Daughter Have a Hard Time Breathing

A.:
I just went through this, and know its VERY hard. In addition to her breathing problems,is her nose clogged up? If so, I finally found a great way to unclog a baby's nose. I use a Nosefrida (www.nosefrida.com) and a BeBe Sounds electronic nose aspirator. I have my method down pat, and it usually takes less than a minute to unclog her nose. Another good way to get out the mucous is that once you have a "strand" of it out, take a q-tip and place it on it, and "roll" the mucous out. It works! Good luck, email me if you have any more questions. :)

My kids have always had breathing difficulties with colds and you're right...it is terrifying! I use a cool mist humidifier on high, advil for inflamation, and vick's vapo rup cream (for children) to open up the airways.
We were just in the ER with my 5 year old because he was having such a hard time breathing. They ended up putting him on prednisone for the inflamation around the windpipe. What I CAN tell you is when possible, take her directly to the pediatrician...they are usually more aggressive with treatment than an ER and they know what they are doing with little ones!! Of course in the middle of the night you have to do what you have to do!!

Vicks on her chest and prop her on a pillow so she is practically sitting up when she is sleeping if you don't want to put vicks on her chest they have plug ins that you can put in her room.

My daughter is 12yrs.old.She was born premature,and has a lung problem.We see a pulmanary doctor at 1 of the childrens hospitals in our area.We have spent many of nights in the hospital,in patient and in the ER.With no clue as to what was happening.Everything looked good.Till we hooked up with the specialist.Then finally some answers.So I know what you are going through.
What works with us is running a humidifier.A cool mist one. Alot of the time escpecially in the winter with the heat on the air is to dry.Or try the other humidifier with some Vicks in it.See if that helps.
Good luck!!!
G.

My ped recommended the vapor plug ins. I use the Pedicare brand and use them at night and during naps. The neb treatments always help and do them every 3 -4 hours. Also I was told to either take them outside for 15 minutes (as long as it's cold) the cold air helps open the airways &/OR turn the shower on HOT and the sink water on HOT and after the bathroom steams up take her in the bathroom and sit in the steam for 15 minutes. Best of Luck. It can be very scary when this happens. My 2 1/2 & 1 yr old are going through this now.

Hi A. ~ keep doing the neb treatment and like someone else suggested run the hot water in the shower. You can also bundle her up and take her outside or in front of the freezer! Keep a close eye on her breathing, if she is breathing from her belly...ER immediately!! That means she's not getting enough oxygen and she's trying to work really hard to get what she needs. Keeping your family in our prayers ~ J.

I would keep doing the nebs, every 3-4 hours, unless they told you to do them even closer together. Do they have her on a steroid? Also you can get a humidifier and put that in her room while she sleeps, they even have a liquid vicks that you can pour in the water of the humidifer and that works well.

My dr recommended sudefed plug ins..or vapor bath before bed

I totally understand your concern. Right now my two little guys (20 months and almost 2 months_ are getting nebulizer treatments. It sounds scary but is really easy and is making their breathing so much better. They seem to have a really nasty cold too although my older one had bronchiolitis last week. We are aksi diubg the shower and humidifiers, but if you feel in your gut something's not right, follow up with the pediatrician. They can at least set your mind at ease. Good luck!

Do you have a vaporiser? Now would be the time to get it into use. Put it in her room and turn it on about an hour before you put her to bed or down for her nap (if she takes long naps). You might also want to try gentely simmering a large pot of water on the stove off and on throughout the day (I always put the timer on so I don't forget!!) to increase the mositure in the air of your home, that should help. Keep in touch with your doctor, (Call him this morning!!)and hang in there. It's always scary when your child is sick, but it's important that you stay calm, cool and collected! You won't be doing her any good if your running around all scared and freaking out!! Remember, our kids follow our examples for everything. If your upset, she'll be upset! Best wishes & I hope she gets better soon!

we have been going throughthe same thing with my 2 year old son all weekend. It turns out he does have pneumonia, we have been doing the nebs every 3-4 hours. It took a while for them to be effective, but he is on the mend now! Good Luck and keep the fluids coming.

We just went through the same thing with my 2 year old daughter. We took her to our local Children's Hospital (We live in Pittsburgh). They could not find pneumonia, but they admitted her and treated her as though she had pneumonia. They were able to see that she had an ear infection.

Basically all they did for her in the hospital is what we ended up doing at home was breathing treatments via the nebulizer, antibiotics because they knew she at least had an ear infection, and steroids. After a week of nebulizer treatments we followed up with the pediatrician and with a pediatric pulmonologist and everything was fine.

Our doctor also gave us a hand held inhaler for albuterol with an adaptor mask because young kids coordinate inhaling when you squeeze the inhaler. We were to use this in between breathing treatments whenever she seemed to be having trouble breathing.

Hi A.

I think you should follow up with your pediatrician in the morning. Pediatricians are so much better than regular ER docs. If she worsens head straight back to the ER a pediatric ER if you can get to one(ie CHOP, Dupont, St.Chris')- (or call 911). Otherwise the comfort measures already suggested should get you through the night. Also, keep her elevated while sleeping, put a pillow under her mattress so she isn't laying flat that makes it easier to breathe. Hope she feels better soon.

warm mist vaporizer might help

First of all, go with your gut instinct. My oldest daughter is 5 and she ended up in the hospital for 3 days on breathing treatments every 3 hrs and heavy steroids. My husband said it was just a cold but she was struggling to breathe too. I am so glad we went to the ER that night - her pulse ox was only 87! It is supposed to be 98% or better. If you still think she is struggling go back to the ER - tell them to give her steroids to help reduce inflammation.

Good luck and keep me posted!

Hi there!

I am sorry that you are dealing with this!

1) Your mommy instincts are right and go with them!

2) You can take her into the bathroom and run a hot hot shower to get the steam - let the bathroom fill up and then just sit there with her while the shower runs for about 20 minutes.

3) If your gut tells you to take her back to the hospital - DO IT!

Hugs

H.

A.~
My daughter had issues with breathing since she was born. She was constantly congested, breathing issues and dark circles under her eyes indicating she wasn't sleeping well. My doc suggested an pediatric allergist to rule out any allergies. Since he found no allergies, he, the allergist, suggested an x-ray of adenoids and a trip to the ENT. Finally, we found that it was her adenoids!!! They were so enlarged it was restricting her breathing. We had the adenoids removed and tubes put in her ears. I can happily say it's been 3.5 years since then and she hasn't had anymore breathing problems and has had maybe 2 "colds' since then.

I know that sounds aggressive, but it worked for us even when the breathing treatments, antibiotics, steam showers and all else failed.

Good Luck! T.

Hi anissa! I read your story and i dont know if i am able to help but heres what i do. My daughter who is now 5, has asthma. There have been days that i worry alot about her breathing. I would do the breathing treatments but i also would put a cool mist vaporizor in her room. The cool mist seemed to really help her. The other thing i use alot is vicks. They make baby vicks so you dont have to use the adult stuff on your baby. The last thing i have tried using is turning on the shower really hot and sitting in the bathroom with her. Sometimes if the cool mist doesnt work i try this. My daughter would cough sometimes when we would sit in the bathroom together but the doc says thats a good thing because its going to her lungs. I hope i have helped you. One other thing, if her breathing doesnt get better soon, go back to the doc. Breathing is something you dont want to mess around with. Good luck and i hope she gets better soon!

Hello,I would take her immediately to your pediatrician. She may have something in her airway that the ER could have missed.

K.
mom of 2
todaysbabies.com