Potential asthma in 2 yo?

[givemesomewine]

Looking for some advice please

Does anyone’s 2 year old have asthma? I’m not sure if my little boy does. He’s been doctors they aren’t concerned but every few months he seems to get a croup cough over night for one night.

I’m now questioning everything.. do your 2 yo get out of breath a bit when running about? I don’t know if that’s even normal for a child to get a little out of breath? It doesn’t stop him he carries on as normal and I don’t want to be worrying around him and restricting him if not necessary?

What were the signs of asthma in your toddler please?

My 2 year old has had 4 admissions, 2 bronchoscopies and is occasionally (about every 6 weeks) wheezy. She is on regular steroid inhaler, blue inhaler as needed.
i have been told by her paediatric respiratory physician that she has a 50% chance of asthma, but just too early to tell.

What happened when admissions were needed if you don't mind me asking?

My little boy has had 3x croup this year. (Well, they think croup. He wakes with a cough that sounds exactly like it and gasping) First two we've had to take him up the hospital for steroids as struggling with breathing that does calm before steroids etc but they've always suggested he has them.
This last time he had the cough and wasn't breathing great but wasn't as bad so no steroids needed but did take doctors who prescribed the blue inhaler for as and when needed.

I'm now just in constant fear/anxiety about what to expect.. how he's going to be at nursery etc. I'm absolutely terrified :(

I have moderate asthma and was diagnosed at age 2 and a half / 3 (I know they rarely diagnose that young now)

The main symptoms I had that lead to diagnosis were frequent overnight coughing which kept me awake (multiple times a week), wheezing during the day and night which was worsened by movement but would happen even when I was resting, very rapid breathing, shortness of breath whilst I was playing / moving which took me a long time to recover from. I also often had more intense chest symptoms when I had a cold than my siblings.

There was family history that supported me likely being asthmatic, a parent and a grandparent with moderate asthma, as well as the presence of eczema and allergies too.

Thank you for sharing this with me.

My little boy doesn't usually cough during the night it's only every couple months this year (3 times now) that he's woken up with this horrible sounding barking cough which does result in gasping and wheezing but once he's been up half hour or so it's all gone like nothing has happened.

But now I'm questioning does he get out of breath easily for a 2 yo? He does run round a lot and is only a little out of breath but honestly I'm just so anxious now with what to look out for or what to expect etc.

I have such bad health anxiety anyway.

On the whole I wouldn't have even questioned whether he had asthma it's only this year with 3 lots of 'croup' happening that I'm starting to worry!

Just wanted to give some positive info based on your last post, I was diagnosed as a very young child. My mum taught me how to do my own inhalers and helped me identify how it felt for me when I needed to take them. It was rarer I think for young kids to have inhalers maybe in my day, so she had to do a training session for my nursery nurses but they knew exactly what I needed and kept a closer eye on my breathing.

By the age of 5 or 6 I was confident in asking for my inhaler or doing it for myself. I did miss more school than some kids as generally they were more cautious about sending me in if I had a cold / cough so I could have a closer eye kept on me at primary school.

once my symptoms were well controlled via inhalers, I had very few day to day symptoms and only had a handful of asthma attacks as a child, all handled by nebulisers.

I can completely understand you’re very anxious about this, and it’s good to keep an eye on, but it sounds like you are being watchful appropriately and will notice if something is going very wrong. You could ask about the breathlessness, is there an asthma nurse at your GP who could see you? They’re the best people in terms of asthma I’ve found, usually much more knowledgable than GPs

Admissions - generally looking very unwell and clearly working very hard (oxygen sats were 76% and 84%, needing quite a lot of oxygen.). Wheeze audible from another room.
I am probably a bit too relaxed but if she was still wheezy after 10 puffs of ventolin then I would take her in.
I am hoping she is now big enough for a cheap paediatric sats monitor to work at home.

Thank you for sharing.
I have no idea what my son's stats were as by the time we were there and seen his breathing was normal. I'd like to think they would have told me if they were low?! I also don't recall him needing oxygen during these episodes only the steroids.

You know your child - do whatever is right in your gut hey :) thanks for the information I appreciate it