Bronchiolitis at 7 weeks old :-(

[Becky6X]

Hi everyone,

My little boy got diagnosed with bronchiolitis last night after being taken to a&e by ambulance.

He's had what I thought was a cold (everyone in the house has it) but when I saw him sucking in under his ribs yesterday I knew it was something more :-( I called 111 who sent us an ambulance.

They didn't keep us in the hospital but they gave him nasal suction & put him on the nebuliser to help clear him. They've given us saline drops to use before his feeds.

I'm really hoping he doesn't get any worse as they've said he is likely to before he gets better. Is there anything else I can do to help him? I feel so helpless and it's heartbreaking seeing such a little baby so unwell at such a young age. He's my first baby and I feel like we're to blame as we all have a cold ourselves.

Should I still be using a nasal bulb with him?? And if so before the saline drops? I gave him the drops at 9am and he has since sneezed and is now really snotty again. Is it safe to use the bulb? I don't want to counteract what the drops are doing.

Thanks in advance xx

[modgepodge]

I think the saline drops just help loosen the mucus, so use them first, wait a bit and use the sucky thing, which I’m sure will be safe.

My little one has had bronchiolitis twice, though not quite as young as yours. It is horrible. The fact they didn’t keep you in is a good sign - both times my daughter was seen by a GP and They decided she was ok to be at hime with me. Just make sure he keeps feeding - if he has less then half his normal feed (easier to judge if bottle feeding I think), or a decrease in wet nappies, it means he’s possibly becoming dehydrated and you should get further help.

Good luck x

[modgepodge]

Ps don’t blame yourself. Babies get colds - it’s a fact of life.

Also calpol plug ins helped with congestion for our little one, and snuffle babe.

[OrangeZog]

Sadly this is sometimes what happens to under 2s when they catch a common cold and it’s so hard (probably close to impossible) to prevent them coming into contact with bugs and germs. Watch out for the next couple of years though as I was told they are more susceptible (although mine didn’t go down with it again).

[stophuggingme]

Sorry to hear this OP but bronchilotis really does have to run its course.
As a pp said watch for signs of dehydration or ifntheir breathing gets worse as with my third child we had to go in for oxygen treatment as his saturation levels dipped.
Please don’t use the loud ins or snuffle babe as both are for babies over three months of age

Hope he is ok and over the worst of it soon, it is very distressing when your baby is so tiny and not well

[stophuggingme]

*plug ins not loud ins

[Drbrowns]

Mine has had it twice so far this winter. He’s 4 months though so not as young as yours. We also just had saline neublizier and suction. Only thing to do is just keep using saline drops or the sterimar saline spray is good and small frequent feeds so that they don’t start throwing up their feeds. Also keep an eye out for temp, my dad got a temp both times just before the end. And it does usually get worse before it gets better, day3-5 are supposed to be the worst days. But your probably at that stage already, if you count the days from when you first thought he had a cold, to you noticed he was struggling to breathe. We where told 3 days getting sick, 3 days being sick and 3 days getting better.

[Puddlelane123]

Might be worth getting the nosefrida from amazon as I always found that more effective than the bulb syringes.

[modgepodge]

Whoops sorry, bad advice from me there on the snuffle babe and plug ins, I’d forgotten there was a minimum age for them. Just saline drops and the sucker then 🙁

[Becky6X]

Thanks everyone for your replies. After researching I didn't realise how common this was!

It sucks that so many little ones have to go through this... I have never felt so helpless ever :-(

Are humidifiers allowed for little ones or is that also 3+ months?

Thanks x

[Bluelightdistrict]

A vacuum nasal suction!

[sausageandrashers]

You want the sucky nasal thing over a bulb, snuffle babes do one. you basically suck the snot out using your mouth via long tube connected to their nose. I'm not sure on the rules around humidifiers.
Hope your baby feels better soon. It's awful seeing them unwell and feeling like there is so little you can do to help isn't pleasant.

[Otter46]

My daughter ended up in hospital for a week aged five weeks with bronchiolitis on breathing support etc. Her ward was full of ‘bronchi’ babies. It’s was awful and she got worse before she got better. Keep a close eye on him and I’m sure he’ll be fine soon.

[OctoberLovers]

Of you see him sucking in at the ribs, stomach, throat or nasal flaring, Please call 999 straight away. Dont worry about 111

[Becky6X]

We're on day 4 and he's started to become really fussy with feeding. He normally takes 4-4.5oz every 4-5 hours during the day then sleeps through the night around 7-8 hours a night. We only seem to be getting 2oz down him today at each feed. I know this can be common for them to take less, should I wake him every few hours to try more??

We're still getting wet nappies however, he doesn't seem to be waking as much for his milk, more us waking him for it.