Advice on Bronchiolitis

[theratprincess]

My baby girl was born nearly two weeks ago. Sadly she has spent the last 5 days on Kings children's ward (with a brief trip to high dependency unit). She has an infection of her airways (Bronchiolitis) caused by the common cold virus. With lots of medical intervention to support her breathing she is slowly recovering. We will be here several more days.

Just wondered if anyone else has been through this and has any words of wisdom?

In particular about re-establishing breastfeeding (she has been nil by mouth/ fed by naso gastric tube but I'm pumping regularly and have a lactation consultant that I'm in touch with)? Also, wondering about the level of care I will need to give her once home (I already have a 2 1/2 year old boy and am still recovering from a c section)? Obviously these are all questions I will be asking the various medical professionals too.

[Ondine]

hello - just wanted to sympathise. DD2 had bronchiolitis but was a little older - around 16 weeks - and that was horrid so I can imagine how worried you've been with a 2 week old. The main thing I can remember was loads of calm calm TLC - it's awful when they struggle to breathe and the more they can relax, the better they do.

She coughed loads throughout her first two winters and at around 18 months she was having an osteopath consultation for something else and he found that she had a vertebrae that was popped out of place and he reckoned that was down to all the coughing and could have led to back problems later in life.

But to reassure you - she was a little wheezy till she was about 3/4 and we were advised there was a risk of asthma developing but she just grew out of it and there was no lasting damage at all

best of luck with it

[sunbob]

I haven't experienced bronchiolitis but do have 2 children with a 2 and three quarter year age gap. If you haven't already done so, it could be really helpful to order a really snug sling that you can keep little one in most of the time including breast feeding in. Having your hands free for the older child and being constantly there for your little one is a lovely combination and I imagine might really help in your situation.

Sorry I don't know which sling is best but I think a search on here will bring up a couple of useful threads about it.

[sunbob]

http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?29,977316,977316#msg-977316

Here's one thread about slings.

[duchessofdulwich]

my eleven week old has been coughing and occassionally being sick. gp gave the all clear for his imms and he still has this hacking cough. theyve told me its not an infection due to no temperature and his lungs sound clear apparently

[duchessofdulwich]

not trying to hijack thread but there seem be alot of this about at the.moment.

[julia2009]

This is what my 5 month old son had last week. Started with bad cough for 2 days and then fever and generally unwell. Think we are over the worst of it now. Lots of cuddles, lots of milk (takes ages for him to drink as stopping to cough), saline spray for nose to help him breathe, sleeping with mattress elevated and calpol is how we got through. My other son hasn't caught it (yet). I think a sling is the way forward as suggested above. It was a tough week and imagine it would be even harder with a baby so young. Hope you and baby are on the mend soon. Congratulations by the way on the new arrival.

[buggie]

Would suggest once home keeping head end of ?moses basket/cot propped up - either with a rolled blanket under the mattress or books under the feet.

Also, if congested saline drops/spray (I love the calpol one) is fab - spray up each nostril pre-feed & they clear it as they suck/feed (& sometimes sneeze out impressive bogies!).

With feeding let them lead the way - may want shorter more frequent feeds (as they will have with the drip/NGT). Might be worth asking the nurses to contact Claire or Joanne the be/feeding specialist MW's (if you're at Kings) as they might be able to see you while your still in hospital for some advice/support.

Fingers crossed you're home & feeling confident soon x

[Medusa]

My children had it, too. Two of them were hospitalised for 5 & 7 days respectively and needed tons of oxygen. Given that they had also been very premature and had chronic lung disease, I was warned that the bronchiolitis might cause scarring that would lead to ongoing respiratory problems. In the event they were all absolutely fine once they recovered and in the eleven years since, have barely coughed. I dosed them religiously with vitamins and echinacea for years, though. I know how awful it is to watch your baby in hospital like this, but it may not mean long-term damage.

[loverofwine]

I'd second Medusa's comment. My 1 month old, premmy baby was in Kings for x2 weeks with bronchiolitis. He's now almost 8 and fit as a fiddle. Ironically it is his twin who is now asthmatic.

In terms of breastfeeding do keep pumping and keep reminding the nurses that you want your child to have breast milk. I had serious issues with nurses on Toni and Guy trying to switch one of my other kids to formula whilst he was (at 1 week old) sick in hospital. Their reason was it was easier for them to manage. Luckily I had a very feisty midwife who insisted that he got bm (ideally mine but otherwise milk bank stuff) and we never looked back.

Good luck ...and Congratulations on your recent arrival!

[melbourne groover]

Hi there,

Both my kids were hospitilised with Bronchiolitis, one at 5 weeks and one at 3 weeks. It is awful watching them struggle so you have my sympathy. I bought a Vicks Hot steam vaporiser which was great at the time, (think you can get them on Amazon) and is still going 7 years later! I definately found elevating the mattress slightly at the head end helped.

Both of them are really healthy now (touch wood) and have no side effects!

Good luck.

[sandy_rose]

Hi there, my daughter was also in SCBU for a week at birth (for something else) tube fed, and then back in again age two weeks for another stint and put on formula. Both times I just kept pumping and it was as easy as just popping her back on the boob when she was allowed back on bm. I don't think nipple confusion is as common as they make out. Hopefully you will find you're ok too. My main problem was not knowing when to stop pumping so ended up getting painfully engorged and mastitis.

[theratprincess]

Just wanted to say thanks to all who posted and pm'd. After a very long 2 weeks Kings, my baby is finally home (she got a secondary pneumonia). Now she's home all seems to be going ok, including BF. It was reassuring to hear of others who had been through it too.