When to take infant to ER?

[EmmaGM]

Thanks so much ladies, I understand better now what the nurse meant.

[an_aurora]

Yeah she meant gut rest. Pushing large amounts of fluids just stresses the stomach more and makes it up right back up. The general rule is to wait for an hour after a vomitting spell, give a sip of water or Pedialyte every 15 minutes for an hour, if they hold that down you can up the volume to a tablespoon every 15 minutes for an hour and then an ounce every 15 minutes. But that is for older babies and toddlers. I'd probably try a sip of Pedialyte within 15 minutes of a vomit for a younger baby since they get dehydrated quicker.

[mekat]

Originally Posted by raymark Would you rather go to the ER unnecessarily & still get the benefit of helpful medical information tailored from your child's exam......or not go & find out later that you should have?

I don't know about the rest of the US but the flu is in full swing here. I had to take my son to the ER for autonomic crisis on Saturday and by night time it was packed.

A hospital is a wonderful place to go when you need that level of help but unnecessarily taking a sick child with an immune system already taxed from fighting one pathogen into a room swimming with highly virulent pathogens is not a good idea.

I have called the nurses line many many times with way more serious issues then the op with my special needs child and they have always been able to accurately identify when a child needs to be seen and when a medical issue can be weathered at home. They are trained to screen for danger signs and refer to the ER when necessary.

[EmmaGM]

DS seems to have gotten through the worst of it. His vomiting only lasted about 3 hours (it was 14 hours for me and 2 days for my in-laws whom I got it from) and he slept most of the night on papas chest. I'm giving him diluted formula now (only an ounce at a time) and letting him comfort nurse though I'm almost positive I'm dry.

[HeidiMarie]

Originally Posted by EmmaGM DS seems to have gotten through the worst of it. His vomiting only lasted about 3 hours (it was 14 hours for me and 2 days for my in-laws whom I got it from) and he slept most of the night on papas chest. I'm giving him diluted formula now (only an ounce at a time) and letting him comfort nurse though I'm almost positive I'm dry.

Glad he's feeling better! What a sweet mama you are to comfort nurse after weaning!

[DesertRat]

Glad to hear he's feeling better!

When DD was 3 months old she got a tummy bug and was throwing up repeatedly, to the point she was dry heaving. It was so sad. I took her to the doctor and he was worried that she was starting to act lethargic. They sent us down to the hospital and hooked her up to an IV. Within a couple hours she quit throwing up and perked up. The doctor says that often happens and the IVs help stop the eat/throwup/eat/throwup cycle they get into. She never got anything but breastmilk while she was there. Thankfully the doctor believed breastmilk was the best, even for a vomiting baby. So the recovery was pretty easy. But I am glad we went to the hospital because the IV really helped.

[cheezpoofs]

I don't have any additional advice, but I hope the little guy is well very quickly! It's awful when your child is sick.

[luvsviola]

For DS (tube fed) when vomitting, they had us do 1 oz if pedialyte every 15 minutes. No wet diapers for more than 4 hours meant take him in.

[raymark]

Originally Posted by mekat I don't know about the rest of the US but the flu is in full swing here. I had to take my son to the ER for autonomic crisis on Saturday and by night time it was packed. A hospital is a wonderful place to go when you need that level of help but unnecessarily taking a sick child with an immune system already taxed from fighting one pathogen into a room swimming with highly virulent pathogens is not a good idea. I have called the nurses line many many times with way more serious issues then the op with my special needs child and they have always been able to accurately identify when a child needs to be seen and when a medical issue can be weathered at home. They are trained to screen for danger signs and refer to the ER when necessary.

They are only trained to give advise based on the info presented during the call. They are not able to mind read & understand potentially significant symptoms or medical history that the caller forgot, failed to notice themselves, or did not know to mention. And like any other profession, there are those who truly are horrible at their job, just having a bad night, or in a rush to finish with the current call so they can take a break & check on their own kids. The op stated that she didn't even fully understand the advise that was given to her by the nurse line.

The flu is not in full swing in my location, our ERs are not busy, and only a professional can diagnose the influenza virus. Was the ops previous bout with influenza actually diagnosed - perhaps it was salmonella? Regardless, having it yourself does not mean that when your child later becomes ill that your child has the same infection or that your child's body is fighting it the same way.

Infants are unable to touch most germy objects in a waiting room & it is so easy to request a face mask before actually entering any waiting room or to buy one on you way there to prevent your germs from spreading to others & theirs from spreading to you. I have no understanding of people avoiding medical assistance because of potentially becomming infected with something else. Just use common sense, take basic protective precautions, wash your hands a lot, and watch that your care provider washes hands every time before touching your child.

The op did not state the infants body temp, where he falls within weight & height charts for his age, if he is on any medications, or a host of other very important information - yet you feel confident in telling her to avoid the ER???

[mekat]

Originally Posted by raymark yet you feel confident in telling her to avoid the ER???

I know the Flu season has kicked in here because I track it on the CDC website but seeing the ER packed and all the water droplet advisories on patient room after patient room in the general pediatric care ward was also a pretty good indicator but I guess I should have stopped and introduced myself to everyone and asked . I didn't advise her to do anything. I just said it was reckless to expose a sick infant to more pathogens unless there was an actual indication the infant was in danger and needed hospital level care. As for the first paragraph of your post most of that can be said for in person visits too.