Anyone online? Quick advice for tasty food for ill toddler

[franchick]

Hi

My wee one has been struggling with a fever / cough / cold all week, which has been worse yesterday and today. She has hardly eaten anything and today has only had 3 ozs of milk and some water and juice (so I am a little worried, but I know she will make up for it once she feels better). She is having a second nap right now (4.30pm!!) and has been asleep for an hour or so. I will get her up at 5pm. (normally she just sleeps one nap for 2 - 2.5 hrs or so).

Does anyone have any tasty ideas for food that I can try to tempt her with? She has refused all her favourites, including warm porridge, fruit, jelly, chocolate (!!), casserole, fromage frais, custard, toast etc etc. She is 16 months old and I suppose is a little bit of a picky eater, but not always (sometimes eats like a horse).

I just feel so sorry for her and can't help but think something nice, tasty and healthy might make her feel a bit better. Does anyone have any good ideas?

TIA

[binxyboo]

Maybe sugar free jello? Sorry that is all I can think of and don't want you to feel alone!! I am sure others will be here soon with great ideas! I think that maybe getting fluids into her is better than food, which she may throw up anyway. Does she like popsicles or soup? Hope she feels better soon!

[franchick]

Thanks binxyboo - she is even off her jelly (which she normally loves). She doesn't like cold things, but I will definitely have a go with some soup.

You ladies are so fast here!

[Lucysmom]

I also agree that fluids are more important right now so I would go for soups and any fluids she likes to drink.  You say she has been ill all week?  How high has her fever been?  Is her cough really bad?  You don't think she has bronchitis or anything do you?

Anyway, just wanted to send you and your lo {{{HUGS}}} and healthy vibes!  ~~~~~~

[franchick]

Hi there Lucysmom

Yes, I will be trying to get more fluids into her for sure. She is normally still a really big milk drinker, so the drop in milk intake is a bit worrying. I will try soup and if she doesn't want that, just some juice or water and then milk before bed.

I do hope her illness isn't anything more serious than a cold. Once we can actually get paracetamol into her (a bit of a battle), she perks up within half an hour and, even though she is poorly, still manages to raise a few smiles and giggles, so I am trying not to overreact.

She had bronchiolitis when she was about 7 months old, and I don't think her chest sounds as bad now as it did then. However, if she is not better by Monday, she will definitely be off to the docs.

Her cough can be quite bad - two nights ago she coughed for 40 mins on and off at about midnight, then last night I got her up at 1.45pm for a while (we just lay on the couch) as she was so hot and couldn't get comfy. I am not sure how high her temp has been (she hates the thermometer), but it is definitely higher when she is teething, although shorter in duration.

Thanks for your concern. Poor wee munchkin.

Do you think I am being too relaxed about this and I should get her checked out today (there is an out of hours doctor I could go to)? When she was younger I felt like I was at the docs all the time - she had reflux, then bronchiolitis, then a different infection etc, then lots of colds, so I don't want to go overboard if she 'just' has a cold. In between times, and all summer long, she is healthy as an ox and eats a fairly varied healthy diet.

[binxyboo]

I always go to the doctor when I am concerned, and don't worry about coming across as an overanxious mother. I would rather look silly than miss an infection etc.

[mari]

Stir fry lean beef pieces until brown, then boil together with chopped vegetables (swede, carrot, onion, parsnip, any root veggies) for 20 minutes, add flour mixed with a little water to thicken, then add 2 beef stock cube and let simmer for about 30 mins, either serve as it is or blend into a soup.  Make as thick as you want.  My mum always gave it to us on Thursday (don't know why a thur) but if ever I'm ill, I love mum's stew)  Never fails, so tasty.

[franchick]

Thanks Mari - that sounds yummy - I will pass to my hubby (lucky me - he does all the cooking around here) to get cracking on right away.

Binxyboo - maybe I should get her checked out at the docs......

Right, I have to go and get Katie up from her really late nap (it's alreay 5.10pm and I meant to get her up 10 mins ago) - she is obviously very tired from being ill.

Fingers crossed the soup works.

Thanks all
xx

[franchick]

Hi Ladies

Sorry, I'm back. Wee one is still asleep and DH thinks we should just let her sleep til she wants to get up. I am tempted to agree, but I was kind of hoping for an early night myself, so then I will have no idea when she will go to bed...

Sorry, this is not food related now, but, what do you all think? (normally when she is ill, Iwould let her sleep a 4 hour nap in the middle of the day, but it just didn't work out like that today).

TIA, AGAIN

[franchick]

Not to worry, she has just woken up... 

[JennŠ]

If she is sick, let her sleep, get the fluids in when she wakes.  Sounds like she needs the doc though.

[franchick]

Quick update:

Thanks for all your advice everyone. Katie took a small bowl of runny oats and fruit (in the bath!!) and we got some Kalpol into her, so she perked up a bit and read some books, watched some TV and cuddled in with us for a couple of hours. Then, I took her off to bed after a little bit of milk and she went to sleep like a dream. So, only about 9 hours of awake time in total today, bless.

