17mth old with chest infection wwyd

[Jakeandsophiesmum]

My Ds 17 months has a "nasty" chest infection diagnosed by our lovely gp on Wednesday she prescribed amoxicillin and alternating calpol and nerofen. Two days later and he is lethargic, not eaten for 3 days, bearly drinking 5oz all day yesterday, wheezing, and still coughing. Took him back this morning and gp has put him on steroids for 5 days and said whip him up to A&E if he gets any worse then he is now. Have bought him home and given him first dose of pred and he's just slumped in his little chair refusing food (choc biscuit) and a drink of squash. I can hear his wheezing from the settee and he's just so pale. I counted his breathing rate and it was 50 breaths a minute. How much worse do you think he would need to be before thinking about taking him in? And what could they do? Thanks in advance

Sounds like a case of bronch. See here

I would pop him down to A&E. You can't see what his oxygen staurations are doing, and it would be a good idea to get him seen to. A respiratory rate of 50 is fairly high, but not the highest I've seen; but rememeber that little ones get very tired very quickly when working hard.

The children's wards have bronch bays this time of year... it is a VERY common illness but can make children quite poorly if its severe or goes untreated.

A&E may do nothing, but trust your gut. I think he probably needs to be seen by a paeds doctor though.

I agree with Charlie. Although I may be tempted to wait an hour or so to see if the pred kicks in.

If he shows any signs of 'sucking in' under his ribs or at the bottom of his neck then take him stright to a and e

Don't wait, take him now.
My ds had bronchiolitis and I waited, when I eventually phoned out of hours they could hear him wheeze and sent an ambulance. We were not long in hospital when he became unresponsive and needed oxygen and resuscitation
Please don't wait, take him to a+e now

If he is worse than this morning, which I'm guessing he is, I'd take him now.
I wouldn't stop and think about how much worse he is, just the fact that he is you should take him. ITMS.
Hope he gets better soon.
Keep us posted.

I agree with the other posters. Its not worth waiting for him to get even worse. Take him to the hospital. Get him checked out. IF they find something he's in the right place. x

Thanks so much for all your advice. I took him in and they have him a neb and changed his antibiotic to augmentin then sent him home. But today he's wheezing again!! He's eating more and drinking better and seems a little brighter in himself but he's still so wheezy and when he coughs it sounds like he's under water!! Anyway I will see how he goes for the next couple of days!

Take him back if you're not happy. Sounds like pneomonia [sp] to me - ds was fobbed of with bronchillitus for a while before being admitted for a week when he was a baby.....

Did they give you an inhaler and a spacer? Sounds like he's got viral induced wheeze. Some salbutamol will probably help. Glad he seems brighter though. Ds gave me a terrible fright at that age xx