Infant Asthma

Hi, S., I have not personally had a problem with this, but my friend has 3 out of 4 asthmatic children. She switched to
Melaleuca products, and her children have not used inhalers in over 2 1/2 years!!! Good luck. N. B.

Are you nursing?
I'd give him infant probiotics bought from the Health Food Center in the frig section, to up him immune system.
Run a cool mist humidifier, and always depend on God.
You can go to the Healing Rooms of Tiderwater too and they will pray and have gone miracles, so it would be worth your time! Looking them up...Ches.
God Bless!

Hi S.,
Both Barabara and Heather mentioned the use of chemicals in the home and how this can have an adverse effect on anyone who has a condition such as asthma. One of my daughters started showing signs of mild asthma, but 18 months ago I decided to try using more natural based products in my home and she hasn't had a problem since. It is actually much easier and cheaper than most people realise to cut the chemicals from your home and it really will improve the health of your whole family. Let me know if you are interested in going down this road and I can give you some more details.

L. P

I don't have any personal experience with infant asthma, but I wanted to ask you if you have consulted an allergist. Have you looked into whether or not he is reacting to something in his environment (i.e. food, pets, etc..)that could be causing the wheezing? Allergies and asthma tend to go hand in hand. I'll pray that you get the answers you need. God bless!

My son now 4 had "respiratory issues" as a baby starting at 16 weeks. He was hospitalized three times from the time he was 16 weeks until 2 years old...we've been good since. We eliminated all possible allergens and triggers from our home (cleaners, perfume, carpet, scented anything, animals). Then we went to all free and clear detergent and bounce free for laundry. We had all our duct work cleaned (even though our house was only 2 years old). We also put an air cleaner in his room and a humidistat (to dry and too humid air can also be a trigger). We also gave our family strick instructions that they cannot wear perfume,bring pets, or smoke around my children.

After his first hospitalization, I suctioned him frequently to remove any mucus (he needed a suction machine for a little while) with saline and a bulb syringe.

The trick is to find out his triggers. Environmental allergies, food allergies, flying and viruses can all be triggers. Follow your doctors instructions regarding his medications and keep a chart (respiratory symptoms and a food journal). If you are breastfeeding you keep a food journal too. Purchase a stethascope and ask your child's doctor to teach you what to listen for, and then listen every day, several times a day. You will soon learn the early sounds of a flare up and can get it under control before it gets bad. My son was on oral steriods a few times then pulmicort in his nebulizer twice a day, then once a day along with albuterol. Don't worry too much about the medications now they should help his lungs get stronger. It took us about 1 1/2 years to eliminate everything because once you figure out one thing something else changes.

My son is now 4 and is just on Singulair and Proventil inhaler every night. We use albuterol when he starts to flare and that is usually when he gets a cold now. I know it seems like alot, so take one thing at a time and don't think you are bothering his doctor by asking questions and learning as much about asthma as you can. Being proactive will save you both a lot. Good luck.

Yes, after 4 trips to ER in first 4 months of my sons life, we were finally sent to an allergy/asthma spec. He always sounded stuffy, hard time breathing when nursing, afraid he was choking.etc..so they did allergy testing and found out he was highly allergic to dustmites, mold,etc.. some mild food allergies...pet dander...even though I was the healthy mom, not even around cig. smoke, breastfed, still he had bad allergies. We did everything they told us. Got all wood floors, no carpet,no long drapes/curtains, stuffed animals. Bought an ecoquest air purifier(go onto website to purchase), gave meds - singulair granules in cereal, albuterol/xopenex,claritin and a lot of prayer. He is now 5 yrs old and he has outgrown a lot of the symptoms and rarely needs the nebulizer (sometimes in the winter when he gets a cold he gets a little wheezy) and he still takes singulair pill at bedtime and nasonex every morning. Pretty much a normal kid now. The food allergies don't really bother him anymore. Hope this helps. We went to Richmond Allergy & Asthma - fyi!

