Bronchiolitis!

My ds has had a "cold" for a couple of weeks. Two days ago he started coughing but it was just sporadic so we took him to his daycare. The lady who watches him called us yesterday and said that she thought he needed to see a doctor as he had started wheezing and having a harder time breathing. We took him in and they said he had bronchiolitis and that other than what we had been doing (humidifier, suctioning, elevated head, vicks, plenty of fluids) there was not much that could be done. We are really, really worried as we keep reading that it can get really bad fast and I keep standing over his crib all night counting his breaths and worrying that it is getting worse. Is there anything else we should be doing - when do you know to take them in to the hospital since our doctor doesn't seem to think that is necessary right now? He was premature (34 weeks) and was on oxygen, vapo-therm for about a week. I am so mad that we were denied RSV shots!!! He is eating fine and doesn't seem too fussy or upset his breathing is just labored and rattling and he does have some retractions.

 

Hope he is feeling better soon!

Dianna

 

I'd go to the ER. I would go especially if it is a Pediatrician telling you you don't need to go to the hospital (this is what happened to us, our Pulminologist disagreed and admitted us, we were there 4 days). My twins were just released from the hospital for the same thing, "Bronchiolitis". Not, RSV - but still dangerous. Deep lung suctioning, steroids... all stuff I can't do at home. Both babies are now better, but still sick (we are home as of today). We are nebulizing meds, have a hospital grade suction machine...

I'm running on serious sleep deprivation right now... so sorry if I don't make much sense. Bottom line - TRUST YOURSELF. If you are this worried, off to the hospital you go.

 

We had that last season. Tyler needed a nebulizer every day for 2 months to get over it. He did not have to be hospitalized. If you are concerned, I would take him back to the Ped or to the ER. GL!

 

we're going through this right now, too. i would say you should go to the ER if you feel like you've seen a change and it would make you feel better. we've been to the doctor twice and the ER once. we've gotten the same message each time, that all we can do is keep suctioning, humidifying, hydrating and elevating them. if their breathing gets really bad they can do a nebulizer treatment but the ER doc told us that's only somewhat effective, and not effective in all kids.

they're your babies and you see them every day. the ped saw them for a quick snapshot moment. if you feel like you're seeing something more serious or you have concerns then don't feel like you need to justify a trip to see a medical professional. if there's specifically a children's hospital near you i would start there.

the ER didn't give us any more solutions but they did ease our mind by having another look at them, doing chest x-rays to rule out pneumonia, and doing a pertussis test. all that did was tell us that it wasn't more serious, it didn't make them any less sick. but you know, it helped ease my mind and that made the trip totally worth it.

 

my twins had this when they were 4 months old...when i went to the er bree had a really high fever that wouldn't go away, was extremely lthergic and sleepy after sleeping all night and most of the morning, by her 2 oclock bottle she would not drink, and was still drowsy and feverish. i took her to the er, she had chest xrays, their was a mass on her chest which they were concerned was pnemonia (but turned out not). she was put on penicillin, suctioned, put on an iv because she wasn't drinking even close to half her bottle, her chest was showing real hard work, wheezing.

bella was kept in to, but she was mild.

we stayed for 3 days, sent home on penecillinn, my ped saw me a few days after leaving hosp, later to ***** and said the wheezing would stay around for a while, but if they went off their bottle again, to bring them straight back in.

for peace of mind, i would take them to the er...they have to look at them...whats the worst that could happen...a wasted day at the hosp, but on the other hand, they may need hospitalisation...trust your gut and get the second opinion....they are still so little, and this was a mojor factor with my hosp and ped.
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goodluck.

 

One of my daughters had this not too long ago. I don't think hers was as serious as others have said, she was never hospitalized but they gave her some breathing treatments at the pedi's office and said if the coughing didn't get better to come back and get a machine to do treatments at home. They gave her 2 types of med (can't remember what now...) and she got better w/o any more breathing treatments. But if you think he is worse, take him in. I hope he gets better!

 

Last March (at 7 weeks) I took my girls to the Dr. (not their regular ped) and he said they should be fine and sent us home. We got home and turned right back around and went to the ER. The Dr. on call in ER said the girls had RSV/bronchiolitis without testing them (eventually they had the nose swab and it came back positive). He gave them oxygen in the ER and we were admitted for 6 days. One of mine needed the air helmet (sorry, I don't remember the name) as she was dsating pretty badly while coughing and couldn't recover well. It was a hard 6 days but I am so glad we decided to go.

Thankfully after the 6 days they didn't need any other treatments and have had only minor runny noses BUT had we not turned around things could have been bad.

How is he doing with his feeds? This was a huge sign to us that something was really bad. They weren't really taking any bottles and were really lethargic.

 

We're going through that right now with DS. The pedi did a breathing treatment in his office & gave us a nebulizer to take home. This is our 2nd day of giving him breathing treatments & so far, they seem like they are working. He's still not eating very well though so we're just taking it day by day. DH and I are taking turns sleeping with him in the guest bedroom because I'm just paranoid that his breathing might get worse in the middle of the night.

Anyway, like the pp said, I'd definitely check with your pedi again or go to the ER. If you're worried, get it checked out. In my opinion, it's always better to be safe than sorry especially where these precious babies are concerned!

 

Sarah had bronchiolitis at 3 months. Our doctor said that if she was having real trouble breathing, she would not be able to sleep through it. So as long as she was sleeping, we shouldn't worry too much -- just check on her every couple of hours. She was wheezing and had retractions, but never seemed especially fussy and slept pretty well. We had a couple of anxious nights, but then it was obviously getting better so we didn't worry as much.

So, obviously it can get bad fast and you have to monitor him carefully -- but it is also possible to have a relatively mild case and for it never to become an emergency.