I am looking for help determining why my 11 month old is so ill. He went to the pediatrician Tuesday for a high fever and congestion, ear pain. He does not have an ear infection and was told that whatever the virus is that is going around causes fever and irritability for a few days and then when the fever breaks they feel better. My child broke his fever today, but now he is drooling excessively and spitting out his formula. He is teething but this seems worse than usual. I have given him tylenol but it doesn't seem to help. I am an RN and I seem to remember from nursing school to be concerned with excessive drooling because they may not be able to swallow. Does anyone have any ideas?
do not give infants tynenol check it out on the med site not good . if he is teething use clove oil ( all natural and organic) i am not one to use over the counters on infants and niether should you.
A few things popped into my head while reading this. You could be right on the swallowing, but it is probably because he might have a sore throat, not having the inability to swallow. I have shared this story with numerous moms on this site, and I hope that it helps you. My son kept getting cold after cold and sinus infections again and again and running really high fevers every time. He got an ear infection at 3 months and we could not get rid of it, he finally had to get tubes put in his ears at 6 months of age. Right before his first birthday, I had to take him to the ER because he was running a fever of 105.3. The ER doc wanted to do a spinal tap on him to rule out meningitis, I refused the tap until he ruled out everything else, it just didn't seem to fit his symptoms and it seemed like his pediatrician would have questioned that before this time. Anyway, the doc eventually agreed with me that meningitis didn't fit and started doing other tests and said that it was "just another nasty sinus infection." Well, I still wasn't satisfied with that answer, he had a sinus infection and/or cold every other week, and I am not exagerating. I knew that he had some allergies so I took him to an Allergy and Asthma Specialist to see what his allergens were to try to avoid them. Come to find out, my son has asthma and it was causing excess mucus build-up, which was leading to sinus infections and colds. Now that we have that under control, he has been sick once, and he is now 19 months old. I only wish that I would have taken him sooner. He was never a good eater before this and he woudl nurse for a bit and then spit it out towards the end, which I assumed meant that he was full. More than likely, the poor little guy was just getting enough to satisfy his tummy and then when the pain from his throat or head wasn't worth the fight for food, he just gave up. He was born good sized (in the 80th percentile) but he started rapidly losing weight and got down into the 20th percentile and stayed there for the longest time. He is now back up into the 40th percentile and keeps growing by leaps and bounds. Good luck!
I am also an RN and excessive drooling COULD mean that he has epiglotitis???? Do not attempt to look down his throat and see this for yourself because it could cause laryngospasms and block his airway. Is he breathing better when he sits in a tripod position? Is his head down with his tongue slightly protuding? These are signs of epiglotitis. Have him re-seen by his doctor or at an ER. Elevate the head of his bed and use a humidifyer in his room. Also, you can take him out in the cool night air, this will reduce swelling and help him to breathe easier. Hope this helps.
Take care and God Bless :)
B., I am not sure how "excessive" the drooling is, but I can tell you I have had 3 kids, who have all gone through teething, and drooling is pretty standard for teething...to the pointof soaking the front of their clothes and keeping bibs on them. If he is 11 months old he should most likely be on solid foods so the formula is not that big of a deal as long as you know he is getting enough fluids. Offer a sippy cup with water, frozen blueberries have been a hit with my little ones I do cut the larger berries in half...but at 11 months I would think he would have chewing down. Frozen waffles help with teething as well.
The little water filled teethers are nice, you can pop them in the fridge ( don't freeze them)
If you think it really is beyond normal call your ped, or nurse practioner...but I bet its just teething = )
Lots of luck
B.
I know it is very rare for a baby under 2yo to get strep throat, but could this be a possibility? He wouldn't want to swallow, and with the fever being an issue. i would be concerned about hydration. I would definitely have him rechecked if it doesn't stop soon. Is he coughing on his formula? Because that would be an indication of not being able to swallow also.
Drooling and spitting up are classic teething symptoms. Could he be teething with the 1 year molars? Those are definitely worse.
My guess would be he had the virus AND is teething, just an unfortunate coincidence that they happened at the same time. However, you're the mama. If you feel like something is off, contact your pediatrician.
Your right about excessive drooling being a sign of dysphagia (swallowing disorder). I would hope your pediatrician would catch this and refer your child. Look it up online and learn about the signs, ask your pediatrician about it and if you don't agree get a second opinion, you know what is normal for your baby. Luckily dysphagia can be treated. I had to seek a second opinion for my child because his pediatrician would not refer him for a middle ear dysfunction. Good Luck
Back in Jan. my son ran a temp of 101 to 104 for 4 days and when I finally got him in to the dr they tested him for RSV and thought that he had fluid in his lungs. He was very congested as well as he went from what sounded like a dry cough to a wet cough. Had it not been for the cough I would not have taken him to the dr. since his fever did finally break. The only reason why I did not take him sooner was that was when we got 8 inches of snow and the dr. office was closed for one of the days and two of the other days were over the weekend. So if your son has any cough at all and is still congested I would take him back to his dr. and have him tested for RSV.
If his ears are hurting at all either infected or not I would try a sippy cup. I know that my daughter would not take a bottle when she had an ear infection due to the pain that the sucking caused her. Also if he has mucus running down his throat he may be having a hard time swallowing with that. I would say try water or some deluted fruit juices just so that he stays hidrated.
Hope he feels better soon.
I know this may sound rediculous, but have they checked his tonsils. Both of my boys had trouble with their ears and not eating until they had their tonsils taken out. They were having ear infections and fevers constantly.
Just a thought!
B.
