Is My Sick Toddler Sleeping Too Much?

IMO, if she's fighting a stomach bug, try to get some food or water into her when she's awake and let her sleep as much as she needs. My DD can sleep most of the day if she's really sick.

yup, the bug is just wearing her out. be glad that she's sleeping a lot and past the up-every-half-hour stage!
with a little one with this sort of bug i just keep them as comfortable as i can and treat the symptoms while it runs its course. sounds like you're doing everything right. offer her a little toast, or crackers, and no milk until the bug's gone. water is fine.
khairete
S.

She lost a lot of sleep when she was so sick. I wouldn't worry at all...sounds to me like she is just catching up on her missed sleep plus being sick is exhausting.

She is sick and her body needs loads of rest to fight off what ever virus is inside her. I suggest taking her to the doctor or at least calling them.

I don't understand why you would think your sick child should be running around and playing while she has a fever and vomiting. Don't you feel like sleeping when you are sick?

When my daughter has/had a fever I would let her sleep and give her liquids (usually a watered down green smoothie, since it has lots of nutrients) when she was awake. I never gave her baths (sponge or other) to prevent her from getting chills. IMO this is very normal, but you should be in contact with your doctor. I have a three day period, if my daughter is not showing improvement within three days (unless it is extreme which we have never experienced) then we go to the doctor.

Drinking fluids is very good!
As long as her fluids are kept up she can go without food for a long time.
Pedialyte is great.
Sleep is very recuperative - let her sleep as long as she wants - keep checking on her.
How high is a 'high' temp?
Our pediatrician didn't get worried until it was over 104.
Have the doctor check her out but it sounds like she's doing alright and slowly getting better.

What does her doctor say? Have you called the 24 hour nurse line?

If she's drinking, lucid when awake, and fever goes down when given fever reducing meds, I'd keep on with what you're doing. It takes a few days at minimum to recover from this kind of stuff. Unless she was continuing to vomit, refusing liquids, confused, fever not responding to meds, you'll prob just make her uncomfortable and disturb her rest taking her in at this point. There's very little other than IV fluids and nausea meds for a GI virus, and it really doesn't sound like she's in need of either at this point. Hang in there and hope she continues to improve!

Sleep is how our bodies heal. Fevers can especially knock you down. I slept for pretty much three days straight last winter when I had strep and a high fever. My husband called the nurses' line because he was so worried about me. Let her rest as much as she needs.

While we're sleeping our body is healing itself. It isn't having to manage all the things we do while we're awake. Even sitting down watching TV is using many things.

So if she's sleeping she is fighting illness. I'd probably take her to urgent care. She is pretty sick. They could see if she needs an antibiotic. Her body might have lost the battle of fighting off the infection and she might need help at this point. I'd be concerned about the lesser fluids more than the lack of food.

If you have some chicken broth or beef broth have her sip some of it. I would make sure it doesn't have MSG in it though. That gives me migraines.

Let her rest. Please define "sleeping too much" - she's wiped out, so I can't imagine what you would like her to be doing instead of sleeping!

Playing is not necessary - she's doing what her body needs. Let her watch a little TV, as much as she wants to, when she is awake because it entertains her without requiring any effort, and she can fall asleep in front of the TV easily. You can sit with her and read books too - just snuggling and ready something calming, and just letting her doze off if she needs to, are all great.

Don't worry AT ALL about food. It's just not necessary. It's great that she's drinking fluids - you can use jello and popsicles too, and watery fruits like watermelon (I know it's out of season, but whatever you can find is great). When kids (or adults) have bene vomiting, the body's sugar level drops, so it's okay to give some sugars to help calm the vomit cycle. That's one of the theories behind flat G. ale especially for upset tummies - the G. is good, but so is the sugar. (It's one reason pregnant women with horrible morning sickness get an IV in desperate cases - water and sugar).

When you're trying to decide what to offer her, just mix it up so she feels she has choices and she doesn't see you as "The Fluid Fairy" trying to climb all over her to drink water. Sometimes kids rebel at our best efforts, you know? Lots of foods are fluid-rich and will help her.

If she has a high fever and is uncomfortable or achy, give Tylenol. If she has a low fever under 101, and she's not miserably achy, then don't medicate it. A fever says that the body's immune system is working. By itself, it's not a problem if it's not horribly high or causing horrible symptoms. Be sure she isn't too warm - if she's feverish, take some blankets off her, you know?

You know the standard bland foods to give her, right? Sometimes a stomach virus migrates "south" into the intestines, so if she gets diarrhea, that wouldn't be unusual at all. BRAT is what you want - Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, Toast (you can add a little jelly for sugar/sweetness). If you need protein, use turkey for the "T". Cheese can bind her up which is good for diarrhea, but watch other dairy products like milk and yogurt.

Just let her ride it out. Sleeping is not a bad thing as long as her eyes are focused when she's awake and her fever is managed and fluids are going in.

Good luck - we all know how helpless you feel!

As a general rule, you're supposed to treat the child, not the fever (so our doctor told us).

Being sleepy and lethargy are different. Not really responsive and looking kind of dazed and limp is lethargy. Being tired from being sick is natural. So are fevers. How high was it? I typically call after a day IF it won't come down. That would be a concern. And other signs - trust your gut.

If my kids' fevers come down but they are still pretty sick, we go in usually by the third day. But mine typically get ear infections or something else that lingers - we've just learned it's better to get them checked out.

Do all the things like the fluids and go easy on food (just bland) and let her sleep. But call - it will ease your mind. Good luck :)

Sleep is good. I had the flu once and it really takes the wind out of your sail. It took me about two weeks to not feel so tired and weak. Just make sure she is getting plenty of fluids. When my kids are sick and not eating I make them smoothies to help them regain their strength. Yogurt, fruits and veggies, chia seeds, and some juice.

actually there IS something they can do if she isn't able to keep food down, there's a shot they can give to her that makes the queesiness stop

also they can make sure she doesn't have something more serious like food poisoning or appendicitis... if she is still not doing well by now i hope you have taken her in to the doctor but i wanted to let you know for next time

hope she has recovered

Did you take her to the doctor? I wouldn't play around with this. She should be checked out.

You say she's been drinking fluids, but how is she doing that when she's sleeping all day? It's really important for her to get plenty to drink. It helps her body fight the fever, keeps her from dangerous dehydration, and protects her kidneys. There are all kinds of things that dehydration can mess up.

Really, do get her to the doctor if you haven't already. Tell the doctor all of this - ask for a urine test to make sure that there's no blood in the urine. If she has had crystals form in her kidneys because of not enough fluid, the doctor needs to know. (You can't see blood in the urine, but the urine test can detect it.) Also, the doctor needs to know if there are ketones in the urine, which the fever causes.