My daughter is 4 years old and was only recently diagnosed as asthmatic. Her symptoms showed when she had a cold, when she was as young as 5 months! She'd have a lingering chronic cough that didn't respond to any medicine. We never gave her over-the-counter meds, as there is already a family history of asthma and my son older had already been down that road and they had proven dangerous to him. But, even the asthmatic treatments weren't working. A pediatric allergist finally recommended Pulmicort and another med (can't remember name right off hand) instead of Albuterol. Worked immediately! Very frustrating process, but we now have answers.

I agree, I would definitely investigate the allergy route. My son was exclusively breastfed but little did I know all the issues he was having were from me eating nuts, eggs, and pork. His allergies. When I stopped breastfeeding (at 15 months) his symptoms went away (only because he didn't eat any of those things as his first table foods). So I would suggest allergy testing, and/or an elimination diet if you are breastfeeding. This is usually something that has to be initiated by you so stand up for your boy and insist that this be further investigated if you think it's an issue. Good luck!

So my son had the same problem and for some good news first, he's now three and unless he gets a really bad cold, we have no symptoms, so it can get better. My only real advice is get a nebulizer if you can, some insurances cover it, other's don't. It takes longer, but it works better and my son and a neighborhood friend both will sit with the nebulizer 100% better than the deal with the straight inhaler. Best of luck, be vigilant, but realize that it's not the end of the world and try not to worry too much (so much easier to say now then back then)!!

If you are interested in a more holistic route, an acupuncturist can help with this. I have clients that I have sent to several practitioners, and they had very good results.
Diet plays a very big role as well.
Feel free to contact me if you want more info. and referrals.
L.
Birthbliss
HypnoBirthing Childbirth Education and doula services

Are you a big time cleaner in your house? Do you tend to use sprays, bleach, Lysol-type things, in your home? If so- stop right now. The indoor air quality of your home can contribute to it.
Unfortunately, asthma is all too common. It is more common in boys, and he may outgrow it when the proportions of his body change and triggers are recognised, minimized. He's too young to test for allergies, so you need to try and keep his environment as natural as possible. This can help tremenously and did in our case. Cantact me if you want to know what else we did and take "mild" asthma seriously. B.

Hi S.,
My twin boys had infant asthma. It was actually viral induced caused by RSV when they were first born. This is probably a bit different than infant asthma, but I imagine when he catches a cold, it will increase. Anyway, when mine were infants and struggled to breathe, we made frequent trips to the ER and they were hospitalized on many occasions. Finally, a Pediatric nurse suggested we purchase a nebulizer and use it several times a day while the asthma was bad. There is a particular steroid (I think it is called Pulmicort) and a med that works immediately (can't remember the name off hand). Once we started this routine several times a day, the twins were able to breathe and sleep without a problem. It also kept us out of the hospital. But, we needed to begin the regime at the first sign of a cold. Hope this helps!
JM

There's an email list for parents of kids with asthma in the DC area -- http://groups.yahoo.com/group/asthmakidsdc/

My son wasn't diagnosed until he was older, so I don't have any infant-specific advice. I do agree that it's important to figure out the triggers -- for my son, it's winter viruses and emotional upset (he can tantrum himself into an attack).

