Bronchiolitis

[LeoSun11]

baby boy has bronchiolitis, I went for a coffee with friends on Wednesday last week & one of the girls little boys had a hoarse cough, really snotty nose etc typical signs of a bad cold. Upon further discussion she let the group know it was bronchiolitis… I was so annoyed instantly as I know it comes from a virus. Lo and behold within 2 days my boy is loaded w snot, really under the weather & just all round poorly.

come Sunday night we’re in a&e as he can’t breathe, chest caving in - anytime we were attempting to feed he was bringing the whole bottle back up as he was struggling to breathe out his nose. We were sent home without admission & told they can’t prescribe steroids we’ve just to manage at home with calpol & ibuprofen (nurofen). We’re now on day 8 almost & still no further forward. My washing is almost touching the celling because every single time we’re feeding him he’s puking or if we actually get a feed into him within an hour it’s back up due to a coughing fit.

I’m honestly at my wits end I don’t know how much more of this I can cope with, me and partner are running on absolute 0 sleep he’s had to take the week off work because we’re just constantly up with baby… any advice on how to help manage symptoms??

we’ve got snufflebabe & been sooking the snot out of his nose where we can but he just takes a fit if we try for too long…

this mama is ready to pack her bags & go missing!!

How old is your baby? Are they getting high temperatures? We were told to go back to drs after 5 days if no improvement with bronchiolitis or if they deteriorated. I'd be asking for a GP appointment to get them checked over, they can then refer to hospital for further assessment if needed.
https://wyhealthiertogether.nhs.uk/parentscarers/worried-your-child-unwell/bronchiolitis

hmm…did the doctor af the hospital confirm bronchiolifis? My youngest had recurrent bronchiolitis from 6 months of age - 2 years. First time he was admitted he fell unconscious as his oxygen saturation was so low. He was certainly on steroids and also regular nebulisers then inhalers throughout his hospital stays which were generally 24-48 hours. We were then discharged with inhalers which he was on for 4 years and they definitely helped a lot. I’d say mine was generally ill for 7 days each time but started to turn a corner after that point…I’d be staggered if they’ve left you without any treatment for bronchiolitis and we were always advised that nurofen wasn’t a good idea for children with asthma/ lung infections so I’m really surprised they’ve told you that. I’d certainly be taking him back in.

You absolutely do NOT treat bronchiolitis with steroids, nebulisers or antibiotics.

Check out the information on www.what0-18.nhs.uk/ this will guide you on if your baby needs another review.

He’s 6 months old. He’s not been getting temperatures anymore but the first few days we were seeing spikes of 39+. In the hospital the doctor said it could be RSV that’s gone into bronchiolitis as this is the result of a respiratory virus not a virus itself. Compared to how he was the first few days breathing wise he definitely has improved however it’s still so awful the poor guy can’t breathe through his nose, I’ve tried to sook the gunk out his nose with the snot contraption from tommee tippee during the night which seems to be alleviating some of the discomfort for him to go back to sleep. It’s just awful he can’t get a consistent sleep more than 2 hours without waking up in distress & like I said above he’s barely getting a bottle into him either due to this.

the only advice we were given at hosp was to maintain medicine every 4 hours with calpol & nurofen 3 times a day morning afternoon and night time. If we felt his breathing was poor again then we were to be readmitted for a nebuliser but no other treatment can be given unfortunately, that’s the medical advice we’ve been given. We’re in Scotland also I might add. I think I was under the impression it would last a few days then kinda break off if that makes sense, jeez was I wrong we aren’t half in the trenches. The lack of sleep is really difficult. I feel so guilty because I’m so tired & I can feel myself becoming impatient. It’s so hard dealing with a poorly baby when you’ve got an empty tank.

Are they still having wet and dirty nappies? Another thing to look out for is dehydration.

There's no harm in calling your GP for review if you're worried.

When my little boy was very poorly with it they tested for RSV in hospital which came back positive.

Check out the healthier together link for what to look out for/when to go back to drs.

For night time try the calpol plug ins and could try saline drops, although the drs we saw in hospital said they generally aren't necessary/Don't cut down how long babies are poorly for. This dr always has great info and what to watch our for with various childhood illnesses:

https://www.instagram.com/dr_niamh_lynch?igsh=YmczazB3bTkyeDFi

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DBmJszMtQPjHLq7c-olfwucmWab-OsPjBH-rUU0/?igsh=MXZjNmI4Nnd2NzE3MQ==

No definitely not antibiotics but having had 27 hospital admissions with it for my own child and a nephew who is now under the care of great ormond street because he suffers with it so often I’m pretty well versed in how bronchiolitis has been treated in our family. Lessening dependence on the nebuliser is one of the markers of being discharged. I’m not trying to give OP medical advice but just expressing shock at how little intervention they’ve had when the kids in my family have been treated very intensively.

