Bronchiolitis - how bad before going to hospital?

[dairymoo]

My 14mo DD has Bronchiolitis (diagnosed by the DP yesterday evening). He said that as yesterday was really Day 1 of an illness that can last as long as two weeks, he was sure I'd probably be back to have her looked at again at some point.

So she slept reasonably well last night (bar a few moments of weak crying in the night) but today she's still really lethargic, quite floppy, and doesn't seem to be comfortable even being held by me or DH. Her breathing is quite rapid and she's refusing almost all of her food and drink (well, she did have a quick BF first thing this morning and has had a handful of blueberries and a couple of gulps of smoothie, but she's normally a BIG eater).

I just don't really know what to look for in terms of bringing her back to the GP, or going to hospital....I know there's no medicine that she can be given but I just can't stand to see her breathing so hard and so obviously feeling rotten.

To make matters worse she's got molars coming through as well.....

[Elibean]

Fiveplusbump, I am so sorry

Just wanted to add a note to DonutMum: I totally felt for you, giving yourself a hard time for not being with your LO at a (because there are many) 'crucial' moment. I had a very similar thing happen with my then 4 weeks old dd2 - she was settled on the ward, with RSV bronch, apparently stable with O2 mask and expressed breast milk being tube fed through her nose, asleep. It was my dd1's 3rd birthday, and I went home to cuddle her, cut her cake with her, grab a bag of overnight stuff for me and dd2. When I got back to the hospital there were 6 doctors around the tiny bed, panicking - her heart rate had dipped right down, and they realized she had an underlying condition (laryngomalacia) which added to her breathing difficulties, especially lying on her back. She got better, and is a strapping 4 yr old now, but it took me two years to get past the shock of that moment...and boy did I give myself a hard time. Some of that feeling bad is just us trying to wish it hadn't happened, feeling powerless - plus its gut wrenching when your baby is ill and you can't hold him/her. But the truth is, the 'babies' have forgotten, and were too ill to care who was with them at that point - the main thing is, they were safe and being taken care of, they were not 'abandoned' or left neglected in any way. Still, knowing all that, its taken me time and lots of talking about it to let it go - thats how deeply scared I was, and I'm sure you were too (as well as ill!).

Hugs (don't care if its unMNy) to all the mums of bronch babies who need one, and I hope all the babies are well soon. FWIW, dd has had NO problems with her chest as a result of her brush with bronchiolitis - its not a given, so fingers crossed for same outcome (minus HDU/ICU) for all the others!

[Sirzy]

Now she is older it shouldn't be as bad. Ds had it very badly at 8 weeks (hospital for 10 days, 5 days in hdu) again at 4 months (3 days on oxygen) thought he had it at 12 months but was just a virus and his asthma when the test results came back (6 days in hospital that time!) he also had it 2 other times but stayed at home.

As they get older they get stronger to fight it themselves xx

[abbienhollie]

hi new here would just like to say my little one had it wen she was 10months old , she ended up in hospital because of her breathing and not drinking she also had a very high temp ,it took her 3 weeks to get over it , she will be 1year old in a few weeks and starting to show signs of it again , fingers crossed its no were near as bad as the last time .


hope all ur angels are keeping well xx

[ChippyMinton]

Good. Will keep an eye out for you.

[Fiveplusbump]

Thanks chippy I will look into it and would love some help ,I will have a look at a few things and get back to you next week .

[ChippyMinton]

fiveplusbump, so sorry to hear of your loss. My DD was very poorly with bronchiolitis at 10 days old but she was lucky and pulled through.

i will happily help you if you want to do some awareness raising. I had never heard of it until DD became ill.

[no1putsbabyinthecorner]

Glad you are home Dairymoo
fiveplusbump so sorry for your loss.
How awful.
My friends twins (10 weeks) were admitted last week with it.
the little girl has come home, but little boy still poorly.
It sounds really terrifying.
My ds is 12 weeks and started with sniffles yesterday, so I feel quite on edge.
I think the awareness cards sound like a great idea, as I dont/didnt know much about it until now, and I have a dd of 21 months so wouldnt have known what signs to look out for. iykwim.

[Fiveplusbump]

Thanks allnew nothing could have helped my dd really I don't want people reading it and panicking if their lo's have it ATM ,she did not die from Bronhiolitis it was just a factor in a lot of other things including her been very tiny and 3 weeks prem so not a very good immune system.

You would just think that it would be something parents should be aware of especially as hospital staff call this time of year bronchiolitis season they will see at least three lo's a day with this ranging from mild to needing to be admitting and it worries me that people don't know what to look for .
I have been thinking for a while of starting an awareness campaign about getting posters put up in hospitals , GP's and childrens centers and have leaflets in bounty packs and red books maybe mumsnet is the way to start it .

[pleasechange]

Thanks both
Fiveplusbump so sorry to hear about your little girl. I agree on your points about awareness, I've personally never heard of this until today and it seems very common

[Fiveplusbump]

My little girl was admitted to hospital with bronchiolitis 10 years ago she was 4 weeks old ,she ended up on ICU but sadly passed away a week after been admitted ,she didn't actually die from the bronchiolitis she was was recovering from this but her system was so weak she caught another infection led to her death .
Not enough is known about this awful illness and I always wonder why we have massive campaigns about meningitis (which we do need of course) but many more children are admitted to hospital with bronchiolitis each year and a lot of parents have never heard of it ,it would be si simple to put a little card in the red book like you get about SIDS and meningitis just so more people are aware of it.

I am glad your dd is getting better .

[LIZS]

rsv is bad cold symptoms (same virus for a common cold) so cough, runny nose, temperature etc. Bronchiolitis is more serious wheezing, sucking in chest and below ribs, vomiting and dehydration. dd developed bronchiolitis , quite nastily but we were still ok at home and it passed eventually.

