To think mould has made my baby Ill?!!

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My 10 week old baby has broncilitis 3 weeks ago, she has now started coughing again but not as bad although the cough can last for a very long time :-(
We have the humidifier on every night and the walls and curtains are always wet in the morning from it but soon dry off although I don't use central heating much as was told it can make asthma worse so use a portable radiator.
Well today I was doing a big clean and noticed under the window an curtains a patch of mould say a foot square, concealed by the chest of drawers.
The chest of drawers also has some mould growth.
I've binned it and cleaned the carpet, dried the curtains and have left the window slightly ajar to stop the condensation but could this have made her Ill, this peice of mould??

Can you sit with her for a while in the bathroom with the heating on and with the hot tap running and the door closed ? The warm moist air might help her ( it always helped mine who had croup ). When you come out of the room open the windows though!

OP, ventolin/salbutamol is a bronchodilator ie a drug that relaxes the small airways in the lungs if they are constricted. It's usually used for asthma attacks. I hope your LO gets better soon. It's horrible not knowing what's wrong.

You need to get the carpet out, and wash the curtains to get rid of any mould spores in them.

I'd strip off the wallpaper, wash the walls down with bleach solution, and allow to dry before painting. I use silk emulsion in bedrooms as it's easier to wash down. Keep the room well ventilated, wash bedclothes, etc regularly and raise the head of the cot slightly. Damp dust and use a floor mop daily. Venetian blinds are better than curtains as you can wipe them clean of dust.

Heating on low, but enough to keep the room warm. Bowl of water under the radiator at night only is good.

Both DDs and I have chronic asthma. Our whole house is like this. but I do have a cat and a very small dog

Ventolin is an inhaled medication for asthmatics for relieving asthma attacks - it works by dilating the airways and can have some nasty side effects (for me more than 2 puffs and my heart races/pounds, for DD1 when she was little it made her so high she had to have anti-histamines to sedate her a bit).

It can be used from 6m and up (earlier than 6m won't work as the receptors on the lungs aren't developed before 6m) if your baby is over 6m you could ask your GP to see if might be prescribed (medical history allowing).

Raising the head of the bed, steaming in the bath room several times a day and back massage can help clear the mucus (a bit like the percussive physio children with cystic fibrous have) can all help keep the lungs clear(er).

Unfortunately, bronchiolitis can be more severe in subsequent attacks butluckily it usually isn't. DD3 had it 10 times in her 1st year and the 2nd & 3rd attacks were far worse than the first which the only one to be RSV positive. The other attacks were triggered by colds. She now has asthma (as she is over 2y) but she had a year of 'viral induced wheeze' when she was too old for bronch. but too yonug for asthma.

humidifiers don't even help everyone

we are a family of asthmatics and chest infection gurus and moist air does nothing for us lol

I would let your house dry out a little to stop all the condensation. Sounds quite tricky in your room with it being so damp and all of you in one room. I'd be temtped to let it dry out for a bit.

It does rather sound like you will need to keep a close eye on the mould OP.

If as you say, the curtains and walls are wet in the morning, the wallpaper is peeling off of the wall, and the carpet is forming mould as well as a foot square patch of mould under the windows and curtains, and the chest of drawers also has mould growth, I suspect slightly opening the window and putting the radiator on for the day, whilst helping the situation, isn't going to do much if you then continue to use a humidifier all night.

Is it an adjustable humidifier? Can it be turned down?

The furniture is salvagable, it just needs a wash down with bleach solution. I'd bin the carpet and have something like painted/varnished floorboards or lino down instead. You want something that is easy to wash down daily and keep clean and dust/mould free. The wallpaper has to come off, if it's peeling it's damp and 10-1 it will have mould growing behind it now.

The curtains need a wash with bio washing powder to kill the mould. I'd be loathe to dry clean, purely because I know the dry cleaning solution sets us off.

should also mention we have no carpets and have blinds instead of curtains. All bedding is that anti allergic stuff and cotton and we use non-bio washing powder.

But doing that can be expensive if you haven't budgeted for it so take it one step at a time and only if you want to

but if you have chesty children (and skin problem children) it can really help to take those steps (as all of the above make it easier to minimise dust and mould)

Fox is right re non-bio. I'm still a big fan of Fairy.

It's a rented house so best bet is prob going to be to move.
We can't start replacing carpets and wallpaper without his consent and we were only going to be here until April anyway.
The windows aren't double glazed either, this prob isn't helping with the condensation.
Would mould form behind a wall in 3 weeks?
Even if the damp is dried out by the radiator every morning? Or any way to determine if there is mould now behind the wallpaper?
There aren't any black patches etc which is what google has told me to look for!

If you can borrow a steamer to steam clean the carpets that would help if you cant replace them. Move the chest of drawers away from the wall so that the air can circulate more.

Little miss :
I will stop using the humidifier for the time being as its been on the lowest setting all along and is still causing the wetness.
Maybe because the room isn't overly large.
I will do the steam via the bathroom a few times a day so her throat doesn't dry out.
Just don't like going against medical advise and they all seemed to think it was the best thing for her, which I understand but not if it's going to create mould.

Sarah :
The chest of drawers has been binned!
Curtains have also been taken down!

We actually didn't have the curtains up when she first developled bronchilitis so I've kind of answered my own question as it couldn't have been the mould when the room hadn't yet been damp, but in still sure it can't be good so will stop using for a while etc

Can you contact your landlord about treating the mould?

