Advice on a baby with a stomach bug please!!

[roslily]

My 14 week ds has a stomach bug, started 3am weds morning. The doc said give dioralyte and watered down milk then build up.

We have had a retching sickness since yesterday morning, but still some diarrhoea. So I tried some full strength formula today, he took about 3oz, but threw up loads straught away and has since been being sick quite a lot- curdled sick.

I don't know what to do really. He isn't actually asking for food, but I know I need to keep his water intake up. Should I go back to dioralyte?

He seems more himself today, not sleeping as much as yesterday, buut still very clingy (which is ok! I am giving lots of cuddles)

Any advice, I feel a bit helpless.

Does he have formula or breastmilk? Only asking 'cos the advice is usually different.

Formula. I stopped breastfeeding at 5 weeks and now feel terrible that I might have caused teh stomach bug by giving up.

up to date advice is to give milk feeds as normal whether breast or bottle fed.

from nhs direct:

Continue breastfeeding or bottle-feeding

If you are breastfeeding or bottle-feeding your child and they have diarrhoea, continue if they will still feed (use their normal-strength feed if they are bottle-fed). Rehydration drinks should also be given if necessary.

more info here

Don't beat yourself up about it, you did 5 weeks which is 5 weeks more than alot of babies get.

Unfortunately though, I haven't got any advice for you. Hopefully, someone will be along in a minute who has experience of this.

Thanks. I was such a mess, and family convinced me to give up. If I could start breastfeeding again I would

Hi rosily - bf aside (I only managed 2 weeks with both my dd's) here is what happened to my dd2 when she had this bug

We gave her the rehydration stuff - she threw a lot back up - we gave her bottles of formula - she threw most of that back up. Eventually went to the A&E of our children's hospital and they were great.

They did a fluid trial. Dd2 was only 7mo so she got 3.5mls of rehydration fluid by a syringe every 5 mins for about 1.5 hours.

Now you have to be made of strong stuff to do this. Dd2 howled and screamed for the first 45 minutes (so much that the paediatrician had completed all the forms so he could admit her overnight to be tube fed!).

Eventually her tummy felt full and she stopped howling AND she managed to keep all the fluid down. This was a baby who before that had throwing up everything to the point of throwing up bile and diarrhoea after every feed.

From then on she tolerated her milk - we woudl give her about 1 ounce at a time and have a break - and eventually increased it.

So it might be worth a try?

It is horrible when they are that sick.

If you are really determined, you could talk to a local BFing Counsellor about the possibility of relactation.

ineedsomesleep- I might do that.