My 6 Week Old DS has been Diagnosed with Whooping Cough

I'm beside myself.....On Sunday my DS had the sniffles, literally that was all it seemed to be, on Monday at 10am I rang my GP to speak to the nurse because DS is still so little I wanted to know if there was anything I could do. I had googled Whooping Cough because for some reason I thought DS might have it. I don't know why just a gut feeling. To pacify me she made me an appointment the next day with my regular GP, just to ease my worried new mum's mind.

I saw the GP yesterday and DS was barely even snuffly but I new he had had some trouble breathing through his nose overnight. I mentioned Whooping Cough and the GP thought it unlikely as he barely even has a cold. I asked for a swab to be taken (just because my gut instinct told me to) and because my GP is awesome he said 'no problem'. We both thought I'm sure that I was overreacting. But...

this afternoon a got a call from my GP telling me that DS has tested positive and does in fact have whooping cough.

GP called my local chemist and had them deliver anti-biotics to my house immediately (he's already had his first dose) GP advised that once he starts on the anti-biotics he will quickly become NOT infectious. But I know and GP has confirmed that it doesn't mean he won't maybe still get the cough part of it all. Of course the cough part is the worst part. Apparantly it can take up to 3 weeks for the cough to start. He said that we got the diagnosis very early and most people wouldn't even suspect their child had whooping cough at such an early stage.

GP says that I just need to keep an eye on him for the next few weeks and that if he shows any sign of a cough where he struggles for breath to take him straight to hospital.

I am so scared......has anyone had any experience with whooping cough in such a young baby. Is there a chance that he may not even get the cough at all. Are there different levels of severity in the cough, especially in a baby that's only 6 weeks old. Will my baby be OK?

I don't but want to give you great big :hug: Thankfully you got onto it so early. It means if you do need to go to hospital, you already have a diagnosis, so they dont need to waste time. Hopefully the ABs will help stave it off.

Also, if you haven't, make sure you and DH get a booster shot. I think you also need to quarantine yourself for a while.

Thanks Tashy - I had my shot at the hospital after I gave birth and DP had one 3 weeks ago. DS was already booked into the GP for his shot this coming Friday. My GP says that by Friday on the anti-biotics he will be fine to come up for his vacciniation and that he won't be contagious anymore. I think I might ask my doctor if DP and I should get a swab done just in case.

Thank god for mothers instinct! Hope it doesn't get to the cough stage.

oh goodness! Well done catching it soo early :hug:

OMG Aussie, you must be stressing out so much. I dont have any advice, but just wanted to offer my support. I hope he doesnt get too sick from it. Well done for catching it so early.

Oh wow. Awesome, awesome work Mummy! You listened to your gut instinct and you've done fabulous.

Lots of hugs :hug: Praying your little one takes well to the antibiotics and doesn't get that nasty cough.

You've seriously done, really well :hug:

Thank heavens for mummy instincts and an awesome GP! What a great combo.

Scary as pants :hug: He is SO lucky to have a clever mummy like you.

Fingers crossed for him to breeze through this.

Like the others have said a huge well done for trusting your instinct and protecting your little one. You could well have saved his life.

Fingers crossed for you that the ABs work quickly.

Do you have any idea where he may have caught it from?

Thanks everyone for thinking of us and I can't tell you how happy I am that I had the swab taken. Like the GP said, most people don't even get tested for WC until the cough comes. I just can't stand that I have to wait and watch him for 3 weeks just waiting....waiting...for it to get him.

Bug's Mum - I'm not sure where he picked it up but there has been an outbreak of WC in our town recently and also I have a family member who was around him and she had a terrible cough but I don't like to say for sure. Either way he was somehow in the vicinity of someone who had it to catch it.

I'm just sick with worry about if he gets the cough and how bad to expect it to be.