The lack of sleep is brutal OP, you definitely have my sympathies. It will pass I promise!!

@ICSH1

I believe your shock is based upon your personal anecdotal experience.

Whereas the decision to treat OP child was made by at the minimum a degree level registered health professional; with years of knowledge, skills and training using all the information provided by the OP and a clinical assessment of the child.

Your advice to treat is at best misplaced. Your follow-up of empathy with OP situation is a far more appropriate response.

He’s still wetting nappies yes just less heavier than usual but that’s expected as he’s gone from taking breakfast & lunch ontop of 7oz every 4 hrs bottles to no food & 2,3,4oz bottles whenever he feels like it 🤷🏼‍♀️ his fontanelle hasn’t dipped or anything like that nor has he been lethargic at any point which is promising it’s more so uncomfortable, crying & unable to rest efficiently that’s the challenge at the moment

I spent 10 months in and out with 10 night stays each time with ds at 4 weeks old. He is a strapping lad of 23. Been in the army and very fit still. It's the dm's who end up on our knees.. I often tell ds he owes me big style. The hospital cot had him slept pretty much upright. But irl he slept in the crook of my arm while I enjoyed the beams of hospital light bulbs. . Window open every night op. Helps..

I’d go back to the GP @LeoSun11

DS2 was in and out of hospital with bronchiolitis when he was a baby, he’s now a 6ft5 28yo. He did end up with severe asthma but that runs in our family, so don’t be alarmed. He now has baby DGS who is 10mths and has had 2 hospital admissions since September with bronchiolitis, the second time ending up on HDU where he absolutely was treated with nebulisers.

DS2 is a charge nurse, and DDIL is, also, a nurse so they knew how poorly DGS was. He went very downhill very quickly the second time and ended up being blue lighted to hospital.

No doctor minds seeing a poorly baby, they may say keep doing as you’re doing, but there’s absolutely no harm in checking.

I hope he gets better soon.

It wasn’t advice to treat. As I said, I was just expressing shock that OP had such minimal intervention which she herself said hadn’t had a huge impact evidenced by the fact that she is here expressing her concerns. I spent a huge amount of time on wards with my own child and lots of other children on the same treatments for bronochiolitis as my son and lots of time with my nephew who again, has had exactly the same treatment for bronchioltis as my child. As a family we’ve been through the mill with this and have spent a lot of time with doctors and paediatricians looking into what helps, so I wanted to contribute from personal experience but also knowledge built up over the years. Again it wasn’t advice to treat but just demonstrating that it is worth getting checked if you feel like your child isn’t improving as there are treatments available.

@ICSH1

"I’d be staggered if they’ve left you without any treatment for bronchiolitis .... nurofen wasn’t a good idea for children with asthma/ lung infections so I’m really surprised they’ve told you that"

So you don't consider this treatment advice? Like I say your replies are at best misplaced.

I’m not trying to start a fight. I wasn’t telling anyone what to do. I was simply saying what doctors had told us. I’m not sure blanket saying what you think doesn’t treat this is any different or more helpful. I won’t reply any more, but having had extensive experience I thought it was worth sharing. I wish your child better soon OP x

Absolutely this. It's feeding support, minimal handling and oxygen if needed.

We’ve been in contact with the GP this morning & she isn’t massively concerned about his condition. She has just advised if symptoms worsen to go to a&e for nebuliser, no other treatment can be offered. Since he’s still wetting nappies & taking little and often we’ve to keep up what we’re doing until he gets better.

Thanks all for your support and comments, hoping little one is back to his happy self soon so we all can get a full nights rest 😂💞

Two main things to focus on are breathing and feeding as they are the things that hospital admission would look for. You need to give smaller but more frequent feeds, perhaps every 2 hours to start with and then build up slowly as he tolerates them, you can get saline drops for the nose and pop them in before feeds to give him the best chance of feeding. There’s not a lot you can do about the cough and unfortunately it can last for weeks afterwards. Breathing wise if he starts to suck in again, or his breathing becomes more rapid and he starts making any grunting noises they are signs of distress and he needs to go back in and be seen straight away. Mostly bronchiolitis just needs to be ridden out and it can take a couple of weeks to improve. I wouldn’t be giving regular paracetamol and ibuprofen for days and days on end, just give it when you feel he is miserable and needs it. Hope he’s better soon.

I find much useful info here.

flappy dunk Big thanks!