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Original poster

8 month old severe diarrhea - unable to drink dioralite - any advise please????

53 replies

tweety2000 · 13/03/2008 13:16

hi,

I am in desperate situation. MY 7 month old DS is having a severe diarrhea and high fever (for the last 4 days fever). I have been to see my GP yesterday, he advised to stop breatfeeding and to give 4 sachets a day of dioralite (rehydrating fluid). I try hard to get him drink it, but he is having none of it. ( in total about 90 ml during entire day - including the spilled one)

In the end I went to A&E last night. The doctor there said keep on giving little sips of liquid to him about 1 ounce every 10 mins.
The only thing noone seems to tell how to give it hi. and when i try to say that he is not takig any bottle doctors do not seem to want tolisten me at all.
I tried to use syringe for it to. he is only stressed out from it, as I have to force it into him.
but i donot find that it is right. only i ended up having screaming baby who hates even the sight of syringe or any kind of bottle. before he would try to drink water from thhe cup, now he is so scared that even that he is avoing.
I do not know if i should call gp or go to A&E as I been to seee gp twice already and twice to a&e and not much luck.
please any advice would be welcome how to get him to drink as he is getting dehydrated now.

OP posts:
Piffle · 13/03/2008 17:32

just offer the breast whenever he will take it.a few sucks every couple of hours will help with hydration and nourishment. Your body adjusts its milk for every situation. For a baby this age def best. Dioralyte tastes vile to adults who know better...
I had my ds1 is hospital with dehydration at 7 mthz due to tonsilitis and vomiting. The doctor had told ms to stop breastfeeding. The AE doctor said that advice made my ds dehydrated. Hope your wee boy improves for you.

madamy · 13/03/2008 17:37

tweety - my ds was in hospital 2 mths ago at 8mths old with similar symptoms - but no temp. He was very drowsy, lethargic and almost grey looking. He stayed in for 3 nights on a drip. His stool sample showed rotavirus which is a nasty bug that can hit really hard.
The docs advised me to breastfeed as much as he wanted, but he couldn't have any other fluids as he was so dehydrated that his blood salts were abnormal.
He went from being unwell and sleepy in the afternoon to being almost unrousable by 8pm.
Does your ds have a sunken fontanelle? The other dehydration test is to press on his breastbone for 5 secs then release. The blood should return within 2 secs. Any longer and he's dehydrated.
If you are worried, I would seek medical help again - you know what he is normally like and how poorly he is. The worst that can happen is that A&E think you're a nusiance - better that than a poorly baby who doesn't get seen.

belgo · 13/03/2008 17:42

tweety2000 - I was also advised to carry on bfing when dd2 was in hospital with very similar symptoms.
Breastmilk contains not only fluid, but also nutrients and minerals that your baby will need. And it is very easily digestable.

shootoo · 13/03/2008 22:35

Ok;if his gums aren't hot and tender and showing no sign of teeth breaking then I agree that it is most likely viral.
There's been a lot of stomach bugs going around in my area, what about where you live? Kids seem to be experts at passing viral illnesses around, it only takes a sneeze in the right direction.

I'm concerned at your doctor's attitude, you shouldn't be made to feel paranoid, even health professionals get it wrong. Their job is to alleviate your fears not exacerbate them.

You shouldn't feel you are nagging them, you are simply asking them to perform the job they are paid very highly to do, you are concerned about your son and deserve to be treated decently.

Never be afraid to speak your mind to any health official, they are no better or worse than you, and you shouldn't be made to feel that they are.

Give the NHS direct number: 0845 46 47 a ring and explain the situation to them, if they feel your child is in any danger they will help make arrangements to get your little boy seen to straight away.

Hopefully you'll get some proper support from these guys.

Is there anybody helping you out? You sound exhausted.

moondog · 13/03/2008 22:42

Breastmilk is the best thing for the baby.
Stop breastfeeding my arse.
God, they talk some shit (not thier fault,they know eff all about breastfeeding)

I will try and find the thread where some numpty GP advised a b/feeding mother to give Ribena.
She made a complaint and got a grovelling apology in the end.

sparkleymummy · 13/03/2008 22:47

Its important that you don't just give him water. The thing that causes problems for babies is that they quickly lose essential sugars and minerals. I agree that you should continue to BF but if he won't take that or the dioralyte then if nothing else give him a little sugar in the water.

sparkleymummy · 13/03/2008 22:47

Or a baby fruit juice drink

moondog · 13/03/2008 23:13

WTF??????

Piffle · 13/03/2008 23:17

indeed

Piffle · 13/03/2008 23:17

indeed

winestein · 13/03/2008 23:27

Moondog... I take your wtf and raise you a - but at the same time some people genuinely don't know.

Tweety, I am sure you know breastmilk is by far the best, and keep up with the syringing of calpol/nurofen if appropriate. It's a necessary evil when they are ill - my little man had a virus which sent his temperature rocketing and it was a nightmare week. Hope your ds is feeling much better soon

moondog · 13/03/2008 23:28

Fair enough Winestein
(I love the expression 'I raise you a...')

Original poster
tweety2000 · 13/03/2008 23:28

all in all about 150 ml of dioralyte and water over the entire day plus breastfeeding as much as he requested.

without breastfeeding baby would bedefinetly dehydrated already. I am appaled that neither my GP nor the dr. at A&E did not bother to to find out whether I am able to get extra liquid into him as they advised.

i had to force it with the syringe into him, while my husband was restraining him. he criyed his guts out. I am sure he is very stressed out over it and it will take for him to trust me again.

thank you everyone for your advise and support.