Oh gosh, how very scary for you :hug:

I hope that you have caught is super early and that any sypmtoms are minimised, hopefully the next few weeks fly by as well xxoo

In my experience although not with a little baby... i was swabbed and came back positive before i showed any symptoms, i then had antibiotics and never got the cough. the only issue i have had is the first cold since has been a doozy and the cough with it has been terrible, Which i have been told is somewhat normal after WC to suffer bad coughs from common cold due to the damage done to the cillia with in the lungs..
i aslo assume your doctor has put you all on antibiotics not just your DS? as you can still pass the bacteria on.

Hi there AG.

Well, the bad news, as you are probably aware, is that under six months of age is the danger period for whooping cough infection. That said, it is unusual to catch it before the coughing starts, so there is a chance that the antibiotics will lessen the severity of it.

In addition to what your GP has told you, I would suggest that at this age you would see post-feed vomiting associated with the cough before it became so bad that it caused breathing difficulty. So if you notice bub seems to be commonly coughing and then vomiting after feeds, it may pay to visit your GP or hospital to have him checked out.

Good luck. Looking after babies with whooping cough is rarely much fun, but I hope your little one pulls through it without too many problems. As far as where it came from, whoopig cough usually requires a pertty significant exposure to spread, and for this reason is commonly spread within households and between family members. I would be contacting the family member with the cough and suggesting that they are tested. They may need to go on a course of antibiotics to try and limit the spread of the disease to others.

:hug: no advice, but just wanted to say I hope he doesn't get the cough. Well done on trusting yourself xo

Big :hug:!! How frightening and worrying for you! Well done on getting on top of it so quickly.

I have no advice, we have just been tested for WC but our results were negative. I was worried enough waiting for our results. :hug:

Have you got a sound and movement monitor? That would be my one suggestion. They aren't cheap but they work well and may help to ease your mind and allow you to rest if you have something else keeping a bit if an eye on your DS, IYKWIM.

Sending you all the get well vibes I can muster. I hope your little man is ok :hug:

Oh gosh. Thank goodness for that gut feeling.
I have no experience but hope that you've caught it in time to avoid the cough all together.
Sending get well soon vibes to your DS and hope that you and DH don't wind up with it too x

:hug:

How scary for you and your DH. I hope that your DS avoids the cough and the ab's limit how unwell he gets.

I have to say I think you're awesome to have such great instincts and to act on them. Your son is in good hands hun. Come in here and post any time you need to, take him to the GP as often as you like to get him checked over for your peace of mind. The waiting will be so tough. Try to find space from your worry each day to enjoy your son and forget this for a while. x

Hi Everyone-

DS spent his first night in hospital last night. We live in a Rural area and have a small district hospital.

I had been feeding DS at around midday. I noticed he was vomiting alot during his feed (thanks Michael your post is so spot on). I went to burp him and he starting to cough and couldn't get his breath. I took this to be the first sign that the cough had started. It was pretty scary seeing his eye bulged wide and no breath going in. (Later in hospital I realise this wasn't the start of the cough just choking on the mucus that is a symptom of the WC). Once he got his breath he seemed stable (which is another symptom of WC - kids actually look fit as a fiddle in during the illness) so I called the hosptial and they told me to bring him in.

I drove him (calmly-don't know how I managed that) to the hospital and took him into emergency. They triaged him straight away because he was a 6 week old and because he is in the contagious stage. (We started him on anti-biotics on Wednesday night and he will be contagious for 5 days). In casualty they separated him from everyone else until he was seen by the paediatrician. They admitted him for observation and we were taken to the childrens ward and put into isolation. DH had arrived at hospital by this stage too.

In our room we had a monitor for his oxygen levels and his pulse. That alone allowed me to get a couple of hours sleep overnight because for 3 nights I hadn't slept for staying up and watching him breath. One thing I noticed was that his cold symptoms seemed to be easing (with WC you look like you have a cold but it's actually a symptom of the WC so anti-biotics can actually help to clear this up). Also we were injection saline drops into his nose and this was making a big difference to his breathing.

I'm going to post this and then type another post so I don't lose what I have typed so far.