Little Jen Diarrhoea for 3 days

Poor Little Jen.. He cried so loudly on Friday night all out of a sudden when he was nursing in the car. We were travelling from KL to Melaka and it was already about 10pm. I could usually calm him down with just some soothing pats or songs but this time, he cried so loudly and seemed to be in pain. Hubby asked if he was crying cause his diaper was soaked.

Oh ya, then I recalled. His butt was reddish earlier in the evening and just minutes ago, he sounded like he pooped. He was having nappy rash and the poop made his butt really sore. I immediately took out his diaper and he calmed down a little but was still crying. Wiped and just as I was about to put on a new diaper for him, he started crying out loud again. Since it was near home already, I did not proceed with his diaper.

Once we reached home, I found that his butt was much redder than before. Applied a nappy rash cream for him and put on a fresh cloth nappy for him. He did not make any noise this time when I put on the cloth nappy for him except when I was applying the nappy rash cream on his butt and in between his thigh and groin. Obviously cloth nappy was much more comfortable since it was softer than a diaper.

The next few days, I noticed he had diarrhoea. Well, I couldn's have noticed earlier since I was not taking care of him during the day as I worked. Tried to nurse him more to soothe his pain a little although my supply had been really low since I had started to wean him off completely 2-3 months ago. I wanted to nurse him since breastmilk is the best - it provides him with antibody and is definitely gentle on his tummy.

We fed him with solid food only as much as he wanted to take. Water was given every now and then since he had lost quite alot of fluid. His poop was liquid, dark green in colour and he pooped about 4-5 times a day instead of his normal 2-3 times. All the while, he worn cloth nappy.

Unless his diarrhoea was gone, there was no way he could avoid nappy rash as his nappy was wet almost all the time due to his diarrhoea and pee. By Day 3, his butt was looking better and by Day 4, he pooped normally and his nappy rash was completely headled.

Little Jen Vomited - Is the milk powder not suitable for him?

When Little Jen was 7 months old, we started to give him formula milk - S26 during the day. Since he took that when he was in the nursery right after leaving my womb and did not display any allergic reactions. Firstly we gave him the Promise Gold S26. Then we realised that there were the pink coloured box ones without the Gold on the box. Little Jen had been well nourished wit breast milk and so, we thought, no need for expensive formula cause we did not believe in better milk powder for brighter and healtheir babies. Breast milk was nourishing enough.

Now that he had turned 1, we brought him S26 - Stage 3 for 1-3 year olds, also without the Gold. The milk powder was slightly harder to dissolve in water and usually after feeds, we would notice lumps of milk in the bottle. The Stage 2 milk was okay.

Now, we give Little Jen Fernleaf milk powder for 1-3 year olds. This is much easier to dissolve and appearance wise, this looks thinner. Taste wise, I am not so sure but Little Jen usually finishes the amount we prepared for him unlike S-26 where he will sometimes, almost always not finish. He will leave an ounce or two behind. So, I guess Fernleaf tastes good but it maybe due to the fact that it is thinner as well.

He sometimes vomits when he cries too hard and sometimes when he chokes after coughing a little. We are so used to this, we just try to ensure our Little Jen does not cry too hard, too often. Recently, he seems to have slightly more gas in his tummy and he poos regularly but his stools are little yellower and softer. We think that this may be his reactions to the new milk but I decide to stick to Fernleaf for few more days  to observe if the milk is causing him any problems. Hopefully not..

The best part about changing to Fernleaf is that it is 30% cheaper than S-26. And, I do not believe that price reflects the nutrition and quality level of the different milk brands.

Snow is expensive too but he hates it and will not even take a sip.

I wonder why..

Little Jen Down with Flu, Cough and Sorethroat

I guess it is the season again where a lot of people will fall prey to the hot weather. My Mother In Law was first to get attacked by sorethroat and cough, and soon, the whole family including my Hubby got infected. Little Jen was infected slightly earlier than myself.

It started with running nose and that night itself, I woke up suddenly to find Little Jen feeling hot all over. I got worried and chucked a digital thermometer in his armpit while he was still asleep. The thermometer reading went up to a shocking 38.8 deg C. In the middle of the night, there was no way we would get any Doctor to have a look at our baby. I immediately went to get Little Jen's fever syrup prescribed by the Doctor when he had fever last 2 months. Woke Little Jen up and fed him the syrup. He cried a little but went back into deep sleep very soon after that. To help relieve the heat, I put a wet towel on his forehead and checked on him for the next 2 hours. Finally, his temperature seemed to reduced a little and I dozed off to sleep myself unknowingly... Too tired I guess. Little Jen had not been a good sleeper for the past 2-3 nights, so, obviously, I was affected too.

The next day, Little Jen's fever had subsided but he still had running nose and it also sounded like he had a bad throat. Went to the Doctor for check up.

We also told the Doctor about Little Jen's fever and he commended that the fever was considered high for a baby of 8 1/2 months old. He gave us some medication which was to be inserted though the anus, just in case of any high fever next time. That would really be helpful, especially when Doctors are out of reach.