Bronchiolitis sucks!

'nuff said!

We spent several hours at the hospital last night with Sam wheezing and coughing and just generally having a rough time breathing. Bronchiolitis they say... After a chest x-ray they sent us home because he wasn't showing signs of distress - he kept laughing and smiling at the nurses when they put the stethoscope on his chest! They would'nt listen to us in that Sam was very subdued and lethargic for him, they kept following the line of if he's smiling then he's not that unwell. Grrrr... I'm just so frustrated that because our baby is so relaxed and laid-back normally, nobody will believe how sick he is!

Now I'm at home with a sick bubba and I can't do a damn thing to help him breathe, and I'm supposed to take him to the GP this afternoon - will be interesting to see if I can get an appointment at all!

Bronchiolitis truly sucks! I hope everyone else manages to avoid it.

BW

Aw BW, I was wondering what was wrong with him to require a trip to the hossy!

Hope the GP can do something to help him feel better. But if you become concerned, don't hesitate to take him back up to the hospital

:hug:

Bronchiolitis DOES suck. DS had it 6 times before they FINALLY diagnosed it as asthma at 18 months old. Hopefully it doesnt develop into asthma for Sam. xx Did they check the oxygen in his blood. Thats when they put the little clip on their finger or toe.

Dr's dont usually diagnose it as asthma until they are 2 becasue asthma medication doesnt seem to work on children younger than this age.

PS- DS got to have an emergency ride in an ambulance for his 2nd birthday. They gave him 6 adult doses of ventolin on the way to hospital and because of this he was buzzing off the wall! I thought for sure they will send him home, but instead kept him in for a week cause his oxygen sats (amount of oxygen in his blood) was 85 (normal is 97 and above).

Hope I have made sense....

Also, kids are great at showing how 'well' they look when they are 'unwell'. Could you imagine how exciting it would be to be a little kid seeing new smiling faces, bright lights and new noises?

The nurse also told me when we took DS in one time that kids learn to deal with their ilnesses, like not being able to breathe properly.

Please take him back if he doesnt get any better or gets worse.

They had a few issues getting his O2 levels, but managed it in the end. He was sitting at 99 or 100 most of the time, just a really high respiration rate, but that had calmed down when they sent us home (he was asleep!). DH has asthma and he was really concerned by the sound of his wheezing last night and was the one who insisted on hospital.

We're praying like mad that this isn't the start of asthma for Sam as DH's was quite bad as a child and would usually result in a hospital admission every time the season changed!

:redface: And here was me thinking it was "just" teething! Which we also have going on along with this!

I have an appointment at 12:45 today (most impressed!) with the GP so we'll just take things from there. Meanwhile, Sam is staying very close to me and if there are any more issues I'll take him to Nepean rather than Hawkesbury... at least that's where his paed works and we might be taken a little more seriously.

I was pleased to note that they took things a little more seriously when they were told he was born at 36 weeks rather than full term.

BW

BW - the things for you to be looking for are using extra muscles to breathe - at the base of the throat (tracheal tug), between the ribs (intercostal recession) and the tummy and the chest moving opposite to each other when he breathes. Because he is still little he also needs to be watched to see if the middle of his chest sinks in with breathing (sternal recession). I have given you the technical words as well as what to look for so you can either understand them talking or know the words to say when you have him assessed if they occur.

They usually breathe fast and sound noisy but ventolin tends not to be terribly effective with bronchiolitis. They will admit if they have signs of increased work of breathing (the stuff above), decreased oxygen saturations or the inability to feed (because breathing is more important than feeding). Yes, a happy bubba is a *good* sign (you know if your baby looks well or looks sick) but the other things are added to it and if they are a problem then they get admitted - usually on oxygen. Hawkesbury tends to have a very experienced group of Emergency nurses - particularly at night who know what to look for.

And the asthma - unfortunately difficult to assess in the little ones but bronchiolitis can be a precursor for some of them. Call me if you want to ask anything or just for a sanity chat :hug:

Urgh... I feel for you hun. We're all just getting over it here with thanks to anti-biotics (which I never usually allow the kids to have, but desperately needed this time around)

I hope the Dr is better at treating your DS and I hope he is well on his way to a quick recovery real soon :)

Thanks, Michelle... And it's nice to hear that about Hawkesbury. I got a little disturbed when the doctor who saw us couldn't even call the right on-call paed! He's breathing fast, but not really struggling too much.

It seems the warmer I can keep him, the easier it is for him. He seemed so much better this morning when I got him out of our nice, warm bed (he's sleeping in with us overnight while unwell - we can hear any breathing issues and get to him much faster if he wakes up with a cough), but was sounding pretty awful once he'd taken as much of his bottle as he would tolerate this morning.

