Yestersay we went to a and e as my boy was not breathing for a while and then short shallow breaths intermittently.
We were seen by 4 doctors. 2 of them (standard doctors) said it was basically a random thing that was nothing to worry about.
The senior paediatrician saw my boy on top form trying to leap about, roll everywhere laughing at her and grabbing things off her face. She also heard him make this weird pigeon noise which he has made intermittently since birth, after feeding when excited, and sometimes at night/first thing in the morning. After feeding the noise used to be worse but now its first thing in the morning and it has been particularly bad since the weather warmed up. I had noticed his breathing being affected before but if I turned him over he was always fine, but it took him a long time to come round yesterday hence we called 999 immediately. I feel awful that I never thought anything of it before but the truth is his first few weeks of respiratory distress on CPAP in an incubator were so bad and I was told to expect erratic breathing from time to time. The senior paediatrician however said now at 7 1/2 months it cant just ve dismissed as a baby thing. I also had feeding support for a week and was told that him choking on his milk was normal. A breastfeeding support worker also told me it was fine. So I think I've been desensitized to choking and feeding problems. Getting milk into him was a nightmare from day 1. For 2 months he choked nearly constantly on his milk and wouldn't stop choking until I tipped him forward to physically stop the choking. Then 2-5 months he continued to choke an awful lot but at least could cough himself to clear his windpipe.
Now at 7 1/2 months we have been weaning for 6 weeks and the choking has been constant. Again everyone says to expect choking but most people seem to say that it resolves after a few days, not 6 weeks. He is starting to be able to occasionally swallow soft solid food so he does make progress but it just seems quite slow and painful compared to other babies.
Anyway the senior paediatrician thought it was laryngomalacia which she said usually resolves by itself but does require urgent action if it deteriorates.
She then referred me to ear nose and throat and they came along and saw my baby when he was tired and said it was a developmental thing. They didnt seem to believe me about the noise unless the heard it themselves and they dismissed it being a physical thing as it is intermittent.
My understanding is that laryngomalacia is intermittent? I strongly feel that it is a physical thing as my boy has no developmental issues and is very alert curious smiley and strong. I feel the ent didnt listen to me and made a judgement based on 2 minutes of my babies life where he was exhausted from being in a and e for 7 hours. I am getting to see a senior ent this week.
If it is laryngomalacia a laryngoscopy will diagnose it. He will have to be put under anaesthetic to do that because of his age he will not cooperate with the test.
I guess I'm asking has anyone else had experience with this? And should I push for a laryngoscopy? They offered to do one yesterday but they said they only had an adult endoscope at it would be "quite brutal" so I declined. But think I will push for a baby endoscopy. As much as I dont want him under anaesthetic, i never want to wake up to my baby not breathing again and I dont want a physical exam to be ruled out based on one doctors analysis based on 2m with my baby. I feel something serious like interrupted breathing needs physical obstructions ruled out...
Hard choice for me as a lot of conflicting info xx