My 9.5 month old is having a phase of a variety of symptoms and I’m
veering between thinking I’m overreacting and thinking I should go to the GP. I called the health visitor and she said as long as SOME wee is coming out and he’s pooping every day, he’s probably fine. I felt really dismissed.
I thought I’d ask some more experienced mums… sorry for essay - I don’t know if i’m overlooking an important small detail.
Here’s what’s happening - it’s coincided with the hotter weather - see what you think:
- Appetite for milk WAY down. His nappy gets changed 5x a day, always slightly wet but nothing like as soggy as they used to be. He used to polish off 500+ ml over three feeds then do two breastfeeds on top - now it’s a struggle to get 400ml down him over 5 feeds in 24 hours, complete breast refusal as of a few days ago (he had still been taking both boobs at night and around 5:30 when he wakes). Sometimes now he barely drinks 300ml. We offer plenty of sips of water but he gets irritated with us offering so frequently, and he’s not replacing the volume of milk he used to have
- Lower appetite for solids - will still eat his favourites - egg, avocado, Greek yoghurt - but not fussed about fruit, porridge, weetabix, veg and meat purées etc - been trying to get porridge down him mixed with breastmilk - he’ll grudgingly take it if mixed with lots of mashed banana. He can’t be bothered with finger foods and just wants to be spoon fed.
- Runny bottom - not ‘proper’ watery diarrhoea, but very unusual for him. He used to do three nice soft nuggets a day, now it’s one or two nappy-flooders. Lots of farting too.
- Vomiting - occasional big, heaving vomits of what feels like an entire milk feed. This has happened a couple of times in the night over the last week. At bedtime last night he brought his tea up. It’s unusual for him. At lunch one day he gagged on a new flavour and brought his whole lunch up. It’s very worrying when we’re trying to keep fluids in him.
- A few times a day he’s had a little cough - and like he’s trying to clear his throat - wondering if it could be indigestion - wonder if he has a sore throat. When he’s vomited sometimes he coughed gently beforehand - but not always.
- Crankiness, clinginess, smiling less. We’re trying to stay relaxed and positive but I wonder if he’s picking up on my anxiety a bit. For much of the day he’s fine and crawling about and interested in his toys and getting out and about.
- Lots of dribble and chewing - he has three teeth already and top left one should be coming through soon. Occasional head shaking and ear pulling, and I can hear him gnashing his existing teeth together until they squeak sometimes
- Night time sleep is breaking up a lot - just before this phase he’d been sleeping 7pm-5:30am. Now he’s up and very awake a couple of times, and waking up earlier and earlier. Daytime naps are harder to get him to sleep (despite his wake windows seeming to get shorter and him suddenly being VERY tired and needing a nap NOW) but he will stay down for 2x 1-2 hour naps in the cot
- Its hard to know if he has a temperature - it’s such a wrestling match to try and keep the thermometer under his armpit and he cries and cries being restrained. He’s occasionally felt very hot. On very humid nights he’s been sweaty despite just being in a nappy and 0.5 tog bag with a fan. He can’t sleep without the sleep bag.
At what point do I take all these ‘little’ things and collectively see them as a bigger problem needing medical support? If it was a tummy bug wouldn’t I have got it as well? If it was covid wouldn’t it be getting better now after a week? Is it just as simple as it being hot and he’s teething and fed up?
Thanks for reading all this - your advice or solidarity would be very welcome .