5 weeks old....bronchiolitis

[clairindespair]

My baby son was admitted to hospital last night with retraction

His sats, heart rate and overall self are fine, however he seems to be working hard to breathe and is now on CPAP after a night on optiflow

Any success stories as I’m so anxious and worked up.

Did you get him home yesterday then readmitted?

Yep, blue lighted at 5 weeks, again at 1 year. It's so scary but they go downhill fast, back up faster! It will be alright, its scary but they do know what they are doing. Try to rest as LO will be back to their usual demanding self before you know it.
My DS is 16months now and absolutely fine

Hi, just wanted to say that my big was admitted with bronchiolitis three times in his first year. Generally it peaked on day three, and then he rapidly improved. It's totally treatable, with no lasting ill effects.

Try to rest yourself too x

Glad your little one’s blood gasses have improved on the CPAP, hope you have managed to get a bit of rest in between everything!
I work in children’s intensive care and we see so so much bronchiolitis this time of year - loads of babies get admitted to hospital for oxygen and help with feeding, a fair few of those need extra help - optiflow or cpap as you’ve experienced and very very occasionally they need a bit more support so need intensive care treatment. Even the ones who end up in intensive care tend to do extremely well - the pattern of the illness is that they get worse for a few days, then stay that level of poorly for a few days then take a few days to improve. The vast majority of babies recover completely without any complications at all. It’s a virus so there’s no medicine to treat it, it’s just supportive care whilst the baby recovers so that’s probably why the nurses have been a bit vague - how quickly things get better is down to each individual baby and some babies are more likely to get tired and need extra support than others.
If you’re breastfeeding ask the nurses for a pump to express - they can freeze the milk so even if he’s not having much now it’s there when he’s ready for it as he may need tube feeds for a few days

It's awful to see them struggling to breathe and attached to oxygen. I've been there op, it will get better. It's bread and butter stuff for the doctors and nurses who see it so frequently throughout the winter months. I think they sometimes forget how difficult it is for parents who don't see it all the time to see their children like that.

I've heard it peaks around day 5 and from there there's a very quick recovery. It sound like your little one may be on the way up now thankfully.

My DC also had bronchiolitis as a baby. Then developed asthma, but is a strapping adult now!

Just take each day at a time, OP. You'll have him home soon enough.

I’m glad he’s improved. My DS1 had bronchiolitis and it was awful to see, but 4 years on and he’s absolutely fine.

Agree that doctors and nurses will seem unworried by it even though you are shocked and it looks awful. I was shocked too. But they do see it all the time and it's just a matter of time. My son was in for 14 days the second time and the doctors were surprised how long it took him to get his levels back to normal, but said all they can do is support the breathing until it's back to normal

My DD was the same age when this happened, she was in hospital for a week (I was able to stay with her) She's 9 now, absolutely fine since then. I'd say it's worse on you watching and worrying than it is on the DC.

Hi @clairindespair I’ve come over from your other thread, just wanted to share my experience with bronchiolitis. My twins were premature and very low birthweight (neither weighed 1kg at birth) and my DD contracted it in the NICU she was being looked after in. She was much tinier and weaker than your DS sounds (she barely fed more than 20mls at a time) she did end up with one collapsed lung but again, she was much smaller so please don’t panic.

She’s now a very robust healthy 2yo with enough lung power to make my head ring when she decides to have a tantrum, she had a hard time in her first year of life but has continued to fight through and is now like most other 2yo (albeit a bit smaller and slightly delayed but that’s due to the prem/birthweight issue, not the bronchiolitis).

Hope your DS feels better soon and I know how scary it is to be in hospital with your baby, just keep in mind he’s in the best place as scary as it is and whilst I’ve got twin toddlers to chase most of the day, if you fancy a chat PM me. My twins were in NICU for four months so I understand the stress it puts a parent under you’re doing brilliantly.

My DS was blue lighted to hospital before Xmas with bronchiolitis and it was absolutely terrifying. Really fast breathing, fast heart rate etc. I agree with others, it's something that doesn't seem to phase the doctors as they see it all the time. They can't really "do" anything, it's about monitoring stats, giving oxygen if needed and making sure they are taking food. We were threatened with a feeding tube, but luckily DS managed about half his normal feeds and they accepted that. The worst days were around 4 and 5, then got better really quickly after that. I hope your little one makes a speedy recovery, I know how scary it is

They said he could need intensive care. I’m so scared. Is this normal.

Sorry OP I’m not sure but if you are unsure grab someone and tell them you want to speak to a paediatrician! They must explain it all to you until you are sure x

They said it’s just because he’s tired now, he could have to go to the children’s hospital if he needs extra support. They did blood gases and they had improved

My baby was in intensive care with bronchiolitis before Christmas. He was only 3 weeks old at the time, they tried high flow oxygen and CPAP at our local hospital but he needed more support with his breathing so ended up on a ventilator in PICU at the regional centre hospital. I know how scary it is but it is very common and the vast vast majority make a full recovery. My baby is now totally fine and you would never know he had been so poorly. It was terrifying at the time but we were reassured by the staff in PICU, it is so so common this time of year and they are very used to dealing with it.

Our DS was admitted for about 10 days when he was a few weeks old with it. Its very common and was on high flow for almost a week. It is scary and I look back now and think of how poorly he was but as a very healthy happy 20 month old you would never know. He seemed to catch a few more chest infections than what was 'normal' over the next 12 months and we were told this was normal.
Give them lots of cuddles and make sure the doctors are keeping you updated, but like most previous posters we were one of many in hospital with the same.

My 5-week old premie had this. We were in hospital for a looooooonnnngg week but they were great and he was fine. Hang in there- and rest! Xxx

They’ve promised me he’ll be okay and won’t die

Aww OP I could cry for you, I wish I could give you a hug. You are really going through it. This feels like the worst time of your life but it will make you. I swear. You can do anything after all this. Trust the dr - I’m sure baby will be totally fine xxx

Thinking of you, deep breaths. Xx

Dd had bronculitis when she was 6 weeks old. She was working really hard to breathe and vomited after every feed and was at risk of dehydration. She was admitted to the high dependency ward as she required fast flowing oxygen and continuous feeding through an NG tube. I'm my experience if definitely got worse before it got better. Dd was so exhausted she slept through the majority of the hospital stay. She made a full recovery and now is a very healthy 5 year old.

His blood gases have improved so staying put for now and chest xray looks clear

That’s good x is your mum around?

Following from your other thread, I'm glad his stats are improving. Thinking of you both