My 22mth old had an asthma attack today.

[Anila]

gee where to start...
some may have read in a few posts that ds was my special baby, he was the one that i was told wasnt viable, i bleed for almost 15 weeks, and he only had a heart beat of 85 for all that time, then one day, it jumped to 175, he was born two weeks early, and was perfect, so after spending the first half of my pregnancy being told to expect to loose him, hubby and i were so pleased to see him when he was born.

The day after he was born, i noticed that he had a rattle in his chest, a slight wheeze, but was told, its nothing, prolly just caused by him comming out so fast, i didnt even push, he just flew out, lol.

Still weeks later he had the same rattle and wheeze, went to the dr and was told he had a chest infection, for the first 6 months of his life he had a chest infection, it never seemed to go away, my mother was worried that all this wheezing and rattling would scar his chest, we saw a few different dr and just kept getting the its nothing or its a chest infection speach, another 6 months later and he still had the same rattle, u could feel it in his chest when u held him, hubby and i knew it wasnt nothing, but no one would take us seriuosly.

During that 6 months they finally decided to give him medicine, which is when we discovered that he is allergic to penicillin, over the next few months we also learnt that he has some small allergys to certain foods, such as soya bean in nut free choc spread and custard etc...

His wheezing had slowed down so much that some days u just couldnt hear him , but he still had a slight rattle in his chest.

Then last night, he woke at about 9pm coughing, this was nothing unusal, it was a regular thing that happened almost every month, a few nights of coughing, so i went in and gave him his sippy cup of water, but something just didnt sound right.

So this morning, i was still in bed having a lazy one, and he walks in, barely able to breath, the loudest whezzing that we have eva heard, it was a cross between a dog panting and a freight train, his heart was pounding and the rattle felt hard, he kept saying ow and pointing to his chest, i sat with him on the lounge while i called the drs, his breathing became shallow, and his chest would sink in, and his stomach would pop out when he breathed, he felt weak and suddly fell asleep.

Hubby and i have always said, that we believe he has asthma, both my sister and i had it as children, i grew out of it, i had a few bouts of bronchotis in my 20s, but my sister still has a mild case, my dad 54 is a severe asthmatic, but no one would eva diagnoise it.

We got to the drs, after an hour long wait, we descibed the symptoms to the dr, and finally got the diagnosis that we have known for the last 22 months, my lil baby boy was having an asthma attack, the dr explained that under 12 mths they dont like to give a label such as asthmatic, and that with this attack he is having early onset asthma attack brought on by a viral chest infection.

He was precsribed ventolin and i had to get a spacer and face mask.

I am so glad that finally, finally after many trips to the dr, that we have a diagnosis, im sad that he isnt even two, and he had the biggest scare of his life today, his face, the look in his eyes when he was grasping to breath was one i dont eva wanna see again.
He isnt keen on having the face mask, and we are struggling to get him to use the ventolin, but hes doing ok, and being so brave.

Still tonight his chest is rattling and he is wheezing, but he is breathing alot better, and his spirit has lifted and he was keen to play this afternoon.

so if u made it through all that thankyou.

I was hoping to hear how others delt with child asthma attacks, and if there is anything that i need to know, the dr wasnt all that helpful, and my mother gave me a few tips, but said try google, lol

Being so young and not able to talk, and looking so scared, just broke me today, i was being so strong holding him, and calmly talking to him, but hes still my baby, he is my lil baby.

[Jahzara]

Glad your little guy is getting better !

Sorry i dont have any advice - My Boys have had childhood asthma but have never gotten to the stage of having an attack...sorry...

xoxo

[diannescruffy]

Hun big to you. DD8 is asthmatic and I know how scary it is seeing your child struggling for breath. She was 6wks when the wheezing first started. Now that your DS has ventolin, you know the signs, dry cough, wheeze, I would take her singlet off and check the sides of her chest if when taking in a breath the sides cave in then he is struggling. Wishing you all the best.

Regards,
Dianne

[ss_storm]

How scary for you guys..sorry I don't have any tips either...DF gets asthma sometimes, usually brought on by stress, and it freaks me out every time, it must be even worse having to go experience it first hand. i hope your little man is feeling better soon and that he does grow out of it!

[BrightSparkles]

How scary!!
I've been the same with DD but no one will look at diagnosing anything for sometime yet. I hope you find some good suggestions.
xx

[Schmickers]

Sounds like a very scary experience for you and your little man.

The resaon why we don't diagnose asthma in children under 2 years of age is because their little airways are so narrow that even a normal cold can cause the kind of wheezing and rattling symptoms you see in asthma. Lots of little children used to be diagnosed with asthma and labelled for the rest of their lives when really they were perfectly normal.

But given your family history, it seems pretty clear that this is exactly what your little one has got. Persevere with the puffer and spacer - all of the children I've looked after have got used to it pretty quickly.

For more information, check out Factsheets - The Children's Hospital at Westmead and go to the section on Chest and Lungs, which mainly contains fact sheets about asthma.

[Anila]

Thanks so much guys

He is asleep in bed now, he kept wanting to sleep all day, but i was too scared to let him incase he stoped breathing, so i would wake him every 10 mins, his breathing although better, is still so rapid and shallow, i dont understand why it hasnt gone back to normal yet, i was under the impression that once u had a puff of ventolin it would all go back to normal, all it did was improve it at lil, so im still a lil worried.

He has a day in child care tomorrow, its his 4th time, so i want to send him, as we have some anxiety issues, so i dont wanna go backwards, as he only goes 1 day a week, but at the same time, i dont want to send him, incase he has another attack, as it is this attack just doesnt seem ova yet.

As i type this i can hear him coughing

[Anila]

Thanks so much Schmickers.
Just going to read it now.