Is it ok to let him sleep if he wants to sleep longer, or should I be waking him to feed a bit more regularly? He's been drinking close to 240mL each bottle while well, but is sometimes struggling to get through 120mL with some feeds now. I'm offering less more often, but don't know whether to wake him for it or just wait...

BW

I hope your little one has a speedy recovery. Poor little guy :hug:

It does suck, DD1 gets it constantly in the colder months and is on ventilon(sp) now even though she isn't two yet but it works and helps prevent the bronchiolitis from developing.

Our GP is great he suggests keeping the room warm, using a vaporiser with eucalyptus oil and elevate the cot.

I have found that the milk/formula seems to set of a coughing fit but its hard to avoid when they need to keep their fliuds up. Hope your appointment went well.

Back from the GP now. Temperature (in ear) of 37.5 an hour after taking panadol. Got to observe the tummy/chest moving in opposite directions, but he didn't have any of the other stuff you mentioned, Michelle.

One thing the GP did mention is that they can't diagnose asthma this young as it's to do with a muscle spasm and there's no muscle in the airways as yet. Doesn't discount the increased mucus part of asthma (which is DH's main problem), but they did say there's nothing that will help them apart from keeping them warm and rested.

I've pretty much opted to go with the offer him a bottle every time he wakes up approach. Sometimes it's 4 hours like normal (I like to sleep a lot when I'm sick, too) sometimes it's more like 2.5 hours, but I'm doing what I can to keep his fluids up and keep him fed.

:rolleyes: Last night's hospital trip solved the problem of getting him weighed. 6.9kg now... thought he'd be more at 5 months after being 6kg at 3 months, but at least I know now!

BW

BW
hope you little man gets better soon
My DS has chronic lung disease and been on a few nite rides to the hossy for chest related illness. His o2 levels on a good day hover around 93 so be reassured that if his O2 levels were OK, then that is really good!!! All the girls have given you good advice about keeping fluids up etc.

As for dx asthma- the only way they really can dx it is if they respond to ventolin and there is no other cause for breathlessness. I went one nite to hossy as trouble breathing with DS - thought it was pnumonia again and chest was clear- they gave him ventolin, predisilone and he has been asthmatic ever since. He was 3 years old then.
If he is still struggling, try the good ole hot shower with him in the same room to inhale the steam- works well, as well as hitting his back to try and break up the phlem.
take care hun

Hey BW,

How's the little one going?

Keep an eye on his wet nappies, that is usually the best way to gauge how they are going with feeds.

I wouldn't let him go more than 4 hours between feeds - any longer than that and I'd be waking him for a feed. 2-3 hourly small feeds would be the way to go, as you are probably finding.

Good luck. Bronchiolitis is really hard work, and you are doing well coping at home.

Oh BW I understand where you are coming from!! DD had it in March and ended up in hospital dehydrated, although like you noone would listen to me about how sick she was in emergancy, cause she was smiling and interacting!! Grrrrrr. Sounds like you are doing everything you can but I know how awful it is to see them so congested...poor little mite.

One big hug for you :hug:
and one for the little guy :hug:

He seemed so much better this morning! Was bright and alert and hungry... even sounded less snuffly and congested and the cough wasn't as bad... And then he only took 90mL of his bottle and by the end of it the snuffles and cough were back.

I suspect we are through the worst of it... maybe... at least we are getting moments where he doesn't seem so sick. Nappies are wet, but not as wet as normal. He's an infrequent pooer at the best of times so not really too worried there.

He woke early this morning and went back to sleep quite quickly after a quick feed - as long as I get some better ones later on I will be happy.

Thanks everyone for the advice and support.

BW

Hi BW, glad to hear DS is doing better. I know when DS gets sick with his asthma, drinking milk makes him sound worse. Not 100% why, but it makes him more phlegmy - might be what is happening to you DS.

I really do wonder if breast milk gives them as much grief with snottiness as formula does... It's got to be not as bad! I know when I'm all congested the last thing I want to drink is cows milk, and formula being cows milk based, that's likely where it comes from.

Things are looking up. He still has a horrible cough and a bit of a wheeze, particularly when it's cold. But his colour has returned to normal and he's a lot happier and a bit more normal in his behaviour. And best of all - he just drank 170mL with his last bottle! This is the child that used to gulp his way through 240mL each feed and was barely scraping through 100mL for a while there! :) There's still a long way to go, but I can see that he's so much better now than he was.

BW

Glad to hear things are looking up.

We do tend to find that breast milk and breast feeds are better tolerated than cow's milk feeds, but we do still have babies that are unable to tolerate any feeds at all and have to be tube fed or put on IV fluids until they get better.