My 2-Year-old Has Pneumonia....

Definitely cancel the party. You don't want to be responsible for infecting anyone else's kids. He won't be done with this by Sunday.

My friend's two-year old daughter has pneumonia right now, too. She has had it for about a week. Still not 100%, she reports, with what she calls liquid breathing.

Imagine this: her other child got the viral flu (coming out both ends) at the same time and had to go live at Grandma's to keep the other one from a double health problem! Ugh! And she's a single mom, God help her.

Anyway, I know it is very scary to see your child be soooo sick. You are right, though, about mother's intuition - you know if something is wrong. If you are worried, call the doctor.

As a side note, as a SAHM myself, if you haven't found the MOMS Club (momsclub.org) you should look into it. I belong to the one in Centerville and I know there are active ones all across the Dayton area.

My best,
S.

Hi,my name is S.. I have a 4 year old. When my daughter had just turned 3 she was sick, really sick. I brought her to the doctor and he just gave her cough medicine and said she would be fine but like u said mother instict knows best. The next day her fever sky rocketed. I brought her back to the doctor and he said one of her lungs had pneumonia....so I rushed her to Er. I guess my daughter had it worse than your son because she had to go on a oxygen mask and was addmitted for 4 days to keep an eye on her. And YES!!! it was the scaryiest time of my life. I stayed by her side and didn't really sleep the whole time. Anyway, everything turned out fine. If you keep an eye on your son and just make sure he doesn't have a fever that goes high, you guys are all right. And listen for wheezing. I knew something was really wrong when my daughter wouldn't move or eat, she just sat there like a zombie. Well I hope I helped out in some way, good luck with your son

Hello A.. I'm sorry to say, you should cancel the birthday party. I would just reschedule when your son is feeling himself again. It's a difficult time when your little one is so sick. Pneumonia will take a while to bounce back from. It took my son two months after medication to get back to himself.(In all it took about three months for it to be completely out of his system.) The illness takes a lot out of a child. I hope your son is feeling better soon. My prayers are with you. Good luck!!

Yes, I would cancel and reschedule for another time. He's not feeling well and isn't going to have any fun not being able to play with his friends.
I don't know how long the contagiousness of it lasts, but even if he isn't anymore, you or your husband might get it.
I don't have any experience with my kids having it, thank God! But I think it take a month to get over. Poor little guy! Well happy birthday to him and I hope he feels better soon!!!

I know exactly how scared you were. A little over a month ago my five yr. old son was very sick and I simply thought that he had caught the bad flu that was going around. He started to get worse on a Friday and by Sunday he wasn't himself. I called our pediatrician on call, explained the symptoms and was told that he probably just had the flu. However, he was very lethargic, wouldn't eat etc. And against my better judgement, I waited until Monday for him to be seen. So I waited until Monday morning and when our pediatrician walked into the exam room he knew right away something was wrong. The next hour was a blur, they called an ambulance to the doctors office, and we were wisked down to Childrens.

As a mother, I've never felt worse in my life feeling that I allowed my son's health to deteriorate. I was reassured by our pediatrician that the signs are hard to read and that he was very upset with his partner (who I spoke to that Sunday) for not encouraging us to go to an Urgent Care. Seven hours later we were allowed to take him home but we were told that he needed to stay home from school because it was contagious. I also have a two year old and luckily he did not get it but we also tried to keep him away from his brother as much as possible. Although we started to see our son improve within a few days, we kept him out of school for two weeks just to give his little body time to heal.

When we went back for a follow-up, the pediatrician said that the report he received from the ER stated that had I waited another hour for him to be seen, his lung would've collapsed at home! I swore to myself that I would never be concerned again about what doctors or others thought about me, my first concern should be my children. I simply didn't want to be someone who called the doctor everytime my kids got the sniffles but that experience taught me that anything can happen so very quickly.

Although I'm sure that your son is probably showing improvement already, I would recommend postponing his party. Although he may be acting better, I've learned that pneumonia takes time to recover from and children can be very fragile. I'm sure the other parents will appreciate that you're looking out for everyone and it's better to err on the side of caution.

I hope that he has a wonderful birthday regardless and that he recovers quickly!

God Bless you and your little one. Always follow your instincts. I would go ahead and cancel the party and reschedule. Children rebound fast but pnuemonia can linger and really make you tired or just worn out for a while after yu are better. Don't be surprised if he gets it again. Pneumonia is one of those illnesses that once you have it you are more likely to get it again. This is true especially in children. Since he is on antibiotics now you should be safe from catching it, but be careful, as moms we have to kiss and cuddle always and even more when our children are sick. Take care I hope your little one is better soon
J.

Hi A.,
When my son had it, I was to give him a breathing treatment 3 times a day for, I think, a week. I would call the doctors office and see if they want you to do any kind of breathing treatment for him. It definately helped my son.