My LL treated a small patch of mould I had, and it has never come back. If it is rented property, they may treat it??

I'm confused as to why you think moving will solve the problem?? Warm damp homes are more susceptible to mould and ime once you've got mould, it can be quite difficult to totally get rid of it, hence why my LL had it professionally treated, and my mould was less than a 4" square patch.

If you move, and continue to use a humidifier to the point that in the morning the walls and curtains are dripping wet, don't open windows often and don't use central heating, don't be surprised if the new house develops mould.

Imo, you need to prevent the mould in the first place which means ensuring the room is warm, well ventilated and not too wet.

Home away :
We have professional carpet cleaners coming Tom evening, booked them as soon as I noticed it!
Thankyou very much though.
Guess I'm just not entirely convinced its bronchilitis hanging around this long and am trying to think what else it could be.
My mum keeps saying it could be asthma but there's no test for that so how will I know?
Wish I was a bloody doctor!

Asthma is very rarely diagnosed in under 3s. DS was classed as young to be diagnosed at 12 months.

If she has ongoing problems they may treat as asthma but I wouldnt worry about that at this stage. What you have described sounds normal for bronchi

Littlemiss :
I have texted the landlord so am waiting to hear back from him but this was just a short term let anyway thats why I don't think he'll bother.
I have said in my previous posts that I'm not going to use the humidifier for a while as its been on the lowest setting yet is still causing this.
The portable radiator is on most of the dag just not the central heating as I was told they dry the air too much.
The house is always warm but I haven't left the windows open much since her bronchilitis as I didn't want her to catch a chill but will start doing this more to let out the condensation.

I think asthma's usually diagnosed in under 3's if there is a strong family history. DD2 was diagnosed under 1, but only because I have severe asthma, as does DD1.

It could still very well be viral, a viral cough can hang around for anything up to 8 weeks on and off.

If you want to push the point with your Landlord, my understanding is that damp and mould is covered by the amended housing act 2004, so legally he has to deal with this problem. May be worth contacting CAB or The Environmental Health officer at your local council or if you are lucky there may be a wise mums netter who knows more than me!

Also the fact you don't have double glazing is probably helping keep the mould down as some air will be flowing in. The problem we had was that the house was almost 'air tight' because of the double glazing.

To answer your earlier question mould grows very fast and can appear within as little as 48 hours, so may have appeared since you installed the humidifier.

Sarah - we have a strong family history (I & DH have asthma and a myriad of other atopic illnesses) and DD1 has asthma though is now growing out of it at nearly 6. DD3 was a lot worse than DD1 and it happened a lot earlier too.

My DD2 (2.5 yo now) suffered with bronchilitis when she was approx 5 months old, she has asthma now. My Dr recommended heating on, humidifier if she has a cough and window open all the time in her bedroon, even if it is just slightly open overnight and then opened wider in the day.

We now have the majority of the windows throughout the house open (even if it is a small amount) all year round and heating on in winter, or a plug in radiator in the DD's room.

When DD2 was younger she would suffer really bad with chest infections/bronchilitis etc. This year has been her best year so far, only one chest infection with a bad cough which was soon cleared up with antib's. She seems to be growing out of it now.

I hope your DC feels better soon, it is horrid seeing them poorly.

I forgot to add that once we started to keep her bedroom window open pretty much all of the time, her chest and cough were so much better.

I love having my house aired out anyway so have always had most windows opened whatever the weather, just like you I didn't in the DD's room as I was worried about her getting a chill. Keeping the window open and having fresh air in seems to help so much.

We had a lot more damp and mould than that but it has never done DD any harm, so it all depends really. DD had loads of coughs when younger and working in nursery most have coughs permanently for weeks/months but when they get older than babies they get more often than not get over it.

Also we use unibond powertab which you leave in room and it takes water out. They dont need plugging in so no leccy which is a bonus! Ours take out about a couple of pints of water a week/fortnight and we have 4 in DDs room. They are the best thing I have ever bought

OP - my ds had bronchiolitis and pneumonia before he was 6 months and spent the next few years coughing and wheezing. He was treated with pulmicort and ventolin for years and all was kept under control. He seemed to grow out of it at about 8. Pieceofcakeandgoodwilltoall has given really good advice. The room needs to be warm, I would ditch the humidifier and put a bowl of water or damp cloth over the radiator. Do what Sarah Stratton says about the mould.

In the early days we felt pretty desperate and though everything we did contributed. It was a difficult patch but ultimately it didn't stop ds from reaching over 6 foot and growing into a fit and happy young man. You will never know for sure what caused is causing it but I do think that bronchiolitis recurs in vulnerable babies and will recur whatever your living conditions - optimum or otherwise. Naturally you need to do all you can to optimise them but there has been much advice already on here about that but don't beat yourself up too hard.

Good luck OP.

Same here Truth, strong family history. Makes sense really, if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck...

Though DD3's paed said they try not to diagnose asthma too early as some parents then wrap the child in cotton wool and don't let them do anything as they have 'asthma' only for the child to out grow it in a few years.

I'm glad DD1 is almost out of it and DD2 is only minorly asthmatic (occasional night cough) but DD3 is not good (plenty worse though). She's on Flixitide (sp?) which has worked to keep her out of hospital this winter but she's still really wheezy with this last cold (up to 8 puffs every 4 hours but not bad enough for nebs).