18Month Diagnosed with Asthma/colds. Humidifier Q's. Also Advise!

If it started at the sitters, you need to fix the problem there or you're not really fixing the problem. you can only do so much at home and if he's having triggers there, every day you will have to deal with asthma issues all evening and night. if they are not willing, then find another sitter!! breathing issues are nothing to mess around with. start seeing a pediatric allergist right away. they can REALLY help with figuing out triggers and asthma management techniques. our son has it too and our dr has been wonderful...he tells us tips that our ped never told us.

the plug ins or the vicks never helped us but still keep the humidifer going. Cool mist rather than warm mist is better from what i hear. even if you dont think its working, it's probably helping a little bit with keeping moisture in the air, especially with fall & winter coming. try to keep him elevated a bit when hes sleeping.

When you start to see an allergist, he/she will probably ask you what he eats, what he interacts with throughout the day, etc. so start keeping a little log and if you can, ask the sitter what he plays with, where he sleeps, what he eats, etc. could be a food trigger, dust/dander, etc. but doing this will help them try to figure it out.

Last but not least, if he's wheezing, don't be afraid to use the nebulizer! it really does help..

My daughter was diagnosed with asthma at 9 months after 3 months of daycare and 2 1/2 months of exactly what you are describing. It was terrifying.
We did abuterol and another medicine (i forget what) in the nebulizer for two months twice a day for a half hour each time and it basically did nothing. Finally right before she turned one (and right after testing for CF, so scary!) the dr. acknowledged that it wasn't working and put her on Ventolin and QVar in an inhalor (with a little baby tube attachment thing with mask) It worked WONDERS! Her asthma was very soon under control and within about a month we no longer had to use the Ventolin and just the QVar for managment twice a day and it took two seconds. So much easier and more effective than the nebulizer.

At 15 months we took her out of daycare and I made the choice to stay home with her. Since then (she is 2 1/2 now) we are no longer using any meds. We do keep the ventolin current and have used it for the two colds she has had in the last year and a half. And I have used it for about a week each time. Her asthma is now considered dormant.

Our Dr. strongly suggested that we avoid all humidifiers and plug ins. When she has a cough we use the vicks vapor rub on her chest and a tiny bit on the bottom of her feet, for some reason that works amazingly well.

PM me if you think I can answer any specific questions about our experience or anything you are going through. It can be a scary time, but so many people live and live well with asthma every day. :)

To help control asthma he needs a control med not just the albuterol. I strongly suggest you get a referral to a pulmonologist. At this age I'd avoid Vicks type products sometimes the smell can bother kids and trigger an attack. You need to find out his triggers, if he has allergies, etc and do your best to avoid them.

He NEEDS, to have, daily Asthma meds.
Asthma is a very serious thing.
I have had it since I was a child.

Also make sure, he gets a Flu shot. For people with Asthma... getting the Flu or any cold, can be, life threatening.

Take him to a Pulmonologist.
See a specialist and learn, about asthma.

Various things can trigger it or make it worse.
Each person is different.

Asthma basically means, they cannot breathe, in simple terms. Thus, they are not getting adequate oxygen levels into their system and blood stream. IF he at any time, turns blue or his chest sucks in as he breathes, you NEED to take him to the ER, right away.

If I'm reading this correctly he's started this since being at his sitters house? I would first talk to the sitter and have her keep the house free of dust daily and use a humidifier there. If he's there many hours a day that's the first step. At home, get a room size humidifier in the main part of the house. It may not hurt to get an air purifier as well. You can get a small humidifier for his room, a basic one will do. Dust the house daily using cling wipes that doesn't spread it back into the air. Vacuum and sweep daily when he's gone or taking a nap. Change your air filter for your a/c and heater every 2 weeks. Be aware of air quality of the air in your area. We live north of Philly so there is an air quality alert put out now and then for the elderly and those with lung issues so on those days those people stay in the house more. On good days let him outside to breathe fresh air and all homes no matter how clean can get stuffy. Be aware of days when people are out mowing the lawn and such. Keep him in on those days. Use unscented and more "natural" cleaners like vinegar. You can do searches for all the cleaning uses for vinegar. Saline sprays can help as well. Wash hands often as dusts and other things can transfer to him, especially at his age when his hands go to his face often.

Again, start with the sitters house! If things get worse or do not improve you may want to change sitters for the health of your child.

K. B
mom to 5 including triplets

I think your first step should be finding out what triggers it. Allergies, or illness? I think for many kids it's allergies, but for my daughter it is illness. We had such a horrible year last year with her asthma. Sick from August until February. Nebulizer every single day, sometimes 3 times a day. We did the whole works, allergy testing and while she did have allergies, they were not triggering her asthma. For her, every time she got a cold or anything else, it went straight to her lungs. She had just started preschool and of course, got the normal sickness most kids get starting school. But for her, much worse. Unfortunately we went through months of daily steroids and nebulizers before we figured it out. The only way we figured it out too, was because once spring/summer hit, and the winter colds went away, she was fine and was fine all summer.
Now, she is old enough to do really well with a aero chamber. She likes it much better because she does not have to sit with the nebulizer. We do have to break it out every time she gets sick, but she has only been sick once so far since starting school.
For the cough, I agree with the other post, Vicks works amazingly. I don't usually put it on the chest, I put it on the feet with socks and let me tell you, it takes her cough away!
Asthma can definitely be scary, my daughter had her worst attack this summer and turned blue- never been so scared in my life. Your first step though should be to figure out what is triggering the attacks so you can work to prevent them. Good luck!

That's about the age my daughter was diagnosed. The most important thing is to keep it under control because if it gets bad enough, the neb won't work and he'll have to have prednisone, which you want to avoid. I fought against giving my daughter nebs how many times a day on a permanent basis, but they kept telling me there were less steroids in a YEARS worth of daily neb treatments than in one five day course of prednisone (which she had to do twice.)

Cool mist vaporizer is safest.

Figure out what the triggers are and avoid them. If it started since the sitter's...does she smoke? Have a cat/dog? Is her house dusty? Etc? My daughter's triggers are colds, mostly...she gets a cold, and her asthma blows out of proportion.

My son has asthma and his triggers are some animals, nuts and certain foods. His major trigger has been illness, it goes straight to his lungs and exasperates his asthma. As soon as my son has a runny nose that his allergy meds don't get rid of...we fire up the nebulizer with Xopenex (doesn't have as many side effects as Albuterol) and Pulmacort every 8 hours and as the cold progresses, and his asthma worsens, we do Xopenex every 4 hours with Pulmacort every 8 hours (so every other treatment). If we stay on the game, we can usually avoid steroids. His asthma has significantly improved in the last couple years, it was the worst at ages 2 1/2 to 4 years old.

The humidifier and Vicks plugin never did squat for him, but I still tried them out of desperation. I also want to add that he has had some horrible coughing spells that were stopped by putting him in a steamy shower to loosen up the mucus. The cough usually came when his asthma was under control. Steaminess can also be an irritant...there was a fine line!

It can be scary at times, but hang in there. You will figure out his magic formula of relief.