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?

Ds1 had bronchiolitus at about 9 months old. I took him to the GP feeling sure we would be sent away again, instead we were sent immediately to hospital and admitted. I'm glad you rang 111; you can't really overreact to wheezing and breathing issues.

My DS gets croup all the time, since he was a baby and I've never taken him to hospital for it. I would sit him upright and take him outside as the cold air helped.

bronchiolitis

Not sure why so many people feel it ok to use A&E as their on call GP

Because my local OOH 9 times out of 10 is at my local hospital 30 miles away. Waiting for a dr to do a home visit could be 4 hrs so they tell us to go there as its quicker.

Every time i phoned about my kids breathing i was told to go strsight to hosp or they sent an ambulance. They dont mess around with young children.

My youngest dc, I took them in at 11pm due to croup cough and struggling, changed their nappy before going, wrapped up warm etc, got to the hospital 15 mins later, taken straight in and undressed, they had the meningitis rash, plus the breathing issues, cue lots of panic, blood tests, 48 hours observations, no real treatment for the chest. Discharge as all tests came back negative.

My dc then struggled for 11 weeks with bronchiolitis, with 4 admissions for minimum four nights. On the third admission the paediatric consultant was waiting at the door for us, as my dc was starting to arrest. 11 weeks it took for my child to be well again. Do not ever mess around and wait with a young child. Every time my dc was admitted my (now ex) DH said there was nothing wrong, I was over anxious, being dramatic. I trusted my instincts, and thankfully my dc is now fit and well, robust and happy child in junior school.

My youngest had bronchiolitis. He ended up being admitted and was put into an oxygen tent. It was all very scary.

When my DS was 4, he had flu followed by croup. the day the croup developed (Xmas day!), I phoned NHS direct and they asked me if that was him in the background, I said yes, they sent an ambulance and put him on oxygen and admitted him to hospital. Please get him checked out.

Take it from someone whos had to mouth to mouth resus their own child from 'just a cough' its not fucking fun. Under 2? Get them seen.

I took then 18 month old dd to a doctor in the middle of the night to be told she 'just had a bit of a cough'.
My instinct was that she was really struggling so I rang back. The nurse who spoke to me heard dd breathing in the background and immediately called an ambulance.
Dd was rushed to hospital with dangerously low oxygen.
Never mess around with young children and breathing.

No one here can tell the op if she should go to A&E or not, only she can see the baby and her gut is telling her he is ok. She is definitely doing the right thing phoning 111 for advice though. My ds at that age had croup and I didn’t take him to A&E but I knew what to look for and live 2 minutes away. Only the op knows the full picture so I think people are being harsh having a go at the op for not going

I took my ds to gp with a barking cough - he diagnosed croup and phoned an ambulance?

This thread is making me feel shocking - my daughter was ill a few days ago with what I now suspect was bronchiolitis - never heard of it before now! She had a nasty cough and snot, very lethargic and unlike herself, sleeping lots in the day and coughing at night. She'd one really bad night of panting like a dog in her sleep - I spent the whole night awake watching her to make sure she was ok. But I now see I should have taken her in, some of the stories being told on here are pure horror inducing nightmares. She's right as rain now and has been for a few days, but if anything like it happens again I'd definitely take her in as I had no idea how quickly things could deteriorate!

I wouldn't risk it at the age of one, I would definitely take him to be checked out.

year they said unless she has a temp, pulling ears or sounds like a sore throat there wasn't anything a doc could do.

Not to hijack the thread but is pulling ears sign of an ear infection?

Phone call to 111 will often send a paramedic out.

I rang for advice after being in hospital two days before and after a lot of questions they sent a paramedic out and I was taken into hospital with ‘on the ceiling’ blood pressure. I think it is a good service because you can ask for advice and they go by your information given. I am sure they don’t always get it right but neither does everyone as is noted here.

Yes ear pulling can be a sign of an ear infection

I was under the impression that croup's really mild, never realised it can be so serious. I nearly called 999 when DS had it though as he was making the same sound as my mum when she had a severe asthma attack and he wasn't bloody rousing as he was tired!

Of course he was perfectly fine by the time we went to OOH as he'd been in the cold .

Hi all, update for you -

I called 111 and gave every symptom etc. I told them the noises he had been making had stopped apart from the odd sniffley snore. But I did emphasis that he had been very wheezy and sounded whistly literally 20 minutes before he just started sounding normal in his sleep.

I was told to take him to the GP today

Not even to see someone urgently.

I mentioned his resps and they said that's within normal range for a 1 year old

He woke up 10 minutes ago, happy and chatty. He sounds like he has a cold but that's it. How strange

No sign of that horrible croup noise he was making last night at all.

Glad you got some specific input that was relevant to your child. Hopefully you're seeing a GP today who can give you further specific advice. Hope your son is feeling better soon.

Your mum's instinct was 100% OP . As expected

These types of post infuriate me!

Glad he’s improved OP, but in future ring 111 in the first instance rather than seeking advice from non qualified healthcare professionals on FB and from online forums... it is best to be safe rather than sorry especially when it’s a baby that is ill.

Colds flu/coughs ect are always worse at night so that’s probably why he seems better this morning, but please do contact your GP/111 if no improvement in his symptoms or his symptoms get worse.

I find it very strange that they told you to wait with a 1 year old who had those symptoms. Heck my mum called after a nasty cat scratch and they told her to go to hospital.

I'm also surprised, mainly as 111 tend to advise hospital to cover their own backs.

Isn't croup something that gets worse at night?

Glad he’s improved OP, but in future ring 111 in the first instance rather than seeking advice from non qualified healthcare professionals on FB and from online forums... it is best to be safe rather than sorry especially when it’s a baby that is ill.

I didn't really seek advice for his symptoms as such. Just wondered if I was really being that unreasonable not to take him A&E. Again, NHS website seems to be very blasé about it all and not list it as serious unless he wasn't able to breathe properly etc.

I called 111 and they were happy for him to go to the GP today. Nothing was said about getting him seen ASAP.

I did worry when someone advised on here that a resp rate of 20 isn't normal, but NHS 111 assured me it was.