Anyone one had any experience with Aspiration?

[FirstTimeMummyB]

Hello,

my baby is 1 year old but since about 2 months old has had issues with being constantly ill and breathing problems, he also had reflux and I knew something was wrong. We’ve been to the doctors so many times and they’ve sent us to a&e each time for his breathing and said he had bronchiolitus each time. At this point he’s got it nearly ever 2-3 weeks and wheezing in between. We’ve seen speech and language who said he might be aspirating and to stick to the size 2 teats for drinks and she’ll see how we go but never got back to me.

today we finally saw the respiratory consultant and she was great but gave a lot of information and I don’t know how to feel about it all.

she took all the history and then by chance he picked up his bottle and had a drink and she straight away said he’s aspirating. She then gave me a plan of 4 weeks antibiotics, physio to help me find techniques to help when his breathing is bad. Is sending me back to the speak and language for them to do an in depth evaluation and see if he needs thickener in his food and drink. She also said she wants blood tests to check his immunity and then to do a swallow study. Also she said no milk at night and I have to make his water sterile by boiling it in a pot for 10 mins.

all of this I can deal with but when I asked so what can cause this and how will he fix it long term she said that sometimes is neurological delays and disorders.

i have worked in childcare for 10 years and know for a fact that my child is hitting all of his developmental milestones of not early. It’s really worrying me. Please anyone with experience in this give me some advice

Hiya, my boy is 6 months and he sounds like he smokes 40 cigarettes a day, the coughing and raspy breathing is worse after a bottle. He has GERD, Colic and a milk allergy. We have a SALTS assessment at the end of the month as they believe he is aspirating but we saw a respiratory team at Sheffield children's hospital who said his lungs were clear but they have placed him on 4 weeks of co-amoxiclav? As he also has had 3 chest infections in as many months. Your babys issues sound similar to my boys, I wish I had an answer for you, but if I get a diagnosis I will be sure to update you.
Sounds silly, but any chance he may have a tongue tie? There are frontal ties and further back under the tongue that are often missed. I'm currently trying to see if that is our issue.

Sorry I can't help further, but you're not alone x

Sorry you are having a worrying time, OP. We had something similar - DD2 was coughing and spluttering everywhere when drinking. She had a 90% tongue tie divided at 8weeks but for weeks afterwards, her tongue would drift off to the side. We were referred to SALT who sent us for an urgent peads review to consider whether there were neurological or genetic reasons. We worked with SALT to try different bottles and feeding techniques. We ended up using Nuk teats but also had some success with Dr Brown (although DD didnt like them as much). I also took her to a paediatric osteopath as well and peads prescribed gaviscon to help with the reflux (omeprazole as well but we didnt need to move onto it as gaviscon worked for us). DD continued to hit all her milestones and once we started weaning, things quite significantly improved. So in the end peads were happy not to do the blood tests or genetic testing and we were told that we were probably unlucky and it was just all connected to the tongue tie taking a very very long time to heal and regain strength. It was a very stressful time and I hope that you also find it is nothing serious causing these issues for you.

@HollyandLaike my son has just been put on 4 weeks of co-amoxiclav top by the respiratory consultant! Tbh I’m glad he’s just getting the attention that he needs now because for the longest time I was thinking I was just crazy! I’m just hoping all of this isn’t from any neurological issues, but I doubt they are because as I said he is reaching every milestone and other than his breathing and swallowing he’s doing great. Yes please let me know if you get any more info as sounds like we’re going through the same thing!

I really hear you on the thinking your crazy part, everybody down playing you because you're a first time mum but somehow inside you, you just know there's something not right with your baby.. if little one is hitting all the milestones I think you're right in the sense that it isnt neurological - my little man has Macrocephaly and has started to grow pubic hair, so there is a high possibility of it being neurological and linked to that but we are having lots of extensive testing done ATM and he isn't hitting milestones (this is to hopefully calm you and not alarm you)
If the speech and language team manage to find the issue (hopefully a missed tongue tie) then I will happily keep you updated, truly hope you get your baby breathing properly soon ❤️

@HollyandLaike thank you so much for that post it really did help to make me feel better! In terms of your situation I hope you get the answers you need and your little one is ok and breathing better soon too! It’s so hard when they are not Wel all the time and there’s nothing you can do to make them better. Yes I’ll update when I’ve had the appointment xx