reason why she was not eating and said all that came back fine.

She is in bed waiting for her pancakes I woke her up this morning for school came down to have a coffee, went back up to see where she was and she had fell back asleep again so I left her. She has just woke up again about 10 mins ago.

I didn't know she'd had loads of tests. I think it's your call as to whether she is unwell and lost her apetite (does sound probable) or whether there is an element of her trying to be in control by eating or not eating. Or indeed it could be an element of both.

Yeah millions of tests. We go through this every so often with her. but she has never actually lost weight before. The last time she did this she was really extreme and ate nothing at all for four days. But even that time she didn't actually lose weight.

She has been slightly better today but is still not eating enough. It's a start though, she is still very tired and pale and still has a bad cough. I couldn't get her in at the doctors.

Your school secretary sounds horrible, but you really mustn't let her bully you. She is not the Mum, you are!

I have been there- dd's headteacher refused to believe in dd's disability for 3 years and the staff took their cues from him. I can't forgive myself for all the times I forced her to do things that made her worse, just because I was influenced by their crappy attitude and didn't want to come across as a weak and fussy mother . Have more sense that I did- listen to your own instincts!

There are schools that take any sickness on the part of their children as lack of parental cooperation: they are striving for a 100% attendance record, and you are just the person sabotaging their efforts. (As dd's head told me, after he had had his nose rubbed into her diagnosis enough times: 'Yes, I understand that X is ill but you can't expect us to be happy about it'.

Chicken pox can be really debilitating- and often leads to secondary infections. Dd was so run down after hers that they had her tested for neutropenia.

Oh and even if they do report you to an EWO, the EWO may well back you up. They are interested in getting at the real truants, not in bullying some poor Mum with a sick child. We've had EWOs round several times- dd had 4 years of lousy attendance, and nothing has happened to us. No fines, no prison.

Thanks Cory. I actually spoke to the other secretary today and she was lovely and told me to keep dd home as long as it took for her get better.

Sorry to hear your dd has been ill too. Hope that she is doing better now.

My son is ASD and food phobia (will eat a diet consisting of bread & butter, chocolate and strawberry fromage frais). He is very thin and only put on 2lbs last year, he is nearly 6 btw. CDC told us not to worry until he was about 8 and then they will try and help as he still put on some weight. I am also getting Minadex down him as he will drink orange juice and milk.

He was very ill when he was about 4.5 and really wouldn't eat anything properly for 4/5 weeks - he a flu type virus, the GP even threatened hospital as he wasn't even taking fluids. We managed to get him to sip some fluids eventually. He wouldn't take any medication except paracetamol suppositories. Eventually he eating a little eg a biscuit.

I would take your DD to the GP and find out if she has an infection etc and then just let her eat what she wants and when she wants. Minadex is very good as well. She may well take a while to get her appetite back. I had the same illness as my DS and I didn't get me appetite back for a good 4 weeks. Sometime we are just ill and it takes a while to get over it. I have learnt not to panic with my son and to back off over food. He is getting most nutrients down - yes, it would be nice if he ate more than he does.

Good luck and hope she gets better soon. BTW with DS illness, he was extremely lethargic.