Until we see the doctor at 5...

[febbabies2023]

Can't see the doctor until 5 so thought I'd post on here to see if in the meantime anyone has any other advice or suggestions.

LO is 5 1/2 months old
Cough came about 10 days ago
It's now got worse - her breathing is noisy / chesty / a bit wheezy
After a coughing fit she has pauses of breath for about 7 seconds or go
Feet are freezing even with socks on
This morning she only took half her milk - 4oz instead of 8, very unlike her
Very grouchy and sleepy
No sucking in at the ribs that I can tell
Breathing seems fairly slow and not hugely deep breaths but I'm unsure if this is unusual for her
Doesn't appear to have a temp

WWYD whilst waiting for doctor?

Call 111 for advice or call your GP again and ask for advice
They don't mess about with babies with respiratory problems.

Wheezy breathing in a baby under 6 months would be A&E for me especially if she has gone downhill in the last couple of days.
Did you get an appointment with the GP through the surgery or was it the advice of 111? If you haven’t already called them then I’d suggest you do and explain you are due to see GP at 5 but you’re worried about her breathing. They will tell you if they think you need to be seen sooner. Hope she gets well soon.

I'd be 111ing too and if not happy I'd go to a and e, not worth it with a baby so young! Hope you're both OK x

Don't wait for the GP, go to A&E, poor feeding, breathing worsening, cold extremities and lethargy are all signs that she is getting worse not better.

Thank you all

I didn't want to waste A&Es time if it was just a viral / a cold or whatever

She's my second so I'm trying not to panic and seem overly worried when I know they get colds and coughs all the time

I'm going to give her this bottle to see how much she has, and call 111 before I head to the hospital

Obviously if she gets increasingly worse I would go straight to A&E

I'm sure the receptionist didn't even listen to me when I was explaining

@bagforlifeamnesty no I called the dr when they opened thinking I would get an app before 5pm. How wrong I was

Annoying that you can't post videos on here! Or can you?

Phone the GP back or call 111. Good luck

The other problem with a 5pm appointment is that if your GP is anything like ours then they are (thankfully) very cautious with young babies and would likely send you to A&E afterwards to be checked out by paeds anyway as the GPS aren’t specialist and they will always defer to paediatrics. So if that happens then you’re facing pitching up at A&E at 5.30pm to spend god knows how long waiting throughout the evening. I’d cut my losses and head down there so that you at least know you’ll be back at a decent hour.

Go to A&E. it’s a Monday morning, one of the more quieter times to go. I would just go now. She’s still very young so at the age where prolonged illnesses like this should be checked.

Doctor has just called and cancelled the face to face as the doctor called in sick. Great. They've changed it to a telephone app before 2pm instead

Not helpful

Seriously OP that’s even more reason to just go. Go now!

I agree with the A&E option. Sleeping a lot and taking half feeds was how my DD was with bronchiolitis. Babies can struggle for a while and then go rapidly downhill. Best to get checked. The breath holding would worry me too.

I'd say go to A &E. V. Young baby, not at all well.

I had this with my second child too OP. First time was telephone call and Dr wasn't worried and palmed me off. Second time a few months later when it flared up again I insisted on seeing a Dr. Saw a different one and she gave me an inhaler to use. It's basically asthma he has but they don't like to diagnose so young now. Run a bath with some vapour bubble bath if you have any to help with the airways. A long as there's still plenty of wet nappies I wouldn't worry too much about the milk situation. If you think it's getting worse then obviously go to A&E. When Dr calls really lay it on thick, hopefully they should listen to you! Let us know how you get on!! x

Head down to a and e op, you won't be wasting time, baby is very young and needs to be seen by a professional, if it's 'just a cold / virus' then no harm done

Another saying A&E, just not worth any risks with such a tiny baby.

Is she head bobbing at all when breathing, that's a sign that they're working to breathe, not just sucking in at the ribs, I took my little one in and they kept her overnight for obs, sent me home and I was back that afternoon as felt she was worse, she was then admitted as had RSV, so definitely worth getting checked out

How are you both xx

Sorry for the late replies everyone, I've just got the kids sorted and into bed

I ended up calling 111 as she kept being okay, and then not so okay so wasn't sure if it was an A&E trip
They did send me down to A&E because they couldn't get me a dr app either

Triaged pretty quickly and then seen straight away at the children's ward at our local hospital. Dr said she's got a chest infection / bronchiolitis so we've been given antibiotics for a week

Naturally she hardly displayed any symptoms when she was there but coughing awfully on the way back (I suppose because I was holding her most of the time at hosp she wasn't coughing much)

But she's here at home and tucked up in bed, still coughing bless her but she's so tired I hope she can get some good sleep.

Thank you all for your advice

That's good to hear, that you're home after being seen.
Did they say that days 4 and 5 are often the worst days with bronchiolitis, and tell you what to look out for? ( we've just had an 11 month old in hospital twice in three weeks with it)