My son had some issues with breathing from day one he was born with a hole in the lung as well as a colapsed lung. He was in the NICU for a couple of weeks after birth while things got better. After being home for about a week i statrted to notice that he always had chest conjestion (weezing) after seeing his pediatrician for this repaeditly and going to the ER they put him on zophanex and he was referred to a children's pulmoligist at VCU in richamond. The pulmoligist also put him on Pulmocurt as a proventative treatmeant. Well, it didn't seem like it was helping, they would increase it and decrease it however they could not find out the answer all his chest xrays came back good and clear. Finally the Sunday before Thanksgiving the weezing was so bad that i took him back to the ER this time they admitted him into the pedeatric ward. He was there a week for observation They increased the Zophonex to every 2 hours and the pulmocort twice a day. One note we learned is that we were not told by the pediatrician is that the medications can should not be mixed in the nebulizer. The doctors at the hospital were still very confused it didn't seem like he was getting better evan with increased meds. they evan called in an Ear nose and throught specialist. and an allergy specialist along with a pulmoligst. Well, one of the mornings i was holding my son who was only about 7 mos at the time and the nurse was give his treatment i noticed he started shaking and breathing faster, i asked the nurse is this normal, she looked at my son she listend to his chest and looked at the monitors his heart rate started to race. she looked at me and i swear she truned white she pressed the panic botton., all kinds of nurses and doctors ran into the room the explained to the doctor what had happed. they stopped all treatments for 24 hours and gave him oxygen once his stats returned to normal. They informed that it is rare however he had a reaction to the zophanex. The increase amount he was getting made it possible for us to see it. what was happening his the zophanex would open his air ways however it was also tighning them back up just as fast that was why we were not seeing a reaction. He was placed on abitoral and it helps allot better. also the asma specialist has us keeping a jornel of when we give him treatments and times that we have to increase it due to difficulty breathing. we also at first put in the journel if we went out side for hold and were. and then as he eat people food it was recommended that we recorded that as well so that way we could see if any food caused. also his sleeping habits. this did help us. we noticed that if my son who normally sleeps through the night wakedup then two days later he had weezing and of course of we spent any long amounts of time outside. also the weather plays a strong role, I am still figuring that out. My son is doing alot better. for the majority of the time it does not evan fase him he has his nebulizer for his pulmacort and abuteral and an abuteral inhaler for if we are some were we can't plug the machine and he needs a treatment. I know how hard the unknown is especially when it comes to your child and their breathing. It helps so much once you know why and figure out a retein for it. I hope my store has helped you know that some one has gone through something similarr and maybe you can get some ideas from it.

Well, really! An infant cannot be diagnosed with Asthma so young. I think you should take him to a chest X-ray. My two children had the same problem from birth until 1 years old and both of them take neubilzers treatments for there whezzing.

I hope this helps.

Hi there,
Have they taken a look at his tonsils? Perhpas a weird question, but my older daughter was recently diagnosed with childhood sleep apnea. Part of her symptoms were wheezing and raspy breathing that she had forever (exasperated by individual cold events) When we finally got past treating individual cold events and got a referall to an allergist and Ear Nose Throat doctor, both even before physically examining her "knew" it was her tonsils (and adenoids) causing the breathing issues; confirmed by physical exam. So, its just a thought. Best wishes!

Yeah, A doctor who is looking for why your child has these symptoms and just doesn't want to put a bandaid on them! An upper GI is a great start and they puth them under with a light sedation so it is a very simple procedure. Also, I do not know if you are giving your child breastmilk or formula, but he could be allergic to the formula, milk or something along that line. I breastfed all of my boys and two of the three boys could no tolerate my breastmilk b/c they had celiac disease and of course I was eating wheat. One of them had terrible wheezing as an infant and it only got worse. I think you are going down the right path by looking for an allgery. Wishing you the best and best for your baby's health, A.

This may be too late...I was shocked to read it myself the other day. It may be a reason to talk with your doctor about delaying the next DPT or DTaP vaccine, and for moms just starting out, consider starting DTaP series at the 4 month instead of the 2-month check-up, later if your child is not in daycare.

Delaying DPT Vaccination May Reduce Incidence of Childhood Asthma CME
News Author: Laurie Barclay, MD

