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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think my baby has whooping cough?

35 replies

Ifyourawizardwhydouwearglasses · 10/12/2014 21:28

Posting here for traffic. Sorry but I'm worried.

She's been to docs last week, going again tomorrow and I've called nhs direct.

4 month old, been unwell for about a week and now has these awful coughing fits at night ending in gagging or vomiting.
All the symptoms sound like whooping cough and I'm so worried.

She's had immunisations but I didn't get the pregnancy one as my midwife forgot until it was too late.

Any experiences?

Thank you.

OP posts:
Aeroflotgirl · 10/12/2014 21:30

I would go to the doctors tomorrow.

Sleepthief · 10/12/2014 21:31

Call nhs direct (I know it's not called that anymore, but call them anyway). These things are always worrying x

MoonAndBackAgain · 10/12/2014 21:33

We have exactly the same thing in our home at the moment, my 1 year old, 3 year old and myself have caught this bug where we have coughing fits at night to the point of vomiting.

4 months old is young to be coping with this sort of virus and the reason that viruses 'come alive' at night because our body slows down the production of adrenalin when we sleep therefore making it harder to flight off viruses.

If DD gets to the point of gasping for breath because of the coughing I would ring 999, I had to not long ago for my 3 year old and it turned out to be croup which he needed antibiotics for.

What did NHS direct suggest?

Topseyt · 10/12/2014 21:36

I might consider calling a doctor out this evening, or even taking her to the hospital if needed.

Poor little one. Hope she can be made more comfortable soon.

jpop · 10/12/2014 21:36

My dd was 4 months when she went blue around her mouth and was taken to hospital in an ambulance. Terrifying. She had been coughing for ages. It was bronchiolitis and she is fine now. I would get her checked again x

slippermaiden · 10/12/2014 21:37

If immunised it won't be whooping cough. Little ones do cough until they are sick, go to gp in the morning.

Original poster
Ifyourawizardwhydouwearglasses · 10/12/2014 21:37

I'm waiting for them to call me back.

I'm such an idiot, I was going to take her today as she was coughing so much last night, but then once she was up she seemed much better and I didn't want to take her to the surgery to get sneezed on in the waiting room unless I had to.
But she's worse again now that it's night time. I'll definitely take her tomorrow.

When she's having a coughing fit she goes all red and gags and it's like she can't get her breath, then she cries like she's terrified, but then after a few minutes she's fine and smiling again.

:(

Thanks for the replies.

OP posts:
Original poster
Ifyourawizardwhydouwearglasses · 10/12/2014 21:39

I'd like to take her tonight but the hospital is over an hour away and she hates the car so it would probably upset her. Plus toddler DS is in bed.

OP posts:
Original poster
Ifyourawizardwhydouwearglasses · 10/12/2014 21:40

Posted too soon....and DH still working.

OP posts:
EmmaLL25 · 10/12/2014 21:45

Try elevating her cot a little at head end to help her not get choked. A wet towel on a radiator can add moisture to the air and help with coughing too.

Sorry she's not well.

ChuckNovice · 10/12/2014 21:48

Can you pop her into bed with you and keep her in the crook of your arm. This helps when mine have a cough. Are there any out of hours places you can take her that are closer?

MoonAndBackAgain · 10/12/2014 21:50

You can run a steaming hot shower and sit in the bathroom in the mist if she is struggling also, that helps them a lot.

I hope she gets well soon, it's always scary when they are not well at such a young age.

SoonToBeSix · 10/12/2014 21:50

It doesn't sound like whooping cough, it sounds like bronchiolitis.

LumpenproletariatAndProud · 10/12/2014 21:53

There are so many coughing viruses going round at the moment, my youngest is prone to chest issues and this is the first year Ive just thrown ,y hands in the air and exposed him to them all because every shop of home or play group/nursery I go into several people have this cough going on. Ive never known so many adults and children suffer so much.

I hope its not whooping cough, but always best to get it check it could be croup or asthma too but hopefully just viral.

NorksWar · 10/12/2014 21:53

Not saying that your LO has the same but when mine had croup and couldn't get his breath we had to call an ambulance. Carrying him from the front door to the ambulance seemed to work straight away, because of the cold air according to the paramedics.