[pleasechange]

My DS has just been diagnosed with RSV. GP is happy for DS to be looked after at home for now. My concern after reading some of these posts is - how will I know if DS has developed bronchiolitis, what are the symptoms of that compared to RSV??

[DonutMum]

Hiya, my DS2 had bronchiolitis at 7 months old late Nov/early December - apparently their immune systems take a dip at 6 months (maybe the breastfeeding link here?). He went to hospital in an ambulance when he stopped breathing. My mum was with him, I was at work and felt utterly shit about it and still do. He had astham drugs for him just in case until about a year ago. He's 3.7 now.

Anyway, just to let you know, I was also ill after he got a bit better and had terrible bronchitis which took three bouts of antibiotics to shift and lasted 6 weeks so, if you start feeling ill, tired, don't ignore it and think it's stress (which I and my first doctor did), get yourself checked out too.

I'm glad your lo is on the mend, this is a very scary illness and, like other posters have said, can turn severe so quickly it's scary.

[spicemonster]

I bf my DS exclusively until he was 6 months and carried on until he was 7 months. He was hospitalised for nearly a week with RSV when he was 8 months.

I don't think it's got anything to do with bfing or not. I would say though it can get much worse very quickly - I took him to the GP in the morning who sent us straight to A&E who examined him and discharged him. That night, I called the GP again because he was breathing very rapidly and he was rushed in by ambulance and had to be fed for NG tube. Was very, very scary

[Aarrgghhlloween]

So glad to hear DD is doing better - my little man had this very seriously when he was 7 weeks - he spent his first christmas is hospital. He had to have a clear plastic box over his head and IV's in each hand & foot.

We were in for 8 nights and some of the staff were so wonderful. He developed shadows on his lungs so they treated him for pneumonia also. I now have a 3.1 happy wheezer.

One doctor said to me 'oh didn't you know its a common illness for november baby's'

[ElfOnTheTopShelf]

Glad to see your DD is better
My DD had this at 12 weeks, she became poorly the day after her first jab, and we initially thought that she was just a bit off because of that. We rang NHS direct because she just seemed really poorly (and in the middle of the night, I couldn't work out if I was just being neurotic). NHS advised us to go to hospital and gave us the advice that if she stopped breathing... at which point I became a little hysterical!
We took her in, she was seen for a few hours but because she was still able to b/f they said she was okay to be looked after at home, but if she stopped b/f then we had to go back for her to be admitted.
It was horrible though, and I was gutted to read that this can cause a weakness in the chest for some years, I had it when I was a baby and my mum thinks that is partly why I ended up asthmatic. DD is now three, if she's poorly, its always on her chest, but generally she's a healthy girl.

[AuntyJ]

Dairymoo - glad you dd is on the mend. DS 10mths has had two bouts in 6wks and been hospitilized once. It so scary to be out of control like that.
We bought a humidifier from Argos £25 its been the best investment ever it really helped him sleep easier & we saw a massive improvment in his breathing in a coupleof days.

[ChippyMinton]

I agree there should be more education about bronchiolitis and its symptons. Given it's so widespread, I had never heard of it or RSV before DD was diagnosed.

[dairymoo]

Yes, they did, right before we left so I don't have the results yet.

And good advice re humidifyer, we don't have one but if she gets bad again I might boil the kettle in her room.

[TheMadHouse]

dairy moo - did they take a sputum (sp) sample?

I am glad you took her in, but also glad you are home. a humidifyer really helps my DS1 is he is wheezy.

[Umlellala]

Oh my, dairymoo. How scarey for you! So glad she is doing better today. Just allow her a good while to recover - dd has just had a chest infection (and anti-b) and seemed her normal self on Weds but today has been v tired and not wanting to play so much. Think I expected too much, too soon.

Have a lovely cuddly TV-watching/books in bed weekend!

[dairymoo]

Wow - thanks for all the messages.
I did take her in and I'm glad I did as she deteriorated while we were waking to be seen by the paeds. Her oxygen saturation rate was quite low and so they gave her a nebuliser and put her on oxygen. An x-ray showed a chest infection (so actually Pneumonia rather than Bronchiolitis, they think ) so we stayed the night, she had a few more nebulisers throughout the night and some amoxycillin. Anyway, she was much much better this morning, shouting 'Hiya' to all the nurses and ate a big breakfast along with lots of BFs.

So we're home now with a course of anti-biotics (which will work if it is indeed bactarial) and an inhaler if the wheezing picks up again.

It's just annoying that they can't say for definite whether it is viral or bacterial. It was the same story too for the rest of the babies/toddlers on the ward...definitely 'that' time of year.

Huge thanks for all of your advice.

Oh and Beeper, yes she was excl BF to 6 months and still normally has one or two a day now (as does her twin sister, who is also a bit wheezy, but not as bad)

[Soph73]

Dairymoo - sorry, I did mean to say, as well, how's your little one doing?

[VersdeSociete]

Hope all well, dairymoo. I agree this should all be better publicised. Alos had scary hospitalisation with a 5 m/o baby - did not know the signs of respiratory distress and still scares me now that could have missed it...

[Soph73]

Just thought I'd post as I'm taking DS2 (6 months) to the docs again on Mon because he has a very wheezy/chesty cough. He has already had one lot of antibiotics & he was fine while he was on them. His course finished on Mon & up until last night he was fine. He is now coughing again. He is still having his bottle in the mornings & eating all his lunch (puree) but not having as much of his bottle in the evenings as normal. He doesn't like water at all so it's a real struggle to get any down him. Do any of you think this is what he is suffering from? His cough started a couple of weeks after going to nursery at 4 months. I feel so guilty but had to go back to work.