April 14, 2008 — Childhood asthma is reduced by half when the first dose of diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus (DPT) is delayed by more than 2 months vs given during the recommended period, according to the results of a retrospective longitudinal study reported in the March issue of the Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology.
"Early childhood immunizations have been viewed as promoters of asthma development by stimulating a TH2-type immune response or decreasing microbial pressure, which shifts the balance between TH1 and TH2 immunity," write Kara L. McDonald, MSc, from the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and colleagues. "Differing time schedules for childhood immunizations may explain the discrepant findings of an association with asthma reported in observational studies. This research was undertaken to determine whether timing of diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus (DPT) immunization has an effect on the development of childhood asthma by age 7 years."
The investigators analyzed data from the complete immunization and healthcare records of a cohort of children born in Manitoba in 1995, from birth until age 7 years. Using multivariable logistic regression, they computed the adjusted odds ratio for asthma at age 7 years according to the timing of DPT immunization.
Among 11,531 children who received at least 4 doses of DPT, the risk for asthma was halved in children in whom administration of the first dose of DPT was delayed by more than 2 months. For children with delays in administration of all 3 doses, the likelihood of asthma was 0.39 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.18 - 0.86).
"We found a negative association between delay in administration of the first dose of whole-cell DPT immunization in childhood and the development of asthma; the association was greater with delays in all of the first 3 doses," the study authors write. "The mechanism for this phenomenon requires further research."
Limitations of this study include possible ascertainment bias; findings not yet confirmed with the diphtheria, acellular pertussis, tetanus (DaPT) vaccine; and inability to refute the issue of early-life infections as an explanation for the association between delayed immunization and protection against the development of asthma.
"Further study is vital to gain a detailed understanding of the relationship between vaccination and allergic disease, because a perception that vaccination is harmful may have an adverse effect on the effectiveness of immunization programs," the study authors conclude.
The Canadian Institutes of Health Research supported this study. Some of the authors have disclosed various financial relationships with the Western Regional Training Center for Health Services Research, the National Training Program in Allergy and Asthma, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Allergen, and/or Novartis.
J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2008;121:626-631.

One thing that will go against him is disposable diapers. They give off toxins and cause asthma like symptoms. If you do a google search of disposibles and asthma you will find one stufy where they put lab rats on clean disposible diapers for 1 hour and they experienced respitory problems.
Good luck
L.

In addition to what Barbara L. has written, most people do not realize that synthetic fragrances are harmful to EVERYONE, especially babies and the elderly population. Surprisingly, this includes scented laundry cleaners and softeners, perfumes, air freshers (sprays or plug ins), febreeze-type products, mainstream cleaning agents - anything made with synthetic fragrances. These products can cause asthma (and induce flare ups), headaches, watery eyes, decreased immune function, irritability, hormone imbalances - and more. You may want to check products you regularly use and reduce (or hopefully stop using altogether) those that fall into this category - for your baby and for your whole family's health.

My twins were put on a nebulizer which helps.we go to the Maryland ashtma & allergy center in Westminster( Dr Lavietes & Lanpher.}They are Great.

When my daughter was only months old she was always mucousy and had projectile reflux after each feeding. Her pediatrician ordered an x-ray to see if it was pyloric stenosis, which came out negative. Come to find out, it was asthma. She was put on nubulizer treatments every 4-6 hours at 7 mos old, which made all the difference. She is now 7 y/o and takes Zyrtec for allergies and a Flovent inhaler (through an aerochamber) twice daily for asthma. She uses an Albuteral inhaler as necessary. She is followed up on a regular basis and we have never had a trip to the ER for asthma. Good luck!

S.,
Good morning! My children haven't had infant asthma but they do have food allergies. Wheezing can be a symptom of that as well. You could request a referral for a pediatric allergist to rule that out if you'd like. You could also talk to your pediatrician or allergist about eliminating foods if you are nursing or changing formulas if you use formula. Common allergens are milk, soy, eggs and nuts, to name a few. I know all children don't have food allergies but I'd hate to not mention it in case it could help! I've gotta run before munchkin #2 wakes but you're welcome to email me if you'd like any more info. Googled and found this quickly : http://www.aaaai.org/patients/publicedmat/tips/foodallerg...

Best of luck with his symptoms.
K.
oops- I just saw other similar responses - sorry for any overlap!!

Our son had the same diagnostic when he was 4 month old, after several opinions (Seasonal allegies, pre-asthma) and meds (Zyrtac, Zyxal, Singular, Predinosole, Nebulizations with Xopenex and Plumicort), the last specialist nailed.
Our son did not have astha but gastric reflux (I didn't believe it at first because he is a very easy baby). After 2 weeks taking Prevacid and nebulizations his wheezing is almost gone... He is now a healthy six month old! The explanation was that his disgestive system was inmaure and fluid was getting into his lungs. Check with your doctor. I hope this helps!