Is This RSV? How Would I Know Other than Going to the Doc?

I would say make an appt. I had this with my daughter when she was younger and they may be able to get you a breathing machine with albuterol to help her breathing also they suggested to incline her bed at night and they can suction out her nose to clear up her breathing. My daughter made several trips and there was really no medicine that would help, just have to wait and hopefully when the weather gets warmer that helps too. she eventually stopped having problems when she was 3 and is perfectly fine now. hope this helps

It really doesn't matter what anyone else's experience is with something like this. If her breathing is impaired you should call your doctor immediately.

I would definitely have her checked out. RSV is typically not too serious in most kids, but there are some, especially under the age of one, who may develop more serious complications, such as breathing difficulty. It's worth a trip to the doctor just to make sure she's breathing OK. She may just need a breathing treatment to open her airways.

RSV produces a very thick mucus which can clog up the airways. The virus itself is not "dangerous".. it's the complication to airways that is. The smaller the child, the smaller their airways. If you choose to not take her to the doctor, then you really need to monitor her for signs of respiratory distress (wheezing, retractions - sucking in of skin between the ribs, bluish color around lips or finger nails, rapid breathing - especially more than 60 breaths within a minute). Any signs of resp distress and you should take her to the ER.

Please, take your child to the doctor. It could really be a number of things.

Could also be croup. Take her to the doc ASAP. Croup and RSV aren't anything to play with.

If she has fast, thready breathing, and has for several months, you should be picking up the phone right now and calling your doctor.

My younger daughter had RSV at 6 months old, and several times during the course of it, we ended up in the ER because we were convinced she was dying. And every time, they sent us home. If your baby has RSV, for sure you will know it because it sounds awful, like they are struggling to take a breath, sort of gurgling. There's really nothing the doctors can do since it's a virus, but obviously if your baby is struggling to breathe, you need to take her to the doctor right away. If the RSV gets bad enough, they will intubate, but they really try to avoid that.

Good luck, and let us know what happens.

You NEED to take her to the Doctor. She is so young.
You need to have it diagnosed, right away.
Don't guess at it, or you will not have the proper treatment for her.

Anytime your baby is wheezing or has fast, thready breathing, I'd say it's doctor time.

Most definitely, take her to the doc!

My friends son and DIL had a sick baby and took him to the Dr. one day and the next he was gone, due to RSV. The Dr. didn't even test him and acted like it was a hardship because they brought him in and bothered him with a cold. He was just a few weeks old. Please don't take any chances with your little angel.

i would def make an emergency visit on top of the fact labored or fast breathing with any small child can result in something serious however not to scare you but one of the emergency symptoms for children for the H1N1 flu is fast breathing. Does she have a fever?? sleeping alot ??hard to wake up/lethargic??won't drink enough fluids I would watch for those but get her in anyway just for the breathing.

If you have any question, I agree, it's time for a doctor visit. I thought my son just had a cold and when I finally took him to the doc, his pulse ox was 73% and the nurses (not me) took him directly to the hospital PICU. He spent 11 days in the hospital with RSV. They have a simple swab test that can tell you if it's RSV- might as well do it and give yourself the peace of mind.

Take that baby to the doctor asap.

If you even think that your daughter has RSV, you need to get her into the doctor. It is dangerous and can cause chronic health problems. My son had it at 4 months old, but was missed diagnosed by a doctor. Two months later he still had the breathing problems and congestion, runny nose, etc. He was very sick, but a cheerful baby, so it was difficult for the doctors to see how sick he actually was. I ended getting my own chest X-ray for him and taking him and that X-ray to an allergy specialist, who told me that he had a really bad case of RSV. He is now 5 and suffers from chronic bronchitis. We had to buy a nebulizer for him. They also believe that he is now asthmatic.

It's important to get these things treated early, before they create even more health problems.