I just looked in on him, he is sweating so much, and coughing, his breathing looks ok, but he is like chocking when he coughs.

[Anila]

Thanks mum1984, im just reading the info that Schmickers gave me, very helpful thanks i think that if he was older, we may not have had a battle with the face mask, but as he isnt even two yet and a very scared, hubby had to hold his head still, im sure he will learn to use it, i even put it on my face to show him, it was ok.

What do i need to put on the asthma action plan?
So far dr said only need to take 2 puffs every 4 hours, or when needed today, but im not sure if i should wake him later for another puff, my mum says to give him a puff before child care, jic, i feel so over whelmed right now.

[*Beema*]

Awww hun, just starting with a big HUG

We went through hell last year, 9 respiratory infections for DD, it wasn't until 6 months after the first one that she ended up being hospitalised as she had developed chest recessions and had stopped eating and drinking. She was in for 5 days and it was there that we finally someone actually listened as DD had a chronic cough that she hadn't gotten rid of for 6 months (since the first bout of Croup). The Paediatrians and Doctors looked at her case and decided that it wasn't normal, so she went through a raft of blood tests, xrays, blood tests and testing for Cystic Fibrosis.

They diagnosed her with Chronic Mild Asthma (unofficially, but on her records, at 16 months of age), it was Chrnoic due to the cough, but it remains mild unless she gets a chest infection. To complicate things further part of her right lung doesn't work (not inflated), which is referred to as Atelcetasis of the lung (which was picked up on an x-ray), which is a constant cracking and popping in her lung.

The reason I mention this is that it is either due to her prematurity and subsequently not enough surfactant in her lungs when she was born, or it was a result of damage from the first bout of Croup which was particualrly nasty.

If I were you, and based on your son's history with the chronic cough I would consider seeing a Paeditrican or respiratory specialist to get a specific diagnosis. As there is the posibility it may have been something similar.

Did your DS require any oxygen, were his saturations tested (usually this can only be done within a hospital setting).

DD is on 2 puffs every fours hours as a "preventative" but as soon as she gets a cold, we go to 6 puffs every 2 hours (on approval from her Paed) and if we can't manage it beyond that it is an ambulance for DD. I am dreading the idea of any respiratory infection next winter as her Paed's have said that it will take until she is 3 for her lungs to grow big enough to cope. In hospital we have gone up to 20 puffs, in a row (where she is attached to the monitors testing her SATS, it is usually at this time that we know the oxygen is a necessity.

Next time DS has chest recessions I would take him into the local childrens ER, he will go straight through, as at that point he is working very hard to breathe, and it is best that he get seen through that system.

When it comes to using the mask, we used to have a terrible time with DD, but these are the things that we have done that have made it better for her:

• We let her play with the puffer, spacer and mask on her play mat, so she can explore them herself
• We practice using the mask on teddy
• When we do put the mask we encourage her to put her face to the mask rather than us putting it to her face (that will take time, but we found it worked better once she had played with it all)
• We do count to 10 for each puff (which should cover the 6 breathes they need to take to get each dosage out of the puffer), count out aloud, clearly, and celebrate once you reach 10 each time and give a break if bub is a little distressed.

I hope I haven't bombarded you with too much information, but I am happy to chat about it more
Take care, now that you know what you are dealing with it will get easier and you will know when it gets to a point when you can't handle it anymore.
xxoo

[Anila]

wow Beema, not at all bombarded, very grateful that u have taken the time to type all that thanks so much
I cant believe what u have been through with ur dd, and i hope that things improve with her.

We let her play with the puffer, spacer and mask on her play mat, so she can explore them herself
We practice using the mask on teddy
When we do put the mask we encourage her to put her face to the mask rather than us putting it to her face (that will take time, but we found it worked better once she had played with it all)
We do count to 10 for each puff (which should cover the 6 breathes they need to take to get each dosage out of the puffer), count out aloud, clearly, and celebrate once you reach 10 each time and give a break if bub is a little distressed.

They are great suggestions, and i think i will ask my other kids to participate in them as well, if he sees them using the mask, he will want to as well, he very much likes to cpoy his big brother and sisters.
I think also it would help the others to learn in case he has an attack and i cant get there soon enough, of course they wouldnt give the puffs, but an help get it ready and help calm him down.

The dr didnt do any tests, just said to come back when he has another attack.

mum1984, i thought u explained this very well for me, so thankyou.

He may feel sleepy because he is fighting for every breath and is exhausted from that combined with the lack of oxygen.

He was ok today, his breathing was almost normal, but he is still wheezing, my mum is still worried about scaring on his lungs, we are thinking about seeing my mums dr and asking his opinion about what to do next.

[Anila]

I just have a quick question, i think the ventolin is giving my son the runs, is this normal? and when should i stop giving it to him, he is breathing ok now, but still has a regular wheeze, so my mum says to still give it to him, but the wheeze and the rattle are from the chest infection, which is his regular thing, im just not sure what to do.

[KitFaerie]

I've had asthma my whole life, my sister too, I remember my Mum reading me a few books about asthma, and Dad making calling the nebulizer mask the spaceship mask and making whooshing noises while I was on it, so while asthma was scary it wasn't so bad, lol.

I dont remember anything about ventolin and the runs. Ventolin makes your heart race a bit and you feel a bit shaky, so keep an eye on him when he starts getting back to normal. I remember feeling very tired after an attack, and I tended to cough a lot before them (some people just wheeze) so I was exhausted from the coughing as well. I also remember my Mum trying to convince me not to run around the day/few hours after an attack, it was very hard to keep still when you were feeling ok again!

I'd still give ventolin every 4 hours, but that's just me. Good luck, I know it's scary!