First Jabs - blue light to hospital

[fairyannie]

I'm so worried. At my wits end.

My grandson has been rushed to hospital just now.

He had his 8 week 'jabs' today. Two hours later he started crying/very unsettled.

This evening whilst feeding he stopped breathing and his lips and face turned blue. My daughter blew on his face three times before he took a breath. She said it was ages between blowing on his face because she was absolutely frozen and petrified and at first didn't know what to do.

She rang his outreach nurse who said ring 111. They sent an ambulance. They are being blue lighted to hospital because of temp and resps (paramedic's words).

Has anyone else encountered such a reaction to these jabs?

He was 7 weeks premature. He's literally 1 wk old - adjusted age.

My heart is beating out of my chest

In terms of dosage, I found frequently that the information you get from neonatologists on medication doses and GP/nurses in the community can be different.

Generally I've found that community services don't really understand prematurity - eg telling parents that a 24 weeker is 'failing' at the 12 month check etc, instead of using corrected age and milestones.

If in doubt, speak to outreach/neonatologist on the unit for advice.

I laid down on my side and let DS lay on his side too to feed. Hands down the best thing I learned to encourage him to breathe

@TheWristBoundLatexBitch

Sorry this happened op. Hope he perks up soon.

Just about omprezole. My now 8 year old has been in 20mg since age 5, when he was two there was a mix up at the chemist and they accidentally gave him 20mg instead of his normal 10 and it made him quite ill.

But that might just be him. If baby is ok, this dose may be ok for them.

There's been confusion over the reflux medication since birth.

When she came home her dose of medication was out by a factor of 10. She was on 1.4 ml of meds per day which should have been 14 ml per day.

Then when she rang for a repeat prescription some months later she was told to speak to a GP who changed the medication ' because she is older'. She was on a large (four times larger than on the instructions) dose of this for several months.

Recently she spoke to a GP about another repeat prescription and was horrified to discover that she shouldn't have been prescribed the previous meds because it was dangerous for the condition the baby was born with.

This most recent medication is now 20ml of omeprazole for a 9 month old baby who is still wearing 3-6 month old clothing.

I asked my daughter to get the dosage checked and she said the GP confirmed the dosage. As I said I'm on 30mg of lanzoprazole, so 20mg for a 9 month old premature baby seems unreal.

The thing is, it has appeared to have stopped her reflux completely and she is more settled through the night. But no one knows if it's the wrong dose and possibly causing damage.

Could you get your daughter to read the leaflet that comes with the medication, OP? They usually give some form of suggested dosage on that, and if it doesn't match what you've been told, call the GP and pharmacy and say you'd just like to check because the leaflet dosage differs from that prescribed. It does tend to make them double check. When I've not been sure about the correct dosage for things prescribed for my kids, I've googled it- the GP does something similar, in my experience

The maximum dose of omeprazole is 3mg per kg (up to a max of 20mg). So if they're over 6.5kg the dose is ok.

@IwillrunIwillfly

The maximum dose of omeprazole is 3mg per kg (up to a max of 20mg). So if they're over 6.5kg the dose is ok.

Oh thank you for that.

Sounds like she's on the max dose then.

It has worked wonders since she was put back on this last week. She's hardly slept on a night since she was born. Mum is now getting a luxurious 7-8 hours in one stretch.

She was discharged from hospital with this drug. Then she was changed to four sachets of infant gaviscon. This set her back with what appeared to be stomach pain and constipation.

The omeprazole is much better.

You need to complain about that nurse who said to call 111. 111 is non emergency. A baby that’s stopped breathing, sucking under ribs, blue lips is life threatening.

Have you heard of blue breath holding? www.nhs.uk/conditions/breath-holding-in-babies-and-children/

My son used to regularly do this as a newborn baby through to being a toddler when he got upset or say if he fell over and hurt his head. He’d scream until he went floppy and blue and passed out for a few seconds. It looked scary but eventually I got used to it, was just one of those things and would cuddle him and he’d be ok. The info in the NHS link explains when to call an ambulance if it happens.

@IwillrunIwillfly

The maximum dose of omeprazole is 3mg per kg (up to a max of 20mg). So if they're over 6.5kg the dose is ok.

But OP doesn’t your GC weigh less than 6.5kg?

Holly - this is my other grandchild who was also born in lockdown (1st one) who is 9 and half months old. We don't know what she weighs as the weighing clinics aren't running. But she's about 15 lb at a guess.

Both my daughters have had premature babies during the pandemic. The first one (9 months old) was 6 weeks early because of collapsed membranes due to a late amniocentesis. Baby's condition didn't show up on 12 or 20 wk scans. This was noticed on a private 'frivolous' 3D scan at 30 wks - thank god for private scans! (Duodenal atresia.)

The second baby born who is a 'breath holder', was 7 weeks early. He's now 8 weeks old and has just had his first 'jabs' which increased his temp and lead to him holding his breath and going blue. It's happened twice - Monday. It didn't happen yesterday. So hopefully won't happen again.

Today his temp is 37.5. He hasn't had calpol since last night (advised by neonatal outreach nurse) so the temp is lingering. My daughter was so tired from being up throughout Monday night that she didn't wake to feed him as he didn't 'cry/wake' during the night. She woke with breast pain at 5am and woke him for a feed - he only took one side.

He's still not himself.

We're so concerned. But perhaps some babies are affected like this.

Outreach nurse covers a large radius but will visit tomorrow.

@fairyannie you sound like a wonderfully supportive grandma. Hope both babies are ok x