10 month old stopped eating

[Willsmum79]

My son had a bit of a tummy bug last week and is now refusing food.

He ate well up until Tuesday lunchtime. After that everything went downhill. My mum changed his nappy and instead of his usual 'solid matter' it was runny and yellow - a bit like when he was being breast fed as well as on Aptamil as his poop never changed.
The following morning, it happened again and I rang GP. He wasn't concerned about the colour but said to bring him in if he got worse. He didn't. On Wednesday teatime I managed to get some raisins, breadsticks and a bit of chicken in him.
By Thursday he had perked up, his poop was more solid but still yellow but he refused all food all day - except bread sticks and raisins.
On Friday he was back at the childminders who said there was a party and they would be having party food. I assumed this to be teatime and a proper dinner at lunchtime as usual. When my DH picked him up, the childminder said he had ate well but his nappy was runny but fine after that. I was confused as to why he had 'ate well' when at home he won't eat.
Today (Saturday) he refused his breakfast of porridge which he normally loves, refused a crumpet and a yoghurt. He went to a Pudsey tea party and ate a shortbread biscuit. At lunchtime we went to some friends. He refused some lasagne but guess what ... ate breadsticks and raisins. We did manage to get a custard medley pot down him but it was a struggle. At teatime, I gave him some chicken, grated cheese and cheese spread on bread which he loves. He refused all of it. I tried some cauliflower cheese - he refused it. We've had no dirty nappy since Friday morning and I left his nappy on from 9:30am until 4:30pm (bad mummy - but we were out and various things!) which in a way I'm glad I did because his nappy wasn't as full of wee as I would have thought. In fact, the nappy I took off would be what I expect after only 3 hours.
He doesn't drink much either (another story!) and the GP is aware of this. He will have 6oz a day of milk and about 100ml of other fluids. Today he had less than 1oz of milk at breakfast, 3oz at 4:30pm and has had only 50ml of other fluid.

In a nutshell, I'm not sure what to do! I know the tummy bug is probably to blame and I can understand that he is probably off his food but he happily takes sweet stuff, so I'm not sure if he is being fussy.

How long do I 'let him' refuse food before going to the GP? Do I give him what he wants? I'm reluctant to do this as I have a friend who did this when he little boy went through a similar stage (all he wanted was yoghurts - and this is all he eats!) and now will not eat ANY solid food and is on special drinks at the age of 4!

Really sorry for the long tale, but I thought as much info as possible.

[amazingmumof6]

drinks - most important to keep up.

try prebiotic/probiotic yogurts to restore healthy gut (easily digested)

he's on the mend which means he should be a little bit hungry, which he is - I'd be worried at this point if he ate nothing at al, but he eats small amounts which is good. doesn't matter what it is, it what he's body needs!

best to avoid cheese for a few days, he needs foods he can digest easily

he is probably still recovering, and may feel a bit nauseous still, so try to not fuss/get annoyed/worry and be casual.

he might just be too tired to eat proper portions, so snacks not meals for now

if he's not improving much/gets worse or you are worried do take him back for a check up, but I'd give him at another week or 2 to recover and for things to get back to normal
he'll eat when he's better as he'll be hungry, I'm sure of this.

[amazingmumof6]

DS1 had tosillitis when he was 2 (or 3?), but lived on apple juice, calpol, nurofen and antibiotics for 2 weeks while battling with high fever.

he had no solid food or milk for a week, only bites 2nd week, got back to normal after another almost 2 weeks

it happens, be patient, there's no reason he shouldn't get back to normal when he's fully recovered!

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

I'd try him with some painkillers about half an hour before offering his main meal for a couple of days. I'd also offer his milk an hour before solids, this is the advice anyway for babies upto the age of one.

Agree that I wouldn't offer an alternative, we've done that with our DD in the past and it made her extremely fussy, something which took a while to sort out. Know how hard it can be though, especially when he's not been well and isn't drinking enough fomula. He will be fine though on a few days of eating little.

When mine were feeling off they would sometimes enjoy a few different bits on the plate instead of a whole meal, so a few grapes, a couple of cubes of cheese, small bit of ham, cherry tomatoes, whatever they like and you've got in basically. I'd also keep meals small for a couple of days so that he doesn't feel overfaced.