4th hospital admission for 7 month old - RSV/Bronchiolitis

[worriedmumm3]

I’m at my wits end.

Every time my 3yo gets a head cold at nursery, DS 7 months catches it and without fail it ends up on his chest.

I feel so helpless, this is the 4th time he’s been admitted in the 7 months he’s been here. He’s having nebulisers, he’s on and off the oxygen and humidifier.

My Mum said I always suffered chest infections as a child and was diagnosed asthmatic at 4 which has always been well controlled. I barely touch my inhaler these days bar a few times a year but they said no point in inhalers etc etc but I’m seriously losing the will to live with worry, I’m so sick of seeing this poor boy unwell, I’m tired of spending 3 nights away from DD & DH every time he catches a cold. I’m just sick of it all ☹️

Anyone experienced similar? Did your DC “grow out of it”? Anything I should be asking doctors? I’m so tired I can’t think straight, I know it’s viral and they don’t give antibiotics but surely this amount of times in 7 months isn’t normal?

Poor DD has become anxious whenever she gets a cold because she says “DB is going to hospital isn’t he?” It makes me so sad. I’ve reassured her that it is absolutely not her fault.

All of us in our house are hygienic, we wash hands every toilet use, before dinner, DD is bathed every other night and DS every 3rd due to his bad eczema but they get full warm flannel wash on the non bath nights, bedsheets are washed and changed for us all weekly, we have no pets, the house is cleaned regularly, I’m aware I’m rambling but I’m genuinely beginning to wonder if there is any way to minimise risk other than the no kissing babies face. We’re outdoors come rain or shine and DD attends a preschool that’s based around forest school (not a full forest school) so she’s out and about with school and us building her immune system but DS just seems to be unwell all of the time.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated x

You poor thing. Babies plus 3 year olds are hard enough, without hospital visits. I would say with eczema, it's likely he also has/ will develop asthma.

My DS had very bad eczema and later asthma. He's now 20 and totally grown out of eczema and the asthma is much, much better. He's not been in hospital since he was 11. I think this might just be something you need to get used to until he grows out of it. Hopefully he will become a bit more immune to all the bugs but I expect every cold will go onto his chest as it seems like a weak area for him. Hopefully with time the doctors will learn how to manage it at home with inhalers etc but when he's so young hospital is the safest place for him.

I would consider dairy allergy. My dc1 was the same. In and out of hospital for chest infections until we cut out dairy and soya.

Research does not show a link between chest infections and dairy, in fact it may be protective.

How worrying fir you OP. My own child had a whole week in hospital once as a baby with RSV, although not more. I hope you are getting consultant appointments to discuss the overview of this.

My DGS was similar. Unfortunately he was born in critical condition (hideous birth and lungs full of meconium..it was touch and go whether he would even survive) and DD was warned he might have chest problems for a while.
The first year was terrible.. RSV/Bronchiolitis time and time over..and he was an only child so not exposed as much as a sibling would be. But after about 18m his immune system started to improve and he was unwell less often.
Now just turned 5 and fine. Constantly snotty, but fine. (His baby sister however...poor kid gets everything he brings home from school!)

I suspect only time will improve things unfortunately...with an elder sibling there is not really anything else you can do to stop the germs!

Has he been prescribed a daily preventive inhaler, as well as the reliever? It was the only thing that helped my DD until she grew old enough for her lungs to heal from the repeated infections and get big enough to not get clogged each time with mucus. It reduced hospital admissions and oxygen/steroids.

edited to say just seen the bit about no inhalers, that’s quite against guidelines. Who’s said that, have seen a paediatric respiratory specialist?

My older child has had similar, finally aged 2.5 he’s been given a preventative inhaler. I’m hoping it’s done the trick as we’ve been asking about asthma since he was about 11 months old. They said they can’t diagnose until older but can treat it. He’s had one cold/cough since being given the inhaler and didn’t need a hospital admission. I think the real test will be when next winter bug season starts.
You could ask about one though. We asked to speak to a respiratory specialist last time he was admitted and I’m sure you could get a referral through your GP. We were told after his fourth admission they start to consider needing to make a change.

You have my every sympathy though, it’s awful when they start a cold and getting worried about a potential hospital admission for every cough/cold is exhausting! I hope you find a solution.

My DD has never been diagnosed with asthma, just repeated bronchiolitis until 1 and then after 1 it was called early childhood wheeze 🤷🏻‍♀️ but the inhalers worked really well for that too

My youngest had a couple of stints with this in hospital as a baby. Not a load of fun!

They can and often do grow out of it. He's a strapping young man now, and no issues to worry about.

The little so and so has given me plenty of other things to worry about (the grey hair is all down to them, A&E got to know us quite well at one point) - but his breathing / lungs etc has not been a problem.

My DD was very similar, lots of hospital admissions up until age 5 but worse until aged 2-3 and then gradually improved. She was put on preventer as well as reliever inhaler and steroids which helped. Although she still has mild asthma now (at 13) she is very active and it doesn’t impact her.
It doesn’t sound like there’s anything else you can really be doing - is your GP helpful? Can you speak to them?