Eating,walking and Talking

You need to go to a children's hospital. There, they have social workers who will talk with you and help you devise a plan with the hospital. Your daughter needs a developmental pediatrician's assessment. Go from there.

Go to her current doctor's office and ask for her records to be copied. You need these to give to the doctors at the children's hospital. Make sure to keep a copy for yourself. You might have to pay for these copies, but even if you do, it's very necessary. They HAVE to see these records.

Don't forget to ask to meet the social worker. They are very good with this.

Has she been to a children's hospital? If not, go there.

I know how difficult it is to have a sick little child. My own daughter was very ill as an infant and toddler, and had significant eating and sleeping problems.

It's easy, and natural, to say that your child has been sick a thousand times, and refuses to eat, when you're exhausted and discouraged. I know how tired you are. When asked "did she sleep" the answer in your foggy brain comes out "no, she hasn't slept since 1995 and she just had her 2,000th strep throat infection". Of course, that's an exaggeration, but when you're that tired, that sounds about right. I get it.

But when you're seeking help, you're going to need to be more specific. "Sick" can mean so many things - diagnosed tonsillitis, a fever, being listless, vomiting, being cranky, etc. And "refusing to eat" can mean literally turning down food, or being very picky.

I suggest you get her records, as others have suggested, and organize them into a folder. Organize them chronologically, and highlight the important parts (date, diagnosis, medication prescribed).

Then get a notebook and begin your own journal. Keep a record of every day on a new page. Note sleep/wake times, food eaten and when, liquids consumed. Be specific. Don't write "drank a little"; write "drank half a sippy cup of milk (and then figure out how much one sippy cup holds); "ate one slice of American cheese" etc.

Video her on your phone or camera. If she's babbling, or if she's not uttering any sounds when you talk with her, video that. If she is trying to stand and walk but stumbles and falls, then video that. If she can't pull herself up to a standing position and won't take any steps (even towards a toy), then video that. Note the date and time.

All of this info will be helpful both to you and to a doctor and/or therapist. This will give you a clearer picture of what "a thousand times" really means, and what "refused to eat and drink and sleep" really means, in concrete terms.

Most importantly, don't lose hope. There are specialists that we non-medical people don't even know about. Sleep deprivation and insufficient nutrition can affect a child greatly. There are sleep studies that can be done, and pain specialists, and neurologists, in the event that your daughter needs that. There are occupational therapists (which has nothing to do with occupations - it's help with finger control, walking, etc), physical therapists, early intervention specialists of all kinds.

But before you can really get the help of any of these specialists, you are going to need careful, non-emotional, documented, daily specifics of your child's behaviors, and you're going to need organized records.

Just start by getting all her records, and start with a journal of her daily activities. And NEVER lose hope.

find a different dr. keep a food journal and sleep pattern journal and keep pressing the medical field for answers. definitely get her evaluated for developmemntal assistance. hugs.

It is possible that she needs to see more specialized doctors. Based on your location, I'd contact one of these, which seem to be closest to you.

Inova Children's Hospital in Falls Church, VA.
Children's Hospital of Richmond, VA

What specifically do you mean when you say the doctors can't find anything wrong? Surely they saw the hernia. Surely they have noticed that she can't walk. She should have some words, although you if you expect her to speak in multi-word sentences, that's unrealistic.

If she's constantly sick with a suppressed or immature immune system, you could certainly go to food science to supplement without a doctor - it's food, not drugs. If she's not sleeping, that can be an simple (and infuriating, I get it) as implementing some self-soothing techniques so she's not up a lot at night. She should be putting herself back to sleep when she awakens - read up on the Ferber method, for example. She absolutely must get a good night's sleep and a decent nap - that's important for brain development, but also, sleepy kids are cranky kids who cry a lot.

If she's delayed for other reasons, you may need early intervention. Ask your pediatrician for a referral to a specialized therapist who works with developmental delays.

You don't give many details here so we don't know what you've already tried. You need a pediatrician you relate to, possibly a children's hospital with multiple specialties (they will assign a case worker or nurse coordinator and bring in whatever doctors your child needs, working as a team), and perhaps a therapist to help her with delays.

At the very least, call early intervention for an evalulation. It's free.

At age 2 she should be doing the things you're saying but if the doc doesn't see a problem I wonder if the things "you're" expecting her to be able to do are too advanced. Some 2 year olds don't speak in conversation style talk but they do say smaller sentences and phrases to get what they want.

Please talk to your insurance agency and ask them about a psychologist who only does evaluations for developmental disabilities. If she's really as far behind as you think then she needs intervention and getting an evaluation in writing by a professional who does evaluations for their living will give you the proof you need.

When was the last time she saw a pediatrician? If it's been more than 5-6 months, go again. I cannot imagine a pediatrician say there is nothing wrong. She has developmentAL delays. I suggest that delays are rarely caused by poor physical health. I agree that you will get the most help taking her to specialist. I suggest finding a developmental pediatrician for ongoing care. Taking her to a children's hospital would he easiest because all the specialists are in one place.

My daughter called the Oregon Hospital Science University. They have a pediatric department. He also sees a regular pediatrician for health issues and medication. She suggested taking him to OHSU

Start with your school district's Early Intervention office. Federal law requires each school district to provide evaluation from birth on for issues that would hamper learning. It's free.I don't understand why her pediatrician didn't give you this information. Call the school district or the pediatrician to get information.