Imagine yourself walking towards the Trevi fountain, in Rome. The sun is setting, the place has a vibrant atmosphere and you are about to pick your child out of their pram so you can take a nice family photo.
On picking your baby out of his pram you notice your arm feels slightly wet and there is something brown on your sleeve. Then you look down on the pram and it is full of poo. And you realise your arm and baby is full of poo from a major poo explosion. At that moment I just wanted to scream and disappear in a flash back to my hotel room.
But instead I pulled the Water Wipes out of my bag, cleaned what I could so I could put my baby back in the pram and rush back to the hotel to clean everything properly. I scrubbed the pram so many times as the poo had leaked into the small fastenings and belt. I needed to do a good job as we still very much needed the pram especially to get around when the heat was over 30 degrees.
The poo explosion was not the worst of it. Our baby started to develop high temperatures, severe diarrhoea and stopped drinking as much breastmilk. He had developed gastroenteritis and we had 2 days of Rome left. Here are some tips on how to manage a sick child and what to pack in your first aid kit.
Tip 1- Keep baby comfortable with pain relief
If your baby is unwell especially with a temperature give Paracetamol immediately and on a regular basis according to the instructions/age. KEEP THE TEMPERATURE DOWN, YOUR BABY WILL FEEL MISERABLE WITH A TEMPERATURE. Pack Infant Calpol/Paracetamol and Ibuprofen in case your child is unwell. If after giving a dose of Paracetamol your baby is no better before the next dose of Paracetamol is due, you can try giving a dose of Ibuprofen in the meantime. It is best to give Ibuprofen with milk or food to avoid indigestion and DO NOT use Ibuprofen for pain relief if you suspect your child may have chickenpox.
Tip 2- Pushing fluids with fluid challenges
My toddler was not accepting as much breastmilk as usual or any water. I used a 10ml syringe to opportunistically give water. I made a game out of it, made funny sounds when squirting the water in or used distraction to get more fluids in. I was a woman on a mission to get as much fluid down as possible or I would be heading into a foreign hospital with a dehydrated baby.
Tip 3- Risk of dehydration-offer Dioralyte
My son had more than six episodes of diarrhoea, was less than 1 years old and had stopped drinking breast milk as he normally would- these factors all made him at greater risk of becoming dehydrated. When a baby is dehydrated they are losing or using more fluid, than their body is taking in. I recognised his wee more concentrated and dark, his lips were dry and his diarrhoea was only increasing. I decided to give him oral rehydration solution in addition to extra breast feeds I was offering. I gave Dioralyte- which is a brand of oral rehydration solution which aims to rehydrate and replace the lost water and salts your child may get with acute diarrhoea. You mix the sachet with water and it comes in even a blackcurrant flavour.
Picking up signs of early dehydration is important-
-What is the colour of the urine-is it dark/concentrated? How many wet nappies has the baby had in last 24hrs?
-How much fluid has the baby had in the last 24hrs-is it less than half than usual?
- Look at the lips-are they dry, what does the skin look and feel like, is it warm/cold, what do the eyes look like-are they sunken?
-When you press on the chest onto the skin for 5 seconds does the colour return to normal in 2 seconds or less? Or is it abnormal-takes longer than 2 seconds
If your baby is showing any of the signs of dehydration as shown in the picture below it is important to push fluids, offer an oral fluid challenge and seek urgent medical attention by speaking to a doctor who will want to see your child the same day.
If your child is not keeping any fluids down and becomes drowsy, develops cold mottled hands consider this an EMERGENCY, your child needs to be seen in A+E as an emergency-call 999 or drive down to the hospital immediately as they need urgent medical treatment as soon as possible. DON'T DELAY AS CHILDREN CAN DETERIORATE VERY QUICKLY.
Tip 4- Don't expect kids to eat the usual amount of solid foods when sick
My husband was worried about the fact my son was not eating anything whilst he was unwell. I reassured him it is to be expected as he is feeling poorly, he has a tummy bug, he has lost his appetite, he has a temperature, he is feeling miserable. The main priority is ensuring keeping fluids down. Avoid giving fizzy drinks or sweet fruit juices in replacement of water. When his diarrhoea improved and we stopped giving him the Dioralyte we reintroduced solid foods which he started to eat, but even then it took a while for his appetite to get back to normal.
Tip 5- Make sure you travel with travel insurance.
Get travel insurance. I remember when I was younger I travelled to a few countries without travel insurance but now after hearing of so many stories of people who have been unlucky with getting seriously unwell abroad or on the flight and then stuck with a £50-100,000 bill for the medical care they received abroad, I now make sure I get travel insurance every time I travel. It is not worth the stress if something was to happen, especially when you have kids. Check the finer details of what is covered- including COVID, and if you plan to do any adventurous sports like jet ski or quad biking as sometimes these activities are excluded and you definitely should include these in cover as you can easily get injured in these types of activities.
Tip 5- Be careful with what foods you eat/give your child abroad
There is a risk of developing food poisoning if the meat your child eats has not been cooked or cleaned properly so be very careful about where you choose to eat and what you choose to give your child. I packed plenty of baby food pouches for the trip which came in use when we were on long journeys or having late meals ourselves.
Tip 6- Extra careful with washing hands and sharing towels
If your child develops diarrhoea or vomiting be extra careful to wash your hands every time with soap and water especially if you deal with cleaning up any vomit or have to change the nappy as you can easily pick up the same bug as well. If your infant is using the toilet seat make sure you clean the toilet seats, flush, taps every day. Avoid sharing towels and bedding.
CHILDREN CAN GET SICK VERY QUICKLY, PREVENT THEM DETERIORATING BY SPOTTING SIGNS EARLY AND ACTING EARLY, SEEKING HELP EARLY SO WE CAN INTERVENE TOGETHER EARLY.
Image -https://www.firstaidforfree.com/how-to-spot-dehydration-in-babies/spotting-dehydration/