reassurance please baby with cough/cold/temp

[puppydavies]

you'd never guess i was a second timer but i've not had a littly this unwell before and want to check i'm doing all i can. dd1 (4) had a really nasty cough and fever about a week ago and i think this is what dd2 (5mo) has now. she's had a cold for a few days but the cough and temp and rheumy eyes started yesterday. she's done nothing but sleep since yesterday morning really, but fitfully, either on the boob or being rocked/carried. today she's just crying in her sleep and when i can rouse her and seems really unwell.

was sick yesterday morning and again today (proper full-contents-of-stomach sick) i don't know if it's related. have just given calpol and will see if she's cooled down in half an hour or so (haven't been taking temp but will start now). there's nothing the docs can do is there? what should i be on the look out for if she doesn't pick up?

sorry, i know you've heard it all a hundred times and i know there's prolly not much i can do but i just need a bit of hand holding. she hasn't smiled at me once today

Aw, your poor dd. Things to watch for - a pinprick rash that doesn't fade if you press it with a glass. If she is crying a lot it could be an ear infection which only a doc's visit would pick up. With babies I don't think there is any harm in a GP visit to check ears etc if temp is up. But i'm sure she'll be on the mend soon.

I would go to the GP. just to be safe & sure.

really? docs? i have to say i'm normally in the leg-hanging-off camp - i will do if she's no better tomorrow, but i may ring them now and see what they say. thanks both

sorry for being so negative(? not quite the right word). it's just my friend's baby (3 mths) has a bad cold & is a bit wheezy & not taking much liquid.

she went to the gp yesterday who sent her to A&E straight away. the baby has some bronchial infection.

I just think it's better to be sure. didn't mean to be alarmist.

no worries at all malfoy. she was just sick again which i do take seriously in such a littly. am waiting for docs to call back.

and temp after calpol was 38. i don't normally bother to actually take temps - am assuming is "a bit" high rather than "dangerously" high?

i sound really neglectful don't i

You don't sound at all "neglectful". I'm like you and don't like to "bother" the GP unneccessarily (there are enough people out there who do !). If her temp is still 38 after calpol and she has been vomiting for a couple of days, she needs to see a GP really to be on the safe side. Try to get plenty of fluids into her and keep up the calpol !(you can alternate calpol and ibuprofen every few hours).
Good luck with the GP. Hope she's better soon. It can be really worrying can't it when they can't explain how they feel etc.

no. I am like that too. it's just after my friend's experience I thought I would recommend GP.

BTW her baby is ok. they didn't give him anything at A&E. just said to make sure he is taking some liquid, producing wet nappies & not being listless.

puppy, you dont sound neglectful, you sound sensible. You have phoned the doctor, see what they say. How long after the calpol is the temp 38? That wouldnt worry me if no medication given but calpol should have brought it down. Try giving DD a warm bath and letting her dry naturally in a warm room, this works wonders for bringing a temp down. I think you can give ibruprofen to a five monther, but i would check that, you can give ibruprofen and calpol at the same time.

ITs so difficult to know whether to go to the doctors, on the one hand, you dont want to upset dd further by a trip to the docs (i mean, her leg really would have to be hanging off to get them to visit!) but you dont want to be stuck once the surgery has closed. I would wrap her up and make sure she is seen tbh, they probably will just send you home and tell you to do more of what you are doing, but its better to feel a bit sheepish and neurotic than to wish you had taken her earlier if she deteriorates. Is she getting enough fluids?

Poor wee mite, i hope she feels better soon.

thanks all i really do appreciate it (am sleep deprived from last night, so it all seems like a much bigger deal than it probably is).

we have a really good accessible out of hours here - is less wait than gp! hence not dashing to get her seen as like you say lucyellensmum i don't want to drag her out for no good reason.

will ask doc about ibuprofen.

she had a nice big breastfeed earlier but sicked it all back up is feeding again now. can also try her with some water next time she's awake (all she wants to do is sleep) luckily she is big water fan and usually throws herself at doidy cup.

she was a little bit brighter for a while earlier at least, and i did get a smile

38 was an hour after calpol, will try her again now as she dozes.

Ah, poor LO...totally understand the second-timer thing, dd1 never had more than a sniffle but dd2 did, and I was baffled. And her cold (at 4 weeks) turned out to be RSV bronchiolitis: look out for ongoing sicking up of feeds, 'bubbly/foamy' saliva, or just getting more unwell...what was a heavy cold/cough in dd1 landed dd2 in HDU for a week.

Not being very reassuring, sorry, odds are its probably just going to pass in another couple of days...but I also know how hard it can be to feel its ok to 'bother' the docs, and trust me, they'd much rather you asked them/dragged them out for nothing than not! Its their job to check her out, and to give you that reassurance even better than MN can I hope she's better very fast, and that you get some peace of mind ditto. xxx

37.4 now so heading in the right direction at least.

[eek] at bronchiolitis but thanks for the look-out signs. am tapping fingers (on keyboard lol) still waiting for call back...

bronchiolitis! that's the word I was looking for, That's what my friend's baby's got. dim. me, not you.

I'd take her to docs.
My 11mth old had a cold that went to a cough then he was sicky and had a temp. I too don't like to rush to the docs but my DH said to take him.
I'm glad I did as he had infected tonsils and a very mucusy chest - which doc said cough medicine wouldn't clear. Finished his antibiotics today and seems much chirpier.

have spoken to doc and she said to bring her in. thanks again for all advice and pushing me to take it seriously. will let you know how we get on.

hope your LO is on the mend, I was just going to say Docs and nurses would rather see lots of little ones, rather than miss one really unwell one, if that makes sense.

well, despite puking all over the waiting room it turns out she just has a cold. no sign of ear, throat or chest infection hurray. she picked up enough to smile and sing to me a bit - i just realised that's what's been missing that makes her seem so ill. fingers crossed this is the first sign of her picking up and the next few feeds stay down.

am glad we went to docs though and thanks again to all of you for holding my hand.

thats good news puppy, hope she feels better soon.

Thats good , holding hands is what we are here for!!

Hurrah! Very glad 'just' a cold (some nasty ones around this year, she said, coughing) and sympathy re pukey waiting room.

I'm sorry if I scared you, re bronchiolitis - its just I didnt' know about it, and caught it just in time, so would hate to not say something in case it helped someone else. But odds are always good for boring nasty cold

Me, I'll rush to docs (just round corner, admittedly) any day for the kids, think peace of mind well worth it, and they've never made me feel more neurotic than I am!