Is anyone up to help reasure me and DH........DD's soft spot is very sunken, she is very unsettled........NHS calling me back!!!!

[GoodGollyMissMolly]

Yesterday I noticed her soft spot seemed to be pulsating and I have just noticed that her soft spot is very sunken. She has been unsettled tonight and feeding constantly, then throwing up.
NHS direct are calling me back, but while I wait does anyone know what it may be.
I seemed to remember reading somewhere about the soft spot, if it is bulging or sunken it could be a sign that the baby isn't well.

We are first time parents so we dont really know what to do!!!!

I think possibly might be a bit dehydrated. Are you bfing? If so offering more bf is a good plan, particularly if throwing up. Is there any diarrhea?

Poor girl. SHe is probably just a bit poorly. My dcs fontenells (sp) used to rise and fall a bit, not a worry in itself I don't think.

She may be getting dehidrated. If they don't ring withing the hour ring them again. As long as she is responsive things should be fine.

How old is she?

The pulsating is okay too IMO, just her little heartbeat I think.

Is she sleeping now?

If the soft spot is sunken then it can be a sign that baby is slightly dehydrated. Signs that baby is unwell are grunty breathing, pale skin, high temperature, high pitched cry, less activity than usual and going off feeds, hope nhs direct get back to you. Do you have an out of hours GP service that you could call or ring your nearest hospital and get through to paediatric ward just for a bit of advice, no-one will mind...

Hi,
Thank you for replying.
DD is bf and has been feeding almost constantly since about 6pm. I'm letting her feed as often for as long as she wants to, but then she throws up quite alot of it. She has been really unsettled today, keeps crying while on the breast, which she has never done before. But other than that shes seems ok.

Just v worried as she is only 4 weeks and 4 days old.

Sunken a sign of dehydration. Bulging soft spot is much more of a worry.

It's quite common to see pulsating there.

Always good to get an opinion on poorly babies though

If you are b/feeding - keep offering feeds - no need to stop, offer water or anything else. B/milk is best for an upset stomach.

Awww she lovely and new!

Completely right to be concerned then because you are lovely kind parents.

She may have a cold? Is she snotty at all? Feeding with a cold is hard and could explain crying at breast.

Or maybe an earache (less common) Keep a close eye on her and take her to out of hours gp in morning if you are still worried.

Or of course straight away if you get really worried at any point.

Maybe try getting your dh to walk her round til she settles, after a small bf?

pulsating soft spots are quite normal.
sunken is supposed to indicate dehydration.
you are doing the right thing to keep feeding her. i dont htink it is anything to worry about tbh. sometimes babies do puke up quite a bit. even =breatfed ones. it may be because she is actually drinking to much for her little tummy.
is she crying lots? what sort of cry is it? loud and lusty, or weak and ill?
if she is still like this, then take her to see a healthcare person. actually, why dont you try ringing up the maternity unit where she was born. when ds was born, i remmeber being told that i should ring them about any problems till they were about four weeks old. they have more experience dealing with such little ones than gp's or a7e staffdo.

Thanks VVV, glad to hear its common to see it pulsating, it kinda worried me yesterday, but I made a mental note to keep an eye on it.

Thanks slur, not sure if she has a cold, DH has had a bit of one for a couple of days now, so I suppose DD could have caught one from him, but
she isn't snotty or anything.
How can I tell it she has an earache. DH is still up with me and DD, he is cuddling her now as I have just fed her again. She has gone to sleep on his chest.

I wont be getting any sleep tonight, am too worried, even if it turns out to be nothing, I know I wont be able to settle. They can be such a worry.

Thanks Pukka, I will probably ring them if NHS direct don't get back to me soon. Her cry is very loud and lusty, not weak or anything.

She has now woken up and DH is feeding her a bottle of EBM which she is attacking with gusto I am so glad she is still feeding, I think I would be beside myself with worry if she wasn't feeding.

Its good she sleeping on daddy. what a lovely fella.