I think she may be on the mend a little as this is the most food she has had in 2 days and her cough doesn't seem as bad, but we will see. If she is still like this tomorrow, a wee trip to the docs will definitely be in order.

Thanks again.

[franchick]

New update:

After chatting to you all, I felt a wee bit guilty, like I hadn't thought about taking Katie to the docs etc. Anyway, after a pretty good night's sleep on Saturday, she woke up and was worse / miserable even (with a temp at 104 DF - OMG!!), so I got on the blower to NHS24 and got a doc appointment for 9am. Turns out she has a chest infection and is now on antibiotics.

You know, I am so glad you are here, because I was tempted to just ride it out. Realistically speaking, her body would probably have fought off the infection without the antibiotics in time, but she has already improved a lot on them.

She hardly ate anything again yesterday (just some jelly and porridge) but managed to drink a little more milk. She slept 13 hours last night!! and 4 naps yesterday!! So, obviously, her body is trying to sleep it off.

DH is staying at home today to look after her - I called earlier and he said she seemed a bit better, but still wanting lots of cuddles. Bless.

Anyway, sorry to ramble - I am supposed to be working as well....

[Lucysmom]

Hiya -

I am glad she is on the mend and that you were able to get her into the docs quickly.  And don't feel guilty about not taking her sooner.  It is soooo hard to know what to do when your lo is ill, and if it makes you feel any better my dh is a doctor himself and did not want me to take dd to the emergency room when she was really ill with vomitting.  She had no energy, completely listless, would not take fluids - all of the classic signs of dehydration.  Of course, since he is a doctor I felt stupid insisting she go to the hospital.  Well, after she vomitted literally all over him    he finally said we should take her to the hospital.  And it turns out we should have taken her in earlier as she was REALLY badly dehydrated.  So if a bloomin' doctor can't figure out when his own dd needs medical attention, then you should not feel an iota of guilt! 

And I bet you this all started out just as a cold and then eventually settled in her chest.  These things migrate you know! 

Sending you lots of {{{HUGS}}} and your dd lots of ~~~healthy vibes~~~.

  

[Mum to cool dude]

At least you know what's wrong with her, I always feel that helps. I have marched to my local surgery up the road with my babe in arms on more than one occasion and demanded an appointment. Quite often, they've sent us home with "it's a viral infection and we can't do anything about it" but at least I feel better because I know that they have checked him for potention problems and now it's down to him to fight the illness and down to us to support him.  I think that most doctors would prefer to spend the time to check a young child out and rule out any serious problem and would not begrudge you for wasting their time.
Good luck to all of you - sending healthy vibes your way

And when it comes to food: how about mash and/or scrambled egg or yoghurt ?

[franchick]

Thanks again - your posts have made me feel better. I am desparately wishing the hours away at work today just so I can go home and give Katie a big hug.....

Yes - it did just start out as a cold - it seems such a shame that it has gone to her chest. She had a similar thing last year after her bronchiolitis, so I guess maybe that is just her vulnerable area for illnesses.

And, I have to admit, the doctor lady was very nice and just gave us some nice supportive advice and tried not to make Katie cry when she was checking her over. Plus, she gave us some Nurofen for free because we had run out of it. Nice lady.

I will try mash tonight - she's not a big fan of scrambled eggs. She does love yoghurt, though, so maybe will manage some.

Daddy and grandma have been looking after her today - grandma normally always manages to get her to eat a little something, so I know she will be fine. Daddy is always good at helping her drink her milk or water or whatever, so that's good too.

Roll on 5 o'clock.....

[JennŠ]

One of Charlotte's favorites is yogurt with a Wheetabix crushed into it.   Or any type of ice cream, bad since she is lactose intolerant.  Glad she is doing better and she had a nice doc.  Love those free meds!!   

[Lucysmom]

That is great that she likes yoghurt.  Definitely encourage her to eat as much yoghurt as she wants as it helps a lot when on antibiotics.  Helps keep their digestive system in balance because antibiotics can kill off useful bacteria that live in the stomach and intestines.  That is why a common side effect of many antibiotics is diarrhea or upset tummy.  The acidopholous or whatever in yoghurt replenishes the lost bacteria I think.  In any case, that is great that she was with daddy and grandma today.  And that she is with you tonight!  {{{HUGS}}} to both of you!

[franchick]

Well, thanks everyone - you have been so nice and helpful and loving.

Katie actually seemed a lot better when I got home, although she only managed a little porridge and milk today. She had some yoghurt in the bath (with a little bit of nurofen mixed in...  ), then she wanted to do water play at the sink for a while (definite sign of things on the up), then she downed 4 ozs of milk before bed time (with antibiotics in - the things we do to get meds into her. LOL), before rolling over and snoring her wee head off - very early bed time again, so I'm feeling at a bit of a loss now - so, lurking and posting on BW instead!

Thanks again.