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Help please - poorly baby struggling to eat and drink

Matthew has tonsilitis and is teething. He's got a very sore throat and is so snotty that he can't breathe when he's eating or drinking - so he's not taking enough in. He's just gone to bed, but he only took 1/4 ounce of formula from his nighttime feed because he was struggling to breathe through his nose while he drank it.

He has hardly eaten enough to keep a sparrow alive today.

I've tried snufflebabe on his chest, we've got a calpol and a karvol plug - have tried both and they didn't work, and we've used saline nasal drops.

Can anyone think of anything else I can try to help him feed better??

Also, we were in hospital with him when he was diagnosed with tonsilitis. Since we've come home he's spiked a temperature of 40.2!!! We've given calpol and nurofen, stripped him down, opened all the windows, and put a fan on him, and each time he's spiked a fever it's taken over an hour for it to come down. I called the hospital who diagnosed him, but they weren't overly worried so long as he wasn't floppy and listless - and just advised me to keep doing what i was doing.

Can anyone think of anything else I can do if this fever keeps coming back? I'm going to take him to the gp tomorrow, but I'm concerned incase it happens again tonight - we've had practically no sleep for the past few nights!

Any advice would be gratefully received. Thanks in advance xxx

Replies

  • Hi,

    I am so sorry, I know exactly what you are going through. Sounds very similar to what my 8month old son had last week. He started with a temp which gradually got worse. We called NHS direct who were so helpful (always so quick when babies involved). They sent an out of hours doc round because his fontonelle was raised (Have you checked that?) She was also lovely and diagnosed tonsilitis because he had white tonsils but because of the fontonelle raised we were admitted to hospital with suspected meningitis which was frightening. They started v strong antibiotics very quickly and he got better very quickly.

    Anyway, please check his fontonelle and obviously phone nhs if you are worried at all in the night. I was so worried I was wasting their time but was so glad I did because the hospital staff were so good and they can put a drip on etc if he isn`t feeding. Toby bounced back very quickly which was great.

    Not loads of advice other than what you are doing. I would check him every few hours in the night and check his temp etc/keep giving calpol.

    Really hope you see an improvement, it is just awful seeing them suffer.

    Sarahxxx
  • I'm a nurse, although not paediatric. The best way to bring down a temperature apart from giving calpol would be to actually use a warm cloth to dab baby with. If you used cold water, the body would just feel the coldness and try to warm up. I don't know if you're aware a really high temp can cause a seizure called a rigor. If your baby has one of these, he needs to go to hospital. But it sounds like your doing all you can to cool him down. Try giving water, dehydration is more of a worry than lack of food/milk. If he starts to produce less wet nappies, that's also a sign he's getting dehydrated. Babies deteriorate quite quickly, so if in doubt take him to an out of hours doctors or A&E. NHS direct will also give you further advice. Hope I've helped, and your littlun is better soon. xx
  • Aww poor little baby... I wouldn't worry about his feeds too much as you'll be suprised at how long babies can go without food. The most important thing for you is Fluids... Just give him cool boiled water with sugar in. The sugar helps keep him hydrated, you do not want him to get dehydrated. Maybe water his milk down more, as the dairy will make him more chesty. I know your worried about his eating but don't worry as long as he's taking fluids that's the main thing. When my daughter was ill with a sickness bug, I bought some dehydration tablets that you mix with water. It also helps the body stay hydrated.

    As for him being stuffy... don't laugh it may sound strange but it really does work... But the karvol on his feet and put some socks on him... Don't know why it works but it does. Keep a bowl of cold water in the room he sleeps in, it will help keep moisture in the room and help him breathe. Other than that keep him in his nappy and keep dosing him with Calpol every 4 hours until this bug goes...

    Poor little thing, good luck hope he feels better.

    Oh and I'm no expert image Just what I've learnt/been told in the past 2 years...image x
  • Thanks so much for your help girls - I will try all the ideas.

    Yummum - I've checked his fontanelle, and it's not raised, and it's not sunken, I think it's just normal.

    I've tried giving him water, but he's not taking anything - I haven't tried sugar in it yet though - maybe that'll make it more appealing - so thanks for the idea!

    XXXX
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