Earache is less likely than cold or upset tummy, but you might notice if she was batting at ear or crying when feeding on one particular side.

I would think she just a wee bit grumbly.

Go to sleep. Do you co-sleep? If not why not do it for tonight the you'll have her close and be able to monitor her very closely if you're worried.

Without any other symptoms, temp, floppiness, weird cry etc. Vomit and unsettle is probably just fighting something off. BUT i'm not there so if ever really really worried tkae action. What did nhs say?

Thanks Slur, NHS have still not rang back, they are probably busy.
I would love to co sleep, but I worry to much (Can you tell I'm a born worrier?) that I would roll over and hurt her or something.

Thank you all for your support, it means so much to a first time, big worrying mum.

A nurse from NHS Direct has just called me back, and gone through lots of questions. She has suggested that I speak to a doctor and has put the call through. She thinks that DD may be a bit dehydrated (just like you all said ) and to make sure I feed her whenever she wants feeding, which I am doing.

I am to wait for the doctor to call me back.

DD seems a little bit more settled now and is dozing in her moses basket, so that is something.

Thank you all for all of your advice.

Did you hear back from a Doctor GGMH ?

How is she doing this morning?

Hi,
Yes a doctor called me back and suggested we go to the out of hours doctor at our local hospital. We went, DD finally went to sleep in the car!!!!, they checked her over.
They said she seems ok, and they were not too worried as she has had and keeps having big wet nappies. Her soft spot was not as sunken by the time we got there, so they said to keep an eye on her and if she keeps vomiting and not keeping anything down to go straight back.

When we got home I fed her again and she went straight to sleep, this is at about 5am, she woke up at 9.30am and had a big 40 minute feed which she has kept down so far.

She is now sat in MIL's arms wide awake and staring at the TV, not crying and quite happy with her little self.

DH and I on the other hand are knackered, he got about 5 hours sleep, I got a couple of hours.....part and parcel of being parents

Thank you all for your advice and concern. it helped us a great deal.

Great news!

(I have always believed that there is a healing element in the process of going to A&E.. by the time they are checked they are perfectly fine! )

MeMySonAndI; That is so true, she seemed perfectly fine once we got there and DH and I felt like a bit of a fraud for bothering them. The paed that we saw said that she would rather we get these things checked than not, as small babies can go downhill very fast if they are poorly.
TBH DH and I felt better for going even if it was just to put our own minds at rest.

DS was taken once in ambulance to A&E after fallinf from the stairs. He couldn't move his legs, by the time we were seen he was running all around

And then even dared to throw a tantrum as we were not comming back in ambulance!

Aww bless him, he obviously liked the ambulance ride. glad to hear he was ok in the end.

I knew I would worry but I didn't realize it would be this much!!!! Suppose it's part of being a parent.

OK, now I am worried, DH had been holding DD and just brought her over to me while he goes to get ready. As DH passed her to me she has just projectile vomited most of her feed all down me.

Do you think she would have kept anything down? She fed at 9.30am ish?

I'm sure she would have a at least a bit of it already diggested.

What did the doctor say about the vomiting?

Doc said if she continues to vomit and not keep anything down to go back to them.

I've just fed her again but she only stayed on for 5 minutes and now she has gone to sleep.
She was doing this last night, only feeding for minutes at a time very frequently. It was feeding, sleeping, vomiting, feeding, sleeping, vomiting, over and over for 11 hours.

God I hope she is ok, I don't know what to do, my mum say's to give her a bit of cooled boiled water. Is that right, should I do that?

I would feel tempted to (about the water) but I think what is recommended is to keep breasfeeding.

As long as she is having wet nappies she will be fine. If she is sleeping check that she is still responsive from time to time, particularly if she is having an unusulaly long nap. Just a kind pocking to her arm to see if she stirs/is responsive.

She had a wet nappy this morning when I changed her, but DH has just changed her and it was not wet and only slightly dirty. My MW said that she should have a wet nappy at each change, is this right?
She is sleeping now, should I keep waking her to feed, or should I just let her sleep?