Heart Murmur in My 10 Month Old

My daughter had the VSD defect. We were seen by Dr Beker in Children's Mpls. They were amazing with my daughter who was 1 yo at the time and very active. Kids somehow manage to behave in an unfamiliar places. By the time she realized what is happening, it was done. Luckily my daughter grew out of VSD. Her holes closed off within the first year. Wishing you best of luck!

If you are going to a pediatric heart specialist (which I am assuming you are) you don't need to worry, they know what they are going to have to deal with and they are all set up for it. They will have him lay down, and they have a video playing where he can see, you can lay next to him or sit next to him and it will be fine. They are good at what they do and deal with it all the time so don't worry......

are they doing an echocardiogram or an ultrasound?? or maybe both.....

Yes, just a few weeks ago! My 3 yr old was referred to a cardiologist because of a heart murmur and he had to have an echocardiogram. It turns out that he is just fine! The murmur is normal and the doctor says that he does not need to be seen again!

I know, it was a loooong week before we went in for our appt., and I lost a lot of sleep over it.

We feel very fortunate.

During the echo, they put on a show for your child to watch as they do the ultrasound. I am not sure what they will do differently for your baby since he is so young. It took about 15 minutes or so.

Good luck to you.

The echo is harmless. Your baby won't feel any pain at all. Heart murmurs are actually common. I have one and so do my brother and dad. My dad is 71 and is fine. You're born with it. Mine wasn't detected until I was about 20. Occasionaly my heart skips a beat though. Never worried about it. I ran track in highschool and exercise regularly still.

But the echo itself is not a big deal.

Hi...yes my daughter had this done last year (she was about 1 1/2 though). But she definitely has a mind of her own and was very defiant. However, between the ultrasound tech and the pediatric cardiologist they were able to work with her to get enough photos to determine she was fine. The hospital we went to had lots of things to try to distract the kids; it is what they do. Do your best and help distract your son but know that they are probably very skilled at what they do best.

My oldest grew out of hers. She is going to be 16. My sisters turned out to be a congential defect and so did my girlfriends daughter. Sometimes it is nothing, but just incase you are doing the right thing by having him checked. I will send positive thoughts your way.

Hi. I'm a 50 year old woman who's had a murmur in my heart since a very young age (age 5). I was born with a hole in my heart but that closed itself & by the time I turned 5, I had the murmur and also a muscle bundle over one of my valves. Operation at age 6 to remove bundle and have had no problems at all since. My murmur is quiet, but still noticeable. I'm guessing that with your son, they will somehow put him out to do the test, no other way of doing it. Your son is young and will bounce back quickly, I have no doubt. Murmurs are just something to be watched through the years. I've never had any problems with my heart. I wish you the best of luck and if you'd care to talk, let me know.

make sure you're seeing a pediatric cardiologist & the staff will KNOW what to do!

In my experience with testing, ultrasounds, xray, MRI, whatever it may be, I've learned to not worry so much about the procedure. Ive learned to worry less about how I was feeling (scared, worried, sad etc) and more about how my son was feeling about it. Although 10mon may be a bit young to work with that! As for the procedure, it'll go. Easier than you expected. Remember, these are Dr.s and Nurses and Techs that do this everyday for a living. They have prob done 5 before noon. I'm not at all
trying to downplay your feelings of concern. You are a great mom
for not just worrying, but asking questions. I know of two kids (w/in our fam) that were born with questionable heart murmurs. By 2 and 3 there was no longer concern and life went on. If that doesn't happen for your little one, there are sooo many things they can do to make sure he/she has a "normal" life. Sorry so long and 'rambly'. (Yes, yes I did totally make up that word .........Rambly.)

Had a similar experience w/my oldest at about the same age. He did fine - the pediatric cardiologists are accustomed to working with kids. The heart murmur was benign, and disappeared by age 6. You'll be in good hands - best of luck!

I believe the pediatric cardiologist told us that heart murmurs are very common in young children. Most are deemed 'innocent' but they need to be sure and therefore the echocardiogram.

I also remember him telling us that it is important to note if your child is ever admitted to the ER so that they don't suspect something bigger. I hope that makes sense.

One of my daughters, I don't remember which one, was diagnosed with a heart murmur. They grew out of a years ago, which is why I forgot who it was ;)

Two of my nieces had an innocent murmur. Very common in children, but they did go for echos a couple of times just to make sure it's nothing serious.
If you are going to see a pediatric cardiologist for the echo, they usually have pretty experienced nurses and technicians that will distract the kids to get a good picture. Many kids also "freeze" in a strange environment and will be more quiet by themselves. I wouldn't worry too much, they will work with you and your child.
Good luck.

What is a fetal echocardiogram?...wouldn't that be something done before birth?

My daughter had 3 murmurs since birth (I was told by her doctor that most infants have them at birth but resolve themselves in the first 12 hours). They checked her at 12 hours and they had not all resolved. By 3 months, she only had one left. Hers is non-symptomatic and she has no limitations. She was just rechecked at age 3.5 and without any issues, she doesn't need to be checked again until she is a pre-teen.

Many murmurs are harmless.

My 6 yr old has always had a heart murmur. They detected it very early and just "watched" it for a few years. At age 4 they did the echocardiogram and found it to be a harmless murmur. I wished they would have done it earlier because I would worry as well. They just assured me most kidswould grow out of them. Her activity was never affected by it either. The procedure was pretty quick and they put on a movie for her to watch during it.

My son, turning 15 next week, had one at age 3. He has had a heart murmur since birth. He was an extremely active child and somehow they kept him still enough without sedation. His murmur turned out to be innocent, as most are. I'm really glad we had it checked because he hasn't outgrown the murmur yet and every time we see a new or different doctor they ask me if we know he has a heart murmur. I am able to tell them that we know and have had it checked. Ironically, he did have a preschool classmate who went through the same thing at the same time. She had to have surgery, but it all turned out well. The majority, however, are innocent and require no treatment or anything. The echo is non-invasive, not uncomfortable and the professionals somehow keep those active kids quiet enough. Good luck.

Hi,
One of my three year old twins has a vsd and it was detected in utero. We saw a cardiologist at Mpls Childrens who said he would have to have surgery. They did several echos to determine this. They never sedated him to do this. We wanted a second opinion and were told to go to Mayo. At Mayo he was sedated and while initially, we were not happy with this, it gave them a very clear picture and we have been told there is an excellent chance of it closing on its own. We are followed by Mayo every two years. We just returned from our most recent visit last week and all is well. They will check in another two years as they have to make sure it does progress well. We are so happy we got a second opinion. Please contact me if you would like to talk. ____@____.com