Those of u with asthmatic/recurrent croup/chest infection dc I could really do with some advice please

[mummyto2boysandagirl3]

Sorry I'm on here looking for pearls of wisdom again :(

My dd is 10 months and I'm awake at this ungodly hr because she has yet another chest infection. She is currently on boob fast asleep which is a vast improvement from Sunday afternoon when I had to take her to oohs.

Bit of background she was born at 36 wks had her first episode of croup at 3 months which lasted about 10 days gp didn't want to prescribe prednisone (sp?) as she was so small she then got it again at 7 months again lasted 10 days no pred. She has been ebf from birth and started to offer food at about 6.5 months unsurprisingly she wasn't interested until 8.5 months then tho not eating great quantity she wanted to taste everything and then at 9 months she got bronchiolitis which took 2 wks and 2 courses of anti bs to clear her interest in food didn't return then 2 wks ago myself dd and ds2 got a nasty sinus infection/cold type virus ds2 amazingly recovered withinh the wk but dd last wk developed croup again. The croup cough cleared within about 4 days but the nasal congestion stayed then this afternoon I rang oohs as she just wasn't herself seemed to find it hard to swallow and had a temp and sounded a bit wheezy (she does often sound wheezy eve when not symptomatic of cold etc but gp can never hear it) by time I got her to oohs her breathing was v fast apparently she has crackles on both sides and as everything is obv inflamed they prescribed prednisone amoxicillin advised the usual steam and said to use karvol to clear her nose for her tonight to make her more comfortable.

I gave her the pred as soon as we got back which worked as it made it easier for her to swallow and breathe. The steam is helping her to puke up the mucous and she can breathe through her nose now too as steam has helped with that and iv used karvol (don't usually use those kind of things as was always told it can aggregate asthma/chest infections)

Myself and ds2 r asthmatic. Ds2 didn't have any symptoms til 11 months ish then it was night time cough going blue round the mouth and wheezing he didn't get diagnosed til 2. I understand y they won't diagnose til then as ds1 was c sec baby so always rattly/wheezy/mucousy and he did out grow it by 2. However at less than a yr old 3 lots of croup and 2 chest infections seems like a marker to me and like she could maybe do with some help? Should I b pushing for paeds referral respiratory referral or just accept the gps don't worry we will treat when she's 2 if it's still happening. I understand they won't formally diagnose but there must b a puffer that might just help?

Also I think this cold may have made it's way to my chest I'm bf if I can't fight it on my own and end up needing anti bs will I b effectively double dosing her?

Thank u for reading sorry for the essay and apologies if it doesn't make sense iv had about 2 hrs sleep

Croup is an upper respiratory thing so in most cases it wouldn't be linked to asthma. DS is asthmatic and prone to croup which triggers asthma attacks but the croup itself isn't necessarily an asthma symptom (if that makes sense?)

If breathing wise she is fine between bouts then I doubt they will do much as inhalers won't really prevent a chest infection anyway - DS gets just as many since being diagnosed just means they don't make his asthma quite so bad when he does. He was diagnosed at 11 months but although he had a massive history of chest problems (6 admissions by that point) it was the day to day problems he was having which led to the diagnosis so young not the infections.

That said if you are concerned then it can do no harm to push for a second opinion, or ask your GP about trying an inhaler. You may find just having a ventolin to hand for when she has a chest infection or cold helps ease her symptoms. It is normal for young children to wheeze when they have a cold, and often a few days of ventolin really helps.

I find she's intermittently wheezy I between bouts but never at Drs when she's wheezy she's on a watch for asthma as at this age recurrent croup is linked to asthma diagnoses later on as the tubes r so small so it presents as croup type cough I have been told this by 3 different Drs and an asthma nurse there's also a link between childhood asthma and chest infections in the first year. I suppose even tho I know it's possible for them to outgrow it as da1 did I'm finding it v hard to watch her struggle to breathe. I also feel that her wheezing is effecting her eating solids as even when she's well she often is not interested or will literally only have 1 or 2 bites/mouthfuls at each meal and if my chest is tight I don't want to eat I also know when ds2 is off his food it's likely his chest. Sorry if my response is short and full of typos she's lay on me awkward and it's hard to type

Would just like to apologise for being somewhat rude in my last post I'm not normally like that honest but I'd only had a couple hrs sleep and I have worded wot I meant v wrong sorry.

I'm just finding it so hard watching all 3 dc b poorly I feel I'm getting close to getting ds1 sorted we r halfway there with ds2 and I guess knowing I have another yr to wait it out with dd is more stressful for me than iv let on. All 3 have issues breathing ds1 has glue ear with v enlarged adenoids and tonsils and has never been able to breathe through his nose we r on waiting list for an op now thankfully. Ds2 is massively underweight dropping centiles every time he gets weighed and is asthmatic and dd well iv bored u with the details in pp. I really was scared last night on way to oohs I thought I was going to phone an ambulance cos her breathing was so laboured. As she's not in to eating food due to all these infections is there anything I can eat/take that would give her a boost through my milk? I take pregnacare bf and eat a varied mostly healthy diet but any other suggestions r welcome