13 m/o suddenly with diarrhea, fever almost 102

[Amandala]

Yesterday I flew to visit family with my 13-month-old son. He was totally great until about 1.5 hours after we were picked up from the airport, when suddenly he had an incredible quantity of weird, goopy diarhhea (which made him cry hysterically, turn beet red, and writhe around when it came out) and felt really hot all over.

He just keeps pooping lots of weird and bad smelling goopy looking poops, and his fever was 101.8 yesterday, we gave him tylenol and it was way down this morning but is back now. Yesterday he slept almost all day after we got back, today he had two huge, abnormally long naps. Yesterday evening he was totally miserable, today he brightened up for a while after each time he'd just eaten or woken up, but went south fairly quickly each time. His appetite is almost normal. He's been very touchy and extremely clingy and seemed tired, getting all bent out of shape at the drop of a hat. Also, he sounds very stuffy and snotty and has been swallowing loudly and sounding like he's spitting up in his mouth and swallowing.

Gave him tylenol again once today and just now.
Little guy is unvaxed and only ever been sick 2 times before, once a head cold and once just one violent puking episode in the night.
Should I be worried?


Do I need to go to a dr? Is there anything I should do? Advice?
:-(

[Marnica]

Sorry your little guy feels cruddy. Sounds like he has a bug of some kind....viral most likely. We have been there as well...

One thing I would not be doing however is giving Tylenol. Fevers serve a purpose and medicating them can often cause more severe problems and prolong illness.


I would be giving probiotics (will help with the tummy trouble), Vit C and Vit D.

Hope he feels better soon!

[Llyra]

It sounds like he's picked up a tummy bug. Those can be really unpleasant, but as long as he's not getting dehydrated, it's a self-limiting thing that will go away all on its own. The diarrhea can persist for up to about two weeks, though, especially if it's his first time contracting rotavirus. Every kid goes through that, usually multiple times during childhood, and it gets milder each time as they develop resistance. As far as the fever, I don't think there's any reason not to give him something to reduce it if he's miserable, but I don't think it's necessary, either. The fever itself is not dangerous-- it's just a symptom of the body's efforts to fight off the infection.

I think you would want to look for medical attention if he's becoming dehydrated, if the diarrhea lasts longer than two weeks, or if you see any other alarming symptoms begin that make you think he's getting worse.