Hi all -

I posted a question on here a while back about my little Lauren and her use of a nebulizer. She has since been diagnosed with asthma and we have our own nebulizer. It's not bad, we are getting used to it and were told we should only need it when she shows signs of getting a cold etc.

Well, yesterday she started having trouble with congestion/mucus again and her breathing got difficult. At times she sounded wheezy so we started the neb last night before bed. She woke around 2am and still sounded pretty bad so we used another treatment, and this time it didn't really seem to work. She continued to cough every few minutes until at least 5:30am - I lost track seeing as I had been up since 1am (took some meds of my own for a cold, apparently messed with my precious sleep).

She's coughing up clear fleghm (sorry) and spitting it up a bit with bubbles out her mouth. She was like this a few weeks ago but had a clear cold with runny nose. This time it doesn't seem like she has a cold (yet?).

For my friends out there with children on a nebulizer - what can cause the breathing difficuties if not a cold? Is it allergies? She's been congested at least a tiny bit since she was born, basically. Could it be the dogs? I love my dogs but I love my kids more... I'm just at a loss. I'm taking her to see the doc again today - I'm wondering if I should push for allergy testing? She's only 4.5 months old - one of the docs in our practice even said previously that most infants don't develop allergies that young.

Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks!

Hey Carrie I'm sorry to hear that Lauren is struggling, it must be so tough for you all

How does her cough sound Carrie? Is it productive and a 'chunky', rattling cough, or is it dry and essentially unproductive?

I personally doubt that it is an allergy hun, but I am no expert. It does sound to me like she is having some issues with post nasal drip and maybe enlarged tonsils/adenoids? Has she been checked for that? Most kids have large tonsils which eventually shrink down by the time they are 7/8 and their immune system is fully mature. If they have a cold, or maybe a sinus infection the mucous runs down the back of their throat and irritates enlarged tonsils causing a persistant tickly cough (especially when lying down to sleep). Some kids have particularly large tonsils which are more prone to this problem than others, so it might be worth asking them to check if hers are.

She may not have a cold at the moment, but she might be full of mucous if she has a sinus infection left over from her last cold virus a few weeks ago. Has anyone suggested trying her on a course of antibiotics to clear up any possible infection? Atleast have them check her throat and look into this possibility.

Sorry in advance if my suggestions have already been ruled out, just desperate to help if I can because I know how frustrating and exhausting it is to have a lo with a persistent cough and no apparent explanation or means of fixing it. Take care and let us know how you get on xxx

Thanks Lizzie - I really appreciate it.

They did put her on antibiotics, they think if it is RSV or some other lingering infection even if it is viral - there could be some bacteria in her system that is causing some of the mucus. The cough is productive - when she really gets going she coughs up clear flehm (sp?) and a lot of it.

We are also trying soy formula now. Since she's really been congested to some degree since birth they thought we should try that too.

They didn't check the tonsils etc, I'm guessing because she really is wheezing and having trouble breathing in her lungs when they listen. So even with post nasal drip etc, the problem is in her lungs and not just a nasal/throat thing at this point.

Anyway, as a result of the doctor's visit yesterday, she is now on the albuterol neb treatments, an oral steroid to help this current flare-up, and the doctor wants to put her on inhaled steriods after she is done with the current Rx, probably twice daily thru the winter. She also had a chest x-ray that came back fine, so no anatomy issues etc. We were almost sent to the ER yesterday, but she is doing better today (already had her back to the doctors to see if the steriod was helping, it seems to be) and we had a MUCH better night last night.

Thanks again for all your help!!! We will probably push for allergy testing at some point to see if we can determine the trigger, but we are being told the testing is not really accurate until they are 8 months old or so.

Hi Carrie. RSV is a persistent infection and when it results in bronchiolitis in babies it typically causes these symptoms with every cold/infection for a while afterwards. The wheeze and cough are classic signs, and sometimes have no obvious trigger - except that there is usually a virus behind it, a virus which might only be a normal cold for your other girls, but for Lauren will likely affect her chest in this way.

My Godson was badly affected by RSV as a baby, and every winter had these wheezy chests, and persistent night coughs until his lungs and immune system matured. He is now a healthy 11yr old, and has no long lasting effects. He was on inhalers throughout childhood, but his Mum is never sure that they did any good as such except to help with the wheeze. He was an extreme case, and Lauren is unlikely to be as badly affected - she will probably improve hugely by the time she is 2/3 as most bronchi babies do.

Hope she has come through the worst of this bout hun, and next time she gets wheezy try steaming her in the bathroom - works wonders to ease the cough. Take care xxx

Hi Aunt Carrie your little Lauren sounds just like how my Issac was after Bronchilitis at 4 weeks of age. he had reacuurent wheeze, every cold ended up in hospital for oxygen ect and he was permanenly congested. Isaac also had recession above his ribs showing how hard he constantly had to breathe it was a nightmare! Thankfully at 10 months we have turned a corner, he does get wheezy with a cold but so far has managed fine and suffers no more with congestion than any other baby with a cold. I cant remember exactly when it got better but was gradual from 6 months plus. I use a Ventolin Salbutamol inhalor and now he is older have a steriod one for prevention but did try various ones beforehand but they made little differnce. Its horrible when they keep suffering as it affected his feeding, weight and all our sleep. It shoudl improve on its own, i dont even worry now and i hope its something he will outgrow totally by 2 years? I dont know if Lauren is old enough but the mest medication i have had for Isaac is the steriod tablets Prednisolone which reduces the inflamation of the airways, a couple of days treatment stops the wheezing it in its tracks but is something to use rarely and only when nothing else works??

Chan - beautiful kids!!!!

Nothing to add just wanted to say hope she is better soon sweetie xxxx