To not take DS to the hospital?

[challengethethought]

I posted on a Mum page (Facebook) asking what I could give one year old DS to comfort him. By that I mean things like home remedies for soothing, like honey and lemon.

He woke up about an hour ago, crying like mad with a barking cough and loud chest. Finally got him to sleep and he's wheezing and making odd grunts.

NHS advice online is just to keep an eye and don't worry. Most likely Croup by the sounds of it, not serious unless he appears to be struggling for breaths.

I've been hounded by mums on the FB page to take him to A&E! Literally every one of them. Someone's even said "Take him to A&E for fuck sake, NEVER play with a child's life!"

AIBU to not take him?

Mine at this age developed asthma. Why are you still on here. Your poor baby.

There’s a particularly bad strain of bronchilitis doing the rounds this year so you should get your baby checked.

Tricky to know without hearing or seeing him.

When my 16 month old has been full of cold (did a massive snot sneeze earlier... vile not envy) I would put her in the bathroom with all the windows /door shut and run the shower. The steam helps clear the sinuses, and I would sometimes put Vicks vapour rub in the water just a tiny amount.

A bit of shuffle babe on the chest and rubbed into the sheet on the bed can help

Also found even though expensive the Calpol plug ins are good.

Nasal spray to help clear the nose.

As I said my dd has been very chesty this last week, coughing and breathing heavy. When I phoned receptionist between Xmas and new year they said unless she has a temp, pulling ears or sounds like a sore throat there wasn't anything a doc could do.

If they are bunged up I have always found cutting down on dairy helps and upping vitamin c like fresh fruit. Also you can get baby vitamins which can help to boost the system to fight a bug.

However if the breathing sounds abnormal, high temp ect I would err on side of caution

Thats really low. 'normal' for a 1 yr old is 30-60 resps per minute.

Please call 111.

It sounds like he has a bit of stridor from what you are describing and that should be seen.

I didn't think my DD was as ill as she was the first time she had croup. I thought we were going to have a quick check over from the OOH doc. She was in hospital for a week.

When they are really wee it's hard to tell if they are struggling for breath unless they are really struggling and obviously you don't want it to get to that stage.

Look at the top of his collarbone and under his ribs. If it sucks in a bit when he's breathing he's not managing to breathe properly. It's quite subtle but it's what the nurses taught me to look for.

Oh for heavens sake - Go! None of us can help from here. A child that young struggling to bring up phlegm and having breathing difficulties needs to be seems by someone who knows WTF they are doing. At least call 111. They will probably book you in to be Seen.

If at one his resp rate is only 21 then he needs checking. That’s very low it should be around 35

Call 111

DS had croup when he was just over 1. He woke up in the middle of the night raspy and barking, and distressed. Didn’t fuck around- I called 999 as he also had hives and was worried it was an anaphylactic reaction to some antibiotics he was already taking for tonsillitis. Call operator could hear him breathing and was also concerned. Ambulance arrived in 3 minutes.

Paramedic - wonderful, experiences, kind soul- took one SATs, declared not anaphylaxis but “croup- and must go to hospital- probably needs steroids.”

I was horribly embarrassed said “no no no we’re not going to hospital for croup - it’s no big deal” and was told off very sternly.

On arrival at hospital, similarly embarrassed for what I thought was a fuss over nothing. He was queue jumped ahead of other children and given a dose of steroids for what was noted as “moderate croup”, I got a pat on the back for suspecting anaphylaxis and a bollockif for underestimating how serious croup is, and we were home inside 3 hours- unheard of in my trust.

Call 111. Croup isn’t a “let’s see how it goes” situation in babies and toddlers apparently, but classed as an emergency.

DS had croup several times when very little and generally woke up after midnight really gasping for breath, when we had to go to A&E and get him steroids. If you don't feel like going to hospital now, imagine how much less you'll feel like going, and how much more stressful it will be, at 2am.

I really wouldn't take a chance with a 1 yo in any kind of difficulty breathing. I would get him seen by a real live doctor.

You think he has croup. Which matches the barking cough. But with mild croup they do NOT make the weird noises when they are settled/sleeping, but only when agitated.

So either it is croup, but isn't mild. Or it isn't croup.

Get seen.

Wheezing and grunting isn't a symptom to mess about with, he needs to be seen tonight. My child was bluelighted in from the GP when taken in due to wheezing and grunting.

Call 111 - they may ring your local hosp to fast track you through, the paediatric team will be awaiting your arrival.

Please take him. It might be viral induced wheeze (there's a horrible virus going round with coughing. Lots of people ending up with wheeze or infection). My DD(11) was given antibiotics and steroids as she was slightly wheezy. Please take him to out of hours.

I will call 111 if he starts up again. Definite trip to GP tomorrow. He has stopped making all noises now, just seems to be the odd snore here and there.

He feels normal temp, normal breaths, responds to my touch.

I understand people would just zoom to A&E if they were feeling so concerned, and that's understandable and right.

But NHS online can't be that out, otherwise 1000 of babies and children would die a year because of it being wrong, I would expect.

That’s far too low for a baby of that age. It should be between 30 and 40. I would be going straight to a and e.

OP please ring 111 for advice. My DD will be 7 in April and we have had to take her to the OOH GP because she is wheezy, this is the 4th time since she was born. The 3 other times she ended up in A & E on a nebuliser.

What are you scared of OP?

Why not just ring 111?

Op. Why ask if not taking the advice. The majority of people from both groups you have asked have advised to at least phone 111 - they have nurses/drs on hand to ask. Wheezing can quickly turn. Get some professional advice from somewhere please.

OP phone 111 now. And do what another posted said about his collarbone and ribs. They need to check his oxygen levels at the very least.

Why can't you just call them now? They won't come and punish you for calling them even if they think it's nothing.

My oldest ended up in the hospital with croup when he was one.

OP- you’re an absolute knob. Why bother to ask and then ignore 90% of posters who have experience of this - and are telling you to get off your arse and get him some medical help?

I hope to god you don’t regret your laissez faire attitude.

Why did you bother posting if you were going to ignore all advice? My son ended up in hospital being monitored 3 times last winter due to bronchiolitis

How utterly odd.

I understand that it's not the most tempting of things to do, and you'll be waiting around....

But you really should reconsider.
Call NHS.