OP posts:
tori32 · 13/03/2008 23:30

If he isn't drinking you need to go back to A&E. A way to tell if he is dehydrated is to pinch up the skin on the back of his hand, if it quickly goes back down when you let go then carry on trying. If the skin takes a couple of secs to go back down he needs IV fluids. Also if his lips are dry its a sign of dehydration.

Will he take yoghurt from a spoon or similar/ breastmilk? You could try very dilute baby juice to make it more appealing. Bits of ice cube?

I would also suggest collecting a poo sample if this has gone on for days and take it to GP/A&E.

moondog · 13/03/2008 23:30

Tweety,if you want info from peopel who really understand breastfeeding 9which excludes 95% of GPs and doctors) then try one of the breastfeeding helplines,listed on the right of this page

moondog · 13/03/2008 23:31

AND THE BABY DOESN'T NEED BLOODY YOGHURT, 'BABY' JUICE, CEREAL OR A PINT OF GUINNESS. bREASTMILK IS THE BEST THING BAR NONE!!

[ANGRY]

tori32 · 13/03/2008 23:39

Moondog if your last post was aimed at me then heed the fact that I did say breastmilk, however, if he is unwell sometimes the effort of bf can mean they drink even less. Getting fluid from a cup is easier for them and involves less effort. The op has already said that her LO sometimes drinks from a cup. Also the coolness of water/juice can help to reduce temp. For the same reason yoghurt is good if he will not feed because the spoon will be something familiar if he has started weaning.

at your attitude. FFS!

tori32 · 13/03/2008 23:40

PS obviously bf is best for nutrition but not always best when dehydration occurs.

girlfrommars · 13/03/2008 23:49

Water/juice is not going to replace the salts that are lost.
Yoghurt=dairy. Not the best plan for diarrhea.
Calpol/Nurofen help reduce temperature.
Breast milk replaces the lost nutrients and could be expressed if necessary.

tori32 · 14/03/2008 00:01

dioralyte added to juice/ water is the best quick solution to dehydration. Milk also has lots of fat/protein in it and takes longer to be absorbed by the gut. I agree that minerals and salts are needed, but the other ingredients of milk are not going to help in a dehydration situation.

solo · 14/03/2008 00:16

I would just go with the breast milk personally. It has everything a baby needs prior to weaning, so why would it be insufficient for a 7 mo that can't take anything else right now? plus baby is distressed by syringes and bottles - a beast is comforting to him so very much the best solution. As for juice or sugar in water...don't think so, not at all. An adult friends DH had similar symptoms and was told by GP to drink orange juice...he ended up in a diabetic coma...wasn't diabetic prior to that, so I wouldn't give sweet stuff at all. Just my opinion.
Might be inclined also to go to a different A&E.
Hope all is better in the morning Tweety.

belgo · 14/03/2008 07:39

well this turned into an interesting thread!

tweety2000- I hope you managed to get some rest and that your ds is showing some improvement today

Piffle · 14/03/2008 07:40

Yoghurt with diarrhoea in barely weaned baby?
Yoghurt has less nutrition that breastmilk and might stung his appetite for thd milk.Breastmilk will prevent the dehydration occuring, once baby is dehydrated then breastmilk alongside rehydration products under hospital guidance is best. I nursed my son out of dehydration at 13 mths old. Hospital supported me 100% yep little ANC often but it worked

Original poster
tweety2000 · 14/03/2008 23:40

hi everyone,

he is not taking any spoon at moment, he is realy traumatised by forced syringing into him of dioralite.

seen my GP today again as he developed a rash all over his body in the morning.

GP did not say what it is (just said nothing to worry about) which is not that helpful when you see him and know that he is having high fever for the fifth day now, and diarrhea for the third. He did say that f continues to breastfeed it will take longer for him to settle down the diarrhea (if he would have said this at the start I would not have force dioralite if he refused to drink it himself).

NO MORE FORCING DIORALITE. Luckly he is breatfeeding better now and expresesed some interest in a cup (had a few sips of water and diluted apple juice), (i went by Baby led weaning route) I do not make him eat or drink certain amounts - only as much as he wants himself.

My feeling is that even with diarrhea the breastfeeding is enough at the moment to hydrate him (15 wet nappies today) so even if he looses some important salts and nutrients, breastfeeding alone I feel will do the job of sustaining him anyway. But forcing him with syringe I will not do that any more. The emotinal trauma is very severe I feel .If he will not breastfeed as a last resort I will insist on giving him fluids by IV instead.

OP posts:
solo · 15/03/2008 02:01

Unfortunately, GP's are not usually bfeeding experts.
I was very surprised when talking to LLL as I had that awful diarrhoea and sickness last year and thought that I'd possibly be told to stop bf my then 10 mo Dd, but I was assured by the counsellor that I would not pass on the bug through my milk. If I'd listened to the ' experts', I'd have gone to formula and I didn't want that. There is nothing better for a sick baby, than breastmilk IMO, it has antibodies for starters, so that surely must be a good thing for a poorly baby? Keep up the good work Tweety, you know what is best for your baby.

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