Blue/purple lips on 14 month old.

[Georgia1217]

I am currently at the hospital and I’m dying of worry. My daughter has been getting blue/purple lips every now and again but it seems to be more often. However when she’s been being monitored all night nothing happens. She’s absolutely fine all night.

They are going to do an ECG on her but they do not believe it’s her heart, but they need to rule it out. The doctor has said something about a condition where when a baby drinks something really cold, she can get blue around the lips. And lose colour.

I of course, should believe and trust the professionals. But has anyone else had this problem with their little one? She doesn’t have a heart murmur as far as they can tell, but they will be testing her heart later on.

Could it be a slight blockage? If she’s picked something up and swallowed it and it’s wedged and stuck somewhere, but she can still breathe? Could it be that? I’m so worried I don’t know what to think.

Has she had an x-ray? What have her oxygen levels been like?

Unlikely to be something she's swallowed, she'd be coughing because the body is smart.

Do you know whether it does just happen when she eats or drinks something child or is it on exertion? Have they taken o2 sats? How old is she?

Well I hope they get to the bottom of it. As a child I used to get blue lips whenever I took anti-malaria medication, but I doubt this would apply to your daughter.

Her oxygen levels have been fine all night and day.

She hasn’t had an x Ray, they’ve booked her in for a ECG but that’s it at he moment. They want to catch her oxygen levels while she gets the blue lips, but she hasn’t had them since being here.

She got them for a couple minutes today but her oxygen level wire was not in as she had pulled that out.

Thankyou

Is it when shes unwell? DD has asthma and whenever she has croup or her cold gets worse she gets a bit of a tint but it's accompanied with her looking generally pale and unwell, and shes naturally very pale skinned anyway.

She has got it while drinking and eating before. But she’s also got it while just crawling about.

I’ve noticed it happens a lot when she has drunk something cold, but she had ice cream milkshake last night to see if she would have got it, and she didn’t. So it sometimes happens when she’s eating/drinking but sometimes it doesn’t.

They’ve been taking her oxygen level sats all night and most of the day (when she isn’t wiggling it about) and they’ve been fine. But she hasn’t had blue lips today except for a minute

Also, she has a heart murmur and they said it's very common and not usually an issue. So try not to worry about that, they have to do the scans but it's not unusual to have a murmur.

Forgot to mention yes she has a cold and tonsillitis.

It seems to be more often now that she’s poorly.

blue lips after cold food and drink is a similar effect to 'brain freeze' localised & very short.
when have you observed the blue lips?
other than that the other possibility is getting cold. like when swimming.

Tonsils and general snot can affect her o2 levels but if they're monitoring and they're fine I shouldn't think its that unless its just odd mucus plugs

oh and have you filmed any instance?

Personally from what you've said I wouldn't be concerned. Its good that they're doing a full check over of her and it sounds like there's enough reasons (cold lips from food, slightly less oxygen getting round while shes unwell).

We've had a lot of time in hospital with DD2 and from our experience when they're concerned they do tell you, so if they seem relaxed and like they're just doing the tests to make sure they haven't missed anything then its a good sign.

Is it when she's cold? My DS has always had blue lips when cold - my GP has said because he's very slight there's not much body fat there and so the cold affects him more. He's otherwise perfectly healthy and probably gets less colds etc than the average child!

She does get really cold hands and feet when this happens.

She’s small and not heavy. She doesn’t have much meat on her bones at all. So I do think she feels the cold much easier.

Thank you, that’s reassuring

Thank you. I’m hoping all her heart comes back healthy so I won’t be too worried after that.

Fingers crossed same reason as for my DS then!

My daughter also used to get a bit purple/blue, especially round the mouth, hands and feet. Usually when cold or unwell. No problems with oxygen levels or heart or anything, but she's always been quite skinny. She had grown out of it by about age 3, hope it's the same for your DD.

My DS gets blue lips when he's cold, even sometimes when he's just got out of the bath or shower. I've never really thought much of it . He's 7.

My toddler that has known heart issues never gets blue lips - does get slightly blue hands when shes cold though
My other child always always gets blue lips when she’s cold - and has zero heart issues. Some children just get it and it’s nothing to worry about.
Our cardiologist said children with heart issues usually present as lethargic and get tired quickly when exercise etc. if her energy levels are generally good then that’s good.

So worth getting ecg but then I wouldn’t worry about it after that if all comes back clear

Hi Georgia! my toddler is going through the same issues your toddler had. Dif you finally know what was causing her blue lips and cold hands?
Of course we are consulting with her doctors but I’m a bit worried. Thanks!