unwell toddler with bad breath...

[Nini74]

my little angel isn't too well at the moment (since last night) - very grumpy (not like him), not settling well at night (waking every 20 minutes to an hour last night, and so far tonight). He's 18 months old. He's off his food today, not really drinking as much water or milk as normal, and he seems to be in pain and discomfort. In fact if I try to give him water he pushes it away, whereas normally he drinks quite a lot. We thought he was overtired after a bad night's sleep last night, but i've noticed that his breath really smells quite bad, and i'm wondering if he may have an infection. I can't even get him to take calpol, so at the moment all I can do is put teething gel on his dummy, which seems to relieve the pain for him to at least nod off, for a little while. He's dribbling much worse than he normally does when he's teething too. We'll phone the doctors in the morning and get him checked over, but wondered if anyone can put my mind at rest, or suggest anything that we can do to help him through the night, poor little dab is beside himself xx

[China Doll]

I know my breath is bad if I have a sore throat/tonsilitis. No idea if that's any consolation though... maybe I always have bad breath and only notice it then! :-/

[237SJ]

I`m not an expert and can`t answer your question about helping him through the night but if he`s not drinking much and his mouth is a bit dry, that could give him bad breath. Has he got a temperature?

[Nini74]

he's warmer than usual, just a bit - but he's not running a fever or anything. I've got one of those syringes you have to give them meds when their babies, so next time he wakes, i'll try to get some calpol down him with that - i'm just scared to choke him or freak him out. thanks for replies x

[sherrardk]

Sounds like he has got a bad throat or sore ear. Make sure he doesn't get dehydrated (check that his nappies are as wet as you would call 'normal'). Hope he feels better soon.

[fairycakes69]

It really does sound like a bad throat infection, get him to the doctors. If you can look in his mouth with a torch and can see pus in his throat its an infection, was shown by my doctor. One of mine had it, never seen a child so ill, I got complan as it was the only thing he could take, was on it for a week. Hope he gets better soon.

[Nini74]

hey all - thanks for your responses. Just wanted to update you - we took him to the doctor this morning and he has tonsilitus, poor little thing. We've got penicillin and are keeping him dosed up on calpol - he's very tired and lethargic but not settling for sleep at the moment. going to try him with some milk now and see if he'll take some this time. thanks all x