If your LO has a coughing fit tonight try standing with her infront of an open window for a few minutes.

KnoxValentine · 10/12/2014 21:54

What did nhs direct say? Vaccination doesn't make them immune. My DS had whooping cough as a baby after being vaccinated I thought the same thing only once he had it did they tell me it reduces the chances of getting it and if they do catch it, it would be a milder version than if they hadn't been vaccinated. My advise would be to be pushy I got fobbed off with diagnosis of a viral chest infection a couple of times so if you don't agree with what they say ask to see someone else I just took their word for it and I shouldn't have. Record a coughing fit on your phone and show them because it's just the luck that she won't do it in the doctors appointment. My DS was diagnosed on the phone a doctor rang back to tell me they couldn't do anything else just give calpol then she stopped talking for a few seconds and then said "is that him coughing in the background" I said "yes" "he has whooping cough" My DS was a bit older than yours and they didn't give him antibiotics because his symptoms had been longer than 3 weeks which is the time period that it is contagious, there isn't a medicine that made it go away it was a case of riding it out. Have bowls everywhere to catch the sick, keep her close by at night time, if no wet nappies you need to go to the hospital because she could be dehydrated. If she can't catch her breath after coughing call 999 immediately!!

KnoxValentine · 10/12/2014 21:57

YouTube the whooping cough sound and see if that's the same otherwise it's more likely to be croup, bronchitis or viral as suggested above.

LapsedTwentysomething · 10/12/2014 22:02

We struggled to get enough steam from the shower, and used to boil pans of water on all the gas rings and shut the doors. It helped hugely. But you do need to get to the docs.

If it's awful tonight, call out of hours. They will ask you to give it an hour and then take DD in if no better. If croup she may need steroids.

YvesJutteau · 10/12/2014 22:07

Babies often don't whoop with whooping cough, though, Knox.

KnoxValentine · 10/12/2014 22:18

Oh really I didn't know that yves, my DS had the whoop. I'm sure they can do a mucus test to check for the bacteria if your dd isn't whooping OP.

YvesJutteau · 10/12/2014 23:31

I didn't know that either until DS had it (so although I knew there was something wrong and kept taking him back to the doctor, whooping cough hadn't even crossed my mind)... apparently in a small baby it's more unusual to have the whoop than not to have it. Still took three GPs before this occurred to them...

TortoiseInAShell · 11/12/2014 11:00

My one-year-old has had the same sort of cough, which caused him to vomit, and which started in October.

People can still get whooping cough even if they've had immunisations, but it's always a much milder strain.

My extended family had to fight tooth and nail this summer to get the diagnosis of whooping cough. In the end it was only diagnosed with lab tests because the GP was adamant that it wasn't whooping cough! You don't always get the typical barking noise with it, especially in the milder forms.

Interestingly, as far as I'm aware, using antibiotics for one week only serves the purpose of shortening the infectious period from 21 days to 7.

As with any respiratory problem, you would need to seek urgent attention if it becomes extreme in any way.

They say whooping cough is the hundred day cough, so we've got a little way to go before it fully clears us if that's what started last October!

Having said that, I had a cough in May which caused me to vomit (and lasted very long time) and which I suspected was whooping cough. And then I had the October cough along with my children, so both can't have been whooping cough, which does suggest that one of the coughs (either May or October) simply mimics whooping cough.

Either way, as I said earlier, my view is that it's a simple case of 'watch and wait', but have a low threshold for any worrisome symptoms that develop and seek help immediately if you're concerned about DC's breathing.

TortoiseInAShell · 11/12/2014 11:08

Whooping cough, along with croup, can sometimes be fine during the day but terrible at night, so don't let that fool you into staying away from the GP! If it is croup they may need to listen to Dc's chest, for example. We've had steroids and inhalers for croup before now, and the first time I felt a complete fraud because the cold air temporarily cleared his cough and made it look like I had made it all up! Little did I know that fact was actually proof in our favour Grin

Tanith · 11/12/2014 12:14

My DD had whooping cough last year. The vaccine is one of the least reliable and lots of children who've been immunised get it.

The cough is very characteristic - a long bout of coughing with a whooping gasp for breath at the end of it.

Regardless, I'd take your baby to the doctor asap.

tiggytape · 11/12/2014 12:26

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.