How long before I panic?

[kaffers]

My DD who is 2.11 has been vomiting all last night and this morning. She can't keep water down but she keeps saying she is thirsty. I have been giving her tiny (2 or 3) sips from a spoon every 15 mins but then she'll just have a massive vomit and it'll all come back, Phoned NHS direct who were pretty rubbish. Have noone here to help - DH working til early hours tomorrow morn and then out at crack of dawn again. I'm 37 wks pregnant with high BP and feel like I'm losing the plot - should I take DD to A and E or is that a stupid idea? Thanks in advance.

I wouldn't take her to A&E at this stage. What are the our of hour GP arrangements in your area? Do you need to go through NHS Direct to access them? I think you need some advice from a GP.
In the meantime, don't give DD any fluids for the next few hours. Rest her stomach and take some advice from a GP. HTH's x

Phone your out of hours gp and get their advice. Do you think she may be dehydrated?

She will definately be dehydrated, but this is managable in the short term providing the child is not drowsy or unresponsive. If she isn't retaining fluids by tea time tonight I would think she needs IV. In the short term, rest her little tummy for a little while, moisten her lips/mouth but don't let her swallow any fluids.

She will be absorbing some of the liquids you are giving her so its important to keep giving her fluids as you have been doing.
Dont worry about food, dont worry about milk, just give her water, ice pops etc and keep the sick bowl near by.

Dont take her to A&E, no need. mine had tummy bugs and they soon bounce back very quickly and are ravonously hungry so soon fill up again.

These things dont usually last fro more than 24 hours so you need to just wait it out.

If she wants to sleep and just lie on the couch all day then let her. have a quiet day both of you, just slob out.
Keep offering her drinks though.

The first 12 hours is usually the worst. As long as she doesn't have a high temp don't worry. As Geisha says if she is still unable to keep fluids down by teatime, take her - otherwise it just sounds like a normal bug.

Is she passing urine?

HELLOOOO sausagepasie!!!

Thanks for replies. She passed urine in the night but I don't know when - at most it would have been 10 hrs ago but it could have been more recent. I will phone GP but I have a feeling their policy is to go to A and E out of hours. She's just kept 3 sips of water down for 40mins so maybe things are improving. Thanks again.

Hello M&TP, nice to see you

Sorry kaffers for our little hijack there!
Hope things continue to improve.

Try some dry toast, it often seems to help.

40mins sounds good!
Hope she feels better soon.

Good point tolduso - thanks

No harm in asking for experiences though is there?

I'm sure OP is quite bright enough to work that out for herself, toldyouso.

hi kaffers, I hope dd is better!

just to let you know, I started a thread about whether people in the UK were familiar with the name you've chosen as your posting name

I'm sure you didn't mean to cause offence with it, but it is the slang spelling of a v offensive word (kaffir) which has very offensive connotations.

I started the thread just to see whether people knew that word in this country as it's a word that's well known in Africa (where I've spent many years living) but I wasn't sure if it was that well known here. It wasn't meant as an attack on you and I would have contacted you personally had you subscribed to CAT.

Anyway, my main reasoning was that when I saw your name, I checked your posting history to see if you had used the name for the purposes of being racist but it's clear you didn't at all. I am just worried that some other people may not see that and might accuse you of being racist when you aren't.

So you might want to change your name. You don't have to of course, but just in case someone gets the wrong end of the stick .

How is she doing now? I hope things have calmed down and she's managing to keep some water down. Did you see the GP this morning?

Update
Thanks for all comments. Things much better now, The out of hours doc phoned and made detailed phone assessment but said wasn't necessary to see her - vomiting stopped after the last time I posted since when she's taken quite a lot of fluids and even managed half a banana. She has also gone from looking very green to a normalish colour and is now flaked out on the sofa with her feet on her lap. Apologies for panicky original post - I was in a real state of confusion after a sleepless night and pregnancy hormones no doubt playing their part.
Incidently, the doc said fasting is a real no no in these situations and that even in between vomiting it is important to keep offering fluids and even tiny amounts of food. That's apparently newish advice and contradicts some of the posts on this thread.

Foxinsox - I'm totally horrified - I had absolutely NO idea - my husband is actually half african (algerian) and so my DD is also partly african and I had never ever come across what you're describing. I will change my name!!!!!!! I also really apologise for any unintentional offence.

none taken at all kaffers. And please be aware that I did start a thread in AIBU just to ask if people knew the meaning - not because I thought you were being racist at all - but just because I wanted to check whether I was being unreasonable thinking that because I wasn't sure if it was known here in this country. Thank you for changing it though, I think it's wise as I was worried that people might think you were being racist when I could see you weren't.

I'm glad dd is better. Horrid when they get sick like that.

sorry, that was my very cackhanded way of saying I hope I didn't upset you . I didn't mean to at all just was concerned.

Oh so glad she is better, K. I ALWAYS get into that awful panicky frenzy when mine are sick, I think it's the anticipation of the next vom an what it's going to land on, iyswim No fun at all.

btw the name thing reminds me of when I was about 12, and me and my best friend used to call each other 'twaps' it being our clever made up insult...we had no clue how it must have sounded, crikey, the old ladies at the church barbecue...

No foxinsocks, you didn't upset me and I'd much rather have it pointed out than not. I just feel a bit silly but I'll get over it!

please don't feel silly at all, you've been brilliant

I'm sure it's the last thing you need being 37 weeks pregnant, with high bp and a poorly child!

please spend not one more minisecond thinking about it. I will ask mumsnet to delete the other thread and that will be the end of it!

Kaffers- great to hear your little one is better. I just wanted to to say sorry if I gave you the wrong advice. My advice to hold off fluids for a little while was based on my own experience of DD who hates being sick (it's all quite dramatic!). In a similar situation I was advised to rest her tummy for a few hours as she and subsequently her tummy could develop a reflex vomit related to her fear of being sick and her fixation that she definately was going to be. It worked for us so it was the best advice I could offer.

Just felt a bit as though I was being criticised by some on this thread for giving the wrong advice and suggesting I had medical qualification. Actually, like most o us as mums, we do the best we can with the knowledge and experiences we have and try to share if anyone is stuggling.

No criticism intended giesha (this is kittycat/kaffers) - in fact in previous situations I've had conflicting advice from NHS direct along the same lines as you. Just thought I'd report the latest I'd been told. Thanks for your advice - it's very gratefully received and I know noone on here has a medical qualification in all likelihood but as you point out, others' experiece is useful and very reassuring. So thanks again for answering. x