My son is 7 months old. At birth, he aspirated meconium and had a pneumothorax. He was in the NICU for a week.
This winter he has had wheezing twice where you can hear him breathe/wheeze for days and it's accompanied by a loud cough which lingers for weeks. The first time was diagnosed as bronchiolitis and he was given liquid albuterol. I gave it to him for a week, but it didn't seem to do anything to improve his wheezing and cough, so I stopped. He seemed to improve on his own.
The second time his pediatrician diagnosed him with wheezing (although he said it's not really a diagnosis) and prescribed an inhaler of flovent and an inhaler of albuterol along with a spacer (aeromask). I read on the documentation with both drugs that they're not to be given to children under 4 years old, so I haven't given him either one. I'm concerned about giving a child so young an inhaled steroid. Again, his wheezing seems to have improved, although it flares up a bit if we are playing hard.
I have an appointment with a pediatric pulmonologist, but it's not until April (I hate how specialists are always booked out so far in advance!) Any advice in the meantime? It seems like he has reactive airway disease - I've read children who experience meconium aspiration syndrome often have a higher incidence of that. I don't think it truly is asthma, but I'm not sure.
Also, he is in daycare, so I'm sure he'll be sick again and probably have another wheezing episode before the winter is over. I'm worried when we see the specialist in April he'll be over his colds and they won't experience his wheezing.
I would appreciate any help/advice/thoughts anyone has - especially related to giving Flovent to a baby this young. Thanks!
Thank you all so much for your help. I had scheduled the specialist appointment on my own without talking to my son's pediatrician. I wanted the pulmonologist visit to be sort of a "second opinion" for my son. Anyway, I ended up calling our pediatrician to see if she would give me a referral to possibly get us in sooner - she had no problem at all with that and the specialist called me last week to get us in TODAY!!! :) (Hoorah!)
We had a great visit with the specialist who is treating him for asthma and possible reflux. I'm much more comfortable with the Flovent now after talking with the pulmonologist and will be starting it with my son tonight.
Also, he mentioned the possiblity of a milk allergy, but he doesn't think that's the cause since my son doesn't have some of the other usual signs of a milk allergy. However, the specialist said we'll revisit allergy testing at our follow up visit if the treatment plan doesn't appear to be resolving things.
So, many thanks to everyone!
The is research to connect asthma to allergies and allergies to foods.(strong coorlation to milk and dairy) Keep him on a very nutritious diet (lots of fruits and veggies) keep his immune system as strong as you can and with luck he can outgrow the problem. I am a strong proponent of a nutritional supplement called JuicePlus+ it is made from fruits and veggies and is recommended by many doctors contact me if you want more information.
I found out my son had upper respitary disease (doctor never officially called it asthma) when he had just turned 1 by a few days. Unfortunately, it was determined after a scary trip to the ER when he wouldn't stop coughing. I'll never forget that night. That ER room was packed and he got in right away due to the circumstances. Since then, he has been on arbuterol and pulmicort as needed, although now that he is 5 he has outgrown many symptoms and hardly needs them. After experiencing that, I give him his medicine as needed. There would be nothing scarier than having him go through that again and know that if I had just given him a breathing treatment it would of helped. I know medicine can be scary, but try to imagine what it's like to not be able to catch one good breath of air. I would at least try to give him the medicine till your appt to help his breathing. It's not fun to cough or not be able to feel like you can get a good breath in. Or, seek a second or even third opinion asap from another pediatrician if you are still unsure on giving him the medicine.
You're going to think that I'm crazy, but have you tried taking him off of all milk products? It won't make your son's condition go away, but it may lessen the serverity. I have a son with bad food allergies and along the way I have met many parents of asthmatic children who discovered the benefits of removing milk products from their kid's diets. It may take about 2-4 weeks to really see a difference, but for those who are severly allergic they usually respond in a few days. If you are interested you should check into allergies websites and books and learn more about possible effects of food allergies. Good luck!
The first time my son used a nebulizer was five months. It could be allergy induced asthma. I like the idea of no dairy. I would call a pediatric allergist/asthma specialist. We moved here from Maryland and I tell you there is so much allergy/asthma here. WOW...
Hi D.,
My son was born 5 weeks early and had respiratory problems from birth. He is now 23 months old and during the winter months we give him Pulmacort (preventative steriod)and albuteral through a nebulizer as needed and we also have the aerochamber thing for when we are out. I have seen a huge difference in when we consistently use the Pulmacort and when we don't. If we skip days then he starts coughing and wheezing and when he does get sick, it is 10 times worse. We were very hesitant about it all but it has helped my son tremoundously. We started seeing a ped pulmonologist last year and he was able to get my son in fairly early since he was so young. We see Dr. Peter Schocet and have been very pleased with him. He is at Plano Presby. We also went through RSV and the flu last year and the breathing treatments make a huge difference. We only need to do them in the winter time and during the summer months he is just fine. I would definitely see about getting an earlier appt with the pulmonologist. Good luck!
At 6 months my son had this problem they gave him liquid albuterol and liquid steroid. Another thing they had us pat him on the back but not soft but not hard enough to hurt him when he couldnt breath. I would go to another pediatrician and get a 2nd opinion. They dont like to diagnose babies with asthma. My son outgrew most of his problems by the time he was 5.
D., Get rid of all the toxic chemicals in your home. Do it today. Your child is the most important thing in your life. Take the Dr.'s advice. Take the medicine. But, go the extra mile. Help you child. There are companys that sell safe cleaners and others products. I know of a couple and can get you the info. If you don't get info from me then get it from someone. I'ts that important! Hope your little one feels better. Hang in there. Don't forget to take care of yourself. The little one needs you. Have a great week girl!
Give him the medicine. These doctors know what they're talking about! You'll end up in the ER and they'll do it there!
I have to tell you it scared me when my daughter was only 5 months old and diagnosed with ASTHMA. Its something I had never dealt with before. However, her ped wrote a perscription for albuterol through a nebulizer. She is now almost 4 yrs old and does the medication all by herself (with supervision of course).
Her symptoms are seasonal - and mostly (ALWAYS in my opinion) allergy induced - meaning the only times she has troubles is when her allergies flare up. I am lucky to the point to where I know her allergies flare the same time mine do - so - to make it easier and avoid the troubles she take the childrens clariten when I take my benadryl. It works wonders and really works for us.
I will say though - it took a lot of work on my part to keep her ped dr from putting her on anything I was not comfortable with. I kept all her illnesses written down in a journal and wrote doen mine as well - symptoms and all - and showed him my thoughts and notes to back it up. I explained I did not want my child growing up on tons of medicine - and even when she gets a cold - we try typical OTC meds and let it run its course instead of running to get a prescribed antibiotic. I want her to build her immune system - not keep it low due to so many medications. If she truly did not need the medicine and whould suffer terribly because of it - we did without.
Again - I told all of this to her doctor and he worked with me. if the lack of medicine wasnt going to her my daughter - he told me how to go about dealing with her illness (whatever it was) by home remedies ans OTC meds.
good luck - dont stress and sit down with your ped dr and discuss everything in detail. Let them know what your beliefs are and your expectations. you are still the parent. do wnat you feel you need to and what you believe to be right for your child.
