Worried about my 5 month old

[elm26]

Posting for traffic, sorry.

5 month old DD has had a cold for nearly 3 weeks but took a turn for the worse Sunday evening and was coughing a lot.

I took her to GP Monday who said she has a double ear and theoat infection and prescribed antibiotics.

Tuesday after a sleepless night because of her sounding like she was unable to breathe laying flat, I called 111 at 5am and they advised me to take her to paediatrics a&e. I took her straight away and on top of ears and throat infection, they also diagnosed an upper respiratory tract infection. They advised to keep going with antibiotics and if no better by the end of the course (today) to take her back to GP.

Her cough now sounds like her body is rattling and she's so sad and not her usual smiley self. I took her back to the drs tonight and saw a different doctor who said she's also got pus on her tonsils and they are enlarged but said it's not tonsillitis and he believes this is viral as the antibiotics don't seem to be doing anything. He said to let her sleep as much as possible, keep painkillers topped up alternating calpol with nurofen and stream inhalation which we've been doing since his whole week.

She just seems to be going more and more downhill but he said her chest is clear even though he agrees she's wheezing and out of breath.

What do I do? FTM and not sure if I should just follow advice and keep her in in the warm, lots of cuddles and hope in a few days it's passed or do I take her back to A&E tomorrow if she's worse?

I'm terrified it could be RSV which I know is okay if it's caught early.

Trust your instincts and look up the stuff you need to be looking out for eg increase Hr, low oxygen levels, increased work of breath, tugging at the ribs or trachea, no wet nappies etc. hopefully your baby is better soon!

As pp said trust your mum instincts if your really worried go back its absolutely better to check then to leave it, don't doubt yourself xx

This is the traffic light system that's used to look for warnings signs of serious illness in young children. You're not a doctor of course but I hope you find it reassuring if you don't see any of the red flag symptoms in your child.

www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng143/resources/support-for-education-and-learning-educational-resource-traffic-light-table-pdf-6960664333

Follow your instincts and take again today is she is no better/worse. Love to you and your little girl, I hope she gets well soon x

I'd go back to the GP tomorrow if you aren't sure she's improving.

First get her checked out again if it dosent feel right. If you are not sure still get her checked out again until you are 100pcnt happy she is improving. If she is still worryingly unwell and not improving take her back to the a and e, ask them to do bloods from inflammation marker and swab the throat to find out if its bacterial infection andwhich bacteria.

Meanwhile go on amazon and get a nebulizer and infant saline solution, it helps with asthma,bronchitis,pneumonia etc.

I wish your child speedy recovery.

Thanks everyone.

I've been back at hospital since 6am, she is rattling when she's breathing and triage agree that it sounds like it's moved down her chest when it was upper respiratory before.

Waiting to see doctor.

DD has 6 nappies full of green and dark frothy diarrhoea since midnight and has projectile vomited two bottles, refusing water.

I have ordered a nebuliser and some saline solution for it, thanks @Bingsbongs

Will push for throat swabs and bloods x

You're in the right place at the hospital. Hopefully if she's not breathing well there they will give her a nebuliser treatment there and other things. Always take them to A and E with breathing difficulties. Once I called an ambulance for my son and they said he's ok just give him Calpol, 4 hours later he was white as a ghost with breathing difficulties still and we went to A and E and he needed treatment straight away and was admitted to hospital for 3 nights. Always seek treatment for your child and trust your gut instincts as some medical professionals can brush you off but it's on you if something happens to your child and you've got nothing to lose by going to A and E but the child could die if unable to breathe. Wishing your child a speedy recovery. Take care of yourself and hope other family members can come and help you as it's exhausting dealing with a sick child xx

You've definitely done the right thing in going back. Hope she has a speedy recovery

She's in the right place to get help. Hope you're doing okay - it can be so stressful!
For future as the bugs during winter are unfortunately inevitable - have a look at some videos that should examples of when children are struggling to get enough oxygen. They can suck in from the ribs for example. I find Tiny Hearts education on IG or TikTok very helpful with their videos.

@SharonMarieSutton
Her baby is 5 months old, so anything other than milk shouldn't be given unless otherwise specified by a health professional.

Have they swabbed her and seen what,.if anything, is growing in her throat/ chest?

There's a fair bit of mycoplasma pneumonia about at the moment - which needs specific antibiotics to treat and does not tend to show up without a swab.