to think dd2's wheeze on her chest be taken more seriously?

[foxytocin]

apparently when they are under a year old, GPs are no longer allowed to diagnose asthma.

WTF?

are they supposed to hear 'tra la la la la la' through the stethoscope instead whilst i get to hear an increasingly distressed baby cough and cry instead of sleep?

it is no help to me that my knee (arthritis i suspect) and spd - still - is making it very painful to look after her and dd1.

i feel like a lump in my throat now.

I'm sorry to hear your baby's unwell . TBH it's not really as case of not being "allowed" to diagnosed asthma, though - babies are really prone to wheezing and it's usually due to viral infections. The usual asthma inhalers don't tend to work for it either. Ds had bronchiolitis when he was 7 or 8 months old and he wheezed and coughed almost continually for 6 months afterwards and sounded like a set of bagpipes each time he had a cold. I never bothered taking him to the GP becuase TBH I knew they can do bugger all about it.

They've lowered the age limit then. When DS was in and out of hospital with breathing problems they told me they wouldn't diagnose him with asthma until he was 2 - they did give him inhalers for emergencies though??

He actually isn't asthmatic though (he's 4 now)..just allergic to cat hair

do you want your baby wrongly diagnosing with asthma ? as liath says it is usually down to viral infections at that age .If you really believe it is asthma then there are lots of things you could do to see if it helps like remove carpet /soft furnishings from bedroom, get anti allergy bedlinen , dont use polish etc in bedroom, dont use central heating or if you have to put a big bowl of water above radiator ,keep pets out of bedrooms etc etc . I know its difficult dealing with a sick baby especially when your in pain yourself .

We were also told impossible to diagnose untill at least two years old. Whilst we didn't have the asthma diagnosis we did have inhalers as they can relieve the wheeze whether asthma or viral.

Have they told you what you can do to help her if you are worried about her wheezing?

they cant properly diagnose asthma in kids under 5 or 6 because it requires peak flow tests which kids below that age cant do. Wheezy infants are very common due to immature airways.That doesn't mean to say that the wheezing cant be treated however . They can still take ventolin and steroids if needed. Ds2 had a chest xray at 14 months to check he hadn't aspirated anything due to permanent wheezing. He's much better now he's 3

Is she having any medication and is she ok at the moment or getting worse? There is nothing worse ime than listening to your child struggle to breathe.

I have learnt to say wheezy baby not asthma round hcp's as they get a real bee in their bonnet about it despite the fact that dd1 has been on salbutamol and a preventer since she was one! she has a very allergic dad and while I'd love it not to be so if it looks like it and is controlled by the medication for it what the hell else is it???

She's 2.5 now and after a fairly good winter I suggested to gp that maybe we should try reducing meds? GP looked at me like I was crazy and said it was the meds that gave her the good winter! Mind you she doesn't have "asthma" Grrrr rant rant rant. Whole discussion was rendered irrelevant a few weeks later as the hayfever season kicked in and her non-asthma has been much worse

thanks for the information and povz.

shortly after posting i gave dd2 a puff (or 2) of dd1's brown inhaler and it helped to stop the coughing and get her especially and me get some rest.

dd1 has allergies which are inherited from dh's side and i am worried maybe unduly about dd2.

but she seems better today thankfully.

some of your responses made me think more clearly of why i was annoyed so much and i think it was the doctor. she was most keen on hurrying us up out of the office, did not even allow us to sit down and she herself was standing in the room as if she needed a wee and we were holding her back. tbh, she saw us and the trev patient in less than 5 mins.

she offered no advice as how to make dd2 more comfortable last night unlike you lovely ladies. which i think was her effing job. are i wrong or right on that count?