would you trust your instinct in this situation...

[AliGrylls]

DS has been ill this morning and DH and I are having a slight disagreement about how ill he is.

It started about 8:30-9. He was crying uncontrollably and then threw up. Usually when he is ill he still has a little sparkle in his eyes but this time the sparkle was not there at all and he looked really drowsy, although he didn't have a fever.

We took him to see the doctor who did the usual checks and said nothing wrong with him just a GI complaint. So we brought him home again. As soon as at home started crying again and the same glazed, sad look in his eyes. He has just fallen asleep.

I can't think what it could be but my instinct is telling me to take him to A&E. DH thinks I am probably overreacting but he is just dopey.

Would you follow your instinct or listen to dr and DH?

How old is he? has he got a temperature? What has he eaten recently?

take him

He is 14 months. He doesn't have a temperature. He ate and kept down his weetabix and breakfast. I then gave him a few cornflakes and a satsuma mid-morning and it came straight up. He hasn't had anything out of the ordinary.

I meant DS is really dopey not DH.

Take him. I don't like the fact that he doesn't seem to be himself, iyswim.

I have felt scared like this about both of mine, before, and it was nothing - but then, it could be with your DS, so who knows!

I would keep a close eye on him and if anything else unusual happened I would take him.

he's only little so it may well be that this is a particularly nasty virus or whatever, and you've not expereinced him being this ill before. re the drowsy thing.

If he is drinking and eating, I would prob give it a few hours yet. If no improvement then. i would go in.

As flight attendant and pirate said. You could also google and look at NHS direct if you want reassurance or to panic more depending on how you interpret what you read.

Hope he gets better soon.

The reason my wife and I have had a disagreement is that I wonder what they would actually DO at A&E. A doctor has checked him over including lungs, heart, throat, stomach and ears. He is not drowsy in the sense that he cannot be woken and he does not have a high fever. I would characterise him as listless and sad, rather than unresponsive. He even managed a sad little smile at me at the Doctor's (after he had thrown up all over me).

All parents feel absolutely miserable when they have a sick little boy but, I suspect, at A&E, he may not even "pass" the nurse triage phase. I think we need to just look after him at home until some meaningful symptom appears or (hopefully) he is back to himself again. I just don't think there is anything the matter which warrants invasive tests.

However, I respect my wife's instincts and maybe I am being too logical....

I agree with you larrygrylls. The place for your son is not A&E. THis situation is not an emergency. If your son becomes worse and you are concerned, then the GP should be called again. Just because the GP did not find anything concerning the first time round, does not mean that he/she would not review him again. A child eating is always a good sign, even if it comes back up again.

Also you do need to give it time to see how things progress. He has only become ill today and GI complaints usually last around 48 hours. Just offer plenty of fluids, food is not important just now.

Hope all is OK?

Perked up, even had a little lunch. Now seems unhappy again, though. All a bit strange. We have decorators in kitchen so wondering if it might be something in the paint, even though door and windows are open.

Mears, thanks for asking.

Sounds like a wee viral thing. May go on to develop a temperature. THis is the age toddlers start getting illnesses which matures their immune system.

Mears,

Let's hope so! It was weird due to the speed of onset, the lack of fever and the degree of apparent pain. Last winter, he had one little bug after another, including a horrible bout of gastroenteritis, and they tended to come with high fevers yet much less pain. On the other hand, he has not been properly ill for the last 6 months or so and a 14 month old and an 8 month old may react differently to pain. He is our first, after all (no2 due in November), so we don't have much by way of comparison.

Hopefully it will resolve itself and we will never find out.

How is he doing?