Tired child
By gajamor
@gajamor (35)
Norway
July 27, 2010 1:19pm CST
My youngest (2 1/2 years old) is very tired all the time. She can sleep for 14 hours, and still get tired before lunch. I brought her to the doctor today, but she only had time to do a small blood test that showed that the hemoglobin levels are ok. We got a new appointment in two weeks. What can it be? She has been like this for a long time, but I just thought it was the darkness in winter (we don't have sunlight in the winter time) and bad weather that did it. But now it is summer, lots of sunlight, and she still won't run around and play.
Could it be some kind of vitamin sufficiency?
4 responses
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
16 Aug 10
My son was similar to this when he was younger and he also wasn't gaining weight the way that he should have been. When he was one year old he hadn't gained any weight from the time that he was nine months old and that started the investigation for him. Our pediatrician found that he was slightly anemic and put him on an iron supplement which made all of the difference in the world for him. He is almost four years old now and though he is still on the small side, he has plenty of energy.
@gajamor (35)
• Norway
17 Aug 10
Thank you for sharing your experience!
Anemia is definetily something we are investigating, I have anemia myself a few times when I was a kid. But she is growing and gaining weight really fast (always is in the upper part of the percentile forms that the nurses show me), and we feed her large amounts of liver paté to keep the iron levels high.
The doctors did a large blood test last week, I hope to get the results soon. The normal hemoglobin test (the one where you just take a drop of blood from the finger) was normal, but the larger tests that we are waiting to see the results from, also included long term iron content.
@nishdan01 (3051)
• Singapore
28 Jul 10
A full blood and urine test may help find if something is wrong. Sometimes it might be genetic as well. Some kids are quiet by nature. See if someone else in the family has similar nature.
@gajamor (35)
• Norway
28 Jul 10
Both her father and I are calm beings, but not like that. And certainly not when we were two years old :). But you are right, there are a couple of genetic disorders we should check out. We only recently discovered that Carnitine transporter deficiency is very common in my mother's family, and my little darling got worse after we started exchanging red meats for white meat and vegetables.
@pastigger (612)
• United States
27 Jul 10
Have you asked her if anything hurts? I know it is hard with a 2 1/2 half year old. But when I was two I got diskitis (not sure of the spelling) and I wouldn't move for days. My parents had to really push before the doctors found out what was wrong with me. It is the strep germ settled in my back disks instead of my throat. It began to eat at my back disks. I kept telling her my leg hurt. But if she has been this way for a while it could be a vitamin thing. Have you tried giving her a multi vitamin? Or even the polyvisol (it smells gross but is a liquid vitamin? I would try that before your next doctor appointment, see if it helps. Make sure you write down when she starts taking in and how much so you can give the doctor your findings. Is she eatting well? She may just be getting ready for a really big growth spurt. Or maybe the winter has messed with her schedule. I wish you luck with finding the problem. Don't be afraid to be pushy with her doctor sometimes it is needed.
@gajamor (35)
• Norway
27 Jul 10
Thank you for all your good advice!
She hasn't complained about any pains, but she never does. She is the bravest little kid I know. She got bitten by a dog once, and she only cried for a few minutes. I'll try to ask her tomorrow morning, but I don't think I'll get any good answers.
She eats normally, but I don't think she really eats enough or varied enough. Vitamin supplements for kids are a big no-no around here, so it will be dfficult to find in the shops or pharmacies, but I'll try to see what I can find. Maybe double doses of cod liver oil pluss some vitamin C could be a good experiment for the next week?
