My baby has Bronchilits

DaniB

Hi,

Ive just found out my little boy has Bronchilitis, Im so worried, He's only 7 months but he was born 10 weeks premature. When he was first born, he had to get monthly injections to prevent him getting RSV or Bronchilitis. He has been coughing for the last couple of weeks but the last 2 days its gotten worse, he has no other symptoms such as wheezing, difficult to breathe, loss of appetite. He is fine every other way but Im not sure if these symptoms are due to come in the next couple of days, Ive seen on some sites that this can be very dangerous for premature babies and could lead to hospitalization, pnemonia and asthma.

The doctor said its just a small case of it and prescribed him a sort of cough syrup but Im so scared of leaving him, I cant sleep cos Im worried he'll stop breathing, I know I sound ridiculous but he was only born at 3 pounds 13 and was in an incubator for 8 weeks after he was born so anything at all to do with his breathing, I panic.

Has anyone here at problems such as this with their baby and have any advice?

emmiou

My son was in Temple Street for 10 days at christmas with RSV bronchiolitis when he was 8 weeks old - I didn't realise how bad he was before we brought him in as he perked up a lot during each day but really struggled during the nights. Keep an eye on how many breaths he is taking each minute, if it is over 50 we were advised to bring him back into A&E. He has been a bit wheezy ("a fat happy wheezer" according to the A&E nursing staff!) ever since but he may grow out of it, fingers crossed.

belongtojazz

Hi, I can really sympathise with you, when my daughter was 6 months old she developed broncholitis and ended up spending a week in temple street. It is a very frightening condition and you do worry a lot about it.
I agree with emmiou and advise you to watch the resp rate as that is the best indication of how he is coping.
My daughter was unfortunate as her bronchilitis did lead to asthma and as a small child we spent far too much time in hospitals. But she is now nearly 13 and her asthma is very well controlled and doesn't really impact her life at all.

Probably the best thing you can do for him is to NOT panic. Babies will pick up if you are in a panic and that will make them stressed and worsen their breathing.

My understanding in the hours and hours of research that I did is that the vast majority of children do grow out of it.
Fingers crossed for you both.

Moonbeam

How is he doing?