My 22mth old had an asthma attack today.

[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

[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.

[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.