Whooping cough 6 month old....help

[mummy23x]

My DS2 of 6 months is being treated for whooping cough, he has not been well regarding coughing, breathing since birth really, didnt help that he was poorly at birth and so was on antibiotics from day one being treated for GBS however they found it was STREP A which was contracted from the hospital.

He has a course of very strong anti biotics for 3 days, I am looking for a steamer to help his breathing so it can be on during the night time when he sleeps.

Does anyone have any suggestions to how else I can help him xx

my friend has one and swears by it. Also 'air purifiers are good.

Hope he's feeling better soon, my dd used to get auful croup as a baby and it was horrid (the continues coughing).

I couldnt get on the link?

Surely he is not being treated at home???? Do you have equipment to monitor his oxygen levels? I also thought that the anti-biotics was for much longer than 3 days??? If he really has whooping cough I would insist on hospital admission and close monitoring and not bother about steamers. It is a bacterial infection and can become life threatening really quickly. I don't want to scare you, but at home is not the best place for such a young child with whooping cough.

I asked the doctor if he will be admitted he said absolutely not, as he is not struggling with breathing etc, also DS has been struggling with on going bronchilitis, then chicken pox, then bronchilitis again, cold all one after the other, the doctor said he is going to treat him for whooping cough as it is going around our town.

I would prefer him to be admitted, he slept all day and night yesterday, waking frequently but after being fed he would sleep, he also has a temp that I am keeping down with calpol, (he doesnt normally sleep like this withut or without calpol/temp/being poorly) my plan is to see how he is this morning and then take him back to the doctors if im not happy. He was admitted on mothering sunday and diagnosed with bronchilitis, giving ventilin, steroids, inhaler and sent home. He has been admitted on 3 occasions I would have thought they would do some investigation by now!

I would go straight to a and e if your worried rather than the gp.

Our doctor is coming out to see us, He's been sleeping since yesterday morning, waking for food, (which is very little compared to normal) and also waking when he coughs. He was a very healthy 10lb 6oz when he was born but I can see that in the last few days his weight has dropped, I am going to see what the doctor says and if I am not happy I will take him in.

I am really disappointed in the NHS I feel they should have done more, now that I know what they could of done I am I am not going to let them fob us off which unnecessary steroids and antibiotics that dont work!

Hospital wont have him in, TBH he's better off at home, i know its horrid seeing your child so poorly but other than give calpol theres not a lot more you can do, unless he gets worse then he's better at home where he will be more comfortable. I can remember having whooping cough as a child and it wasn't nice but in those days most kids had it at some point, it did last a while and i was quiet poorly with it. Hope he feels better soon and he doesn't get any worse xx

For some things there is little that can be done other than making them comfy and giving painrelief etc unfrortnatly.

She has just been and said the exact same thing, at the moment they cannot do anymore.

On a brighter note, he is now awake and playing so I'm off to spend some quality time with him. xx

My ds had whooping cough when he was 6 weeks old. He was very ill and hospitalised with it. I dont think people realise just how poorly it can make children.

The main problems we had were that he would cough to the point of being sick, so I would suggest lots of small and frequents milk feeds to ensure that he keeps fluid down and does not get dehydrated. Is he still feeding well? Keep pain relief up and dont be affraid to return to gp if you are worried. Has he had a blood test to confirm whooping cough?

His feeding has gone down to about 3 7oz bottles in 24 hours, he has gone off solids, he has a little water. I must say he really does seem brighter in the last hour :)

They have taken an oral swab to determine the exact cause, Dr thinking it is whooping cough, the results take 5 days, I will let you know when I find out.

Ive just come across baby physio....mostly in london, it has just come into this country, the french always take their babies for chest baby physio, it apparently halves the recovery time!! Defo one to look into :)

Well, I am amazed. Did your GP at least check his oxygen levels? Whooping cough is a very very serious disease, especially (but not only) in children under 1 year old. It seems that a lot of GPs don't realise this. If the coughing is bad and especially if your ds goes bluish around nose or bluish lips or very pale I would head to A&E and insist on admission. The big difference is that in hospital he will straight away have access to oxygen if needed and if at home there will be a delay if he needs oxygen. Whooping cough goes in stages. From memory, it is the second stage which is the most serious, with the awful coughing attacks, gasping for breath until vomitting. I hope your dc has a milder form. Don't forget you are his best advocate and stand your ground if you have to.

Good luck, hope he recovers soon.

Nope she never checked! Im feeling more positive, as he has been much brighter this afternoon, with less coughing. She told me that just because our town has is having a spell of whooping cough it doesnt necessarily mean Beau has it, although the GP yesterday said he is sure he has. She also said he doesnt look ill!! He never looks ill and mostly smiles all the time, he's such a smiley boy but it doesnt mean he's not suffering....Im a bit of a tough one when it comes to being ill, so luckily he's got that from me certainly not from my husband

You can also check oxygen levels yourself through the capillary refill test. You press on the nailbed (any finger) until it blanches (goes white), whilst you do this test let your son hold his hand up so it is higher than his heart. Let go and count how quickly his nail goes pink again (should be within two seconds) (his hand still higher than his heart). This is totally non invasive and gives you an idea about oxygen levels. However, in hospital they often hook up on an oxygen monitor (little clip on one of the fingers and toes, which is obviously more accurate and GPs usually do have access to these as well to check patient's oxygen levels).

I agree with you, kids can be very ill and still smiley. Hard for adults to imagine.

This website is from a retired English GP, who thinks that there is far more whooping cough around but GPs fail to recognise and diagnose it. There is lots of information on his website. He has also undertaken studies about whooping cough and gives advice how to deal with it.

Thank you, ive just listened to the audio of whooping cough with and without the whoop, DS is a mild case, thankfully. I will do the finger nail test, every time the hospital have checked it is generally 99%, last week im sure it was 94%...husband thinks it was higher although they never gave him oxygen.

Thank you for your helpful advice xx

At 94% they wouldn't give oxygen. The cut off whenever DS has been in has been 92%

Glad you think its only a mild case, hopefully he recovers quickly

DS had whooping cough as a newborn and was in hospital for a few days on supplementary oxygen -- although TBH by the time they actually listened to me that there was a problem beyond PFB parenting and had him in hospital it was probably past the worst .

In general, expect the cough to be properly bad for about six weeks, then just bad for another couple of months, then (so much better than it was that you more or less ignore it, but other people who aren't familiar with the background look at you as if you are a neglectful parent because from their point of view it sounds like a nasty cough) for a couple of months. DS would also get a lingering cough whenever he had a cold for a few years.

with reference to the chest physio i worked with a French parent who couldn't believe it wasn't standard practise here, the recommendation wasn't quick enough to help with ds1 as his chest problems eased by the time he was about 18 months, but would have tried it. hope things continue to improve, don't forget to look after yourself too.

There definitely is a lot more whooping cough around than people realise. I think the vaccine has been shown to only work for about 5 years. There have been big outbreaks in the US over the last few years in teenagers and adults. Many people don't realise that they have it, they just think it is a persistent cough, and then they spread it around everywhere. I'm glad your DS is on the mend mummy23. :)

Ds2 had whooping cough at around the same age :( we spent 1 night on the children's ward and had a couple of days back and forth to the hospital for assessment it was such a rough time especially the coughing fits we would be watching him waiting for him to catch his breath again :(
He was on antibiotics for 8 weeks in total.
Ds2 is now 2 and still has a week chest and has been on lots of medication since birth and we have had lots of admissions to hospital.

Hope your little man feels better soon x x x

DSS now has sickness bug!! icing on the cake really, really cant afford for DS2 to get it....fingers crossed