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Original poster

Scared to bring child home....

8 replies

Ioio18 · 05/08/2021 18:01

My 7 week old son is in hospital with bronchiolitis caused by a virus he caught from my 2 year old. He's been there nearly a week on oxygen and being tube fed and is starting to get better and hopefully will be ready to come home in a few days... I've realised I'm terrified of bringing him home though. I'm scared that he won't be OK and without the constant monitoring that he's had whilst in hospital, I'll miss something. I'm also now feeling slightly paranoid about him catching something else and I know this isn't a healthy thought process. Has anyone been through anything similar and able to give some advice on how to deal with this?

OP posts:
BunnyRuddington · 05/08/2021 18:53

I can totally understand how you are feeling. Having such a young baby so ill must have been a bit of a shock to say the least. Are you able to talk to one of the Nurses about how you feel? They may be able to offer some useful advice.

Smartiepants79 · 05/08/2021 19:00

My Dd had bronchiolitus at about 4 months and it was a bit scary at the time. She bounced back pretty fast once she was past the worst of it.
By the time you get sent home he will be much stronger and will not need monitoring. You’ll know if he’s struggling and will be able to get him seen to quicker as he’s just been in.
Felling this way is normal and fine. It’s how you react to the feelings that is the issue.
It’s fine to be a bit more cautious for a while but you mud the let it impact on your or his life in a negative way.
He’s going to catch other things. Healthy babies do! He’ll recover. It’s shit when their ill but keep it in perspective.

SummerHouse · 05/08/2021 19:02

Totally understandable and normal reaction. Talk to everyone about how you feel. Professionals, family, friends. You will find that mostly everyone feels like this after a hospital stay. Flowers You have done the hardest part. You will enjoy your baby and feel normal again. But it's a shock and that takes time and reassurance to get over.

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LMV1 · 07/08/2021 21:53

Hello, so sorry to hear about your baby! I’m writing this sat in hospital as my 7 week old daughter has just today been admitted for the same thing after catching it off my three year old girl. I understand how you feel right now, it’s so scary seeing such a tiny baby ill & struggling. Trust your instincts and if you feel worried at any point when you are home call for help and advice, and if you feel that your worry is getting out of control and too much then speak to your gp, last year my older daughter was admitted to hospital and my anxiety got out of control when we got home as I was so scared of her getting ill again - I ended up having CBT which really helped. I asked the nurse earlier how I can protect my baby going forward and he said you really can’t protect them 100% but hand washing is very effective and making sure that when other children are sick to not let them get too close if they are snotty & coughing but other than that there isn’t much you can do. Sorry that my reply probably wasn’t the most helpful but I thought I would post as we are in similar situations and I wanted you to know you aren’t alone in feeling this way! Wishing your baby boy a very speedy recovery xx

Dragonfly101 · 07/08/2021 22:24

Totally understandable to feel anxious. When my DS2 was 4 weeks old (he was 2 weeks prem) caught virus off older brother and we spent 5 days in hospital. Came home and needed nebuliser 4 times a day then asthma pumps for a few years. Best advice I can offer is to have the nurses teach you what to look for, and what to do about it with an actual plan written down so you know what to do if something comes up.

Be prepared that they may be susceptible to infection for a few years as the scarring in the lungs reduced in size as their lungs grow.

My DS2 is now a strapping teen and did grow out of being a sickly infant.
Wishing you all the best.

Original poster
Ioio18 · 08/08/2021 07:35

Thank you all, we made it home yesterday. Thankfully by the time he was discharged things were looking a lot better and we actually had a night in hospital with no monitors whilst trying to get feeding sorted, so I'm now feeling more reassured that we don't need to be looking at numbers constantly

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Original poster
Ioio18 · 08/08/2021 07:36

Wishing you all the best with your daughter. Its a horrible experience

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BunnyRuddington · 08/08/2021 14:57

Thank you all, we made it home yesterday. Thankfully by the time he was discharged things were looking a lot better and we actually had a night in hospital with no monitors whilst trying to get feeding sorted, so I'm now feeling more reassured that we don't need to be looking at numbers constantly

That's such good news Smile

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