Pneumonia signs in a toddler

[lmk1]

Several months ago, ds got pneumonia, and then started wheezing. This time we have wheezing. I'm beginning to hear some of the crinkly paper/underwater type sounds coming from him that I did last time...how can I tell if it's pneumonia. We're doing xopenex and the Dr told us to come back in 2 weeks, but I don't know if I should bring him in sooner? He had a slight fever this time that's gone now. But last time he never had a fever. What do I look for, or listen for? I'm really confused as to what pneumonia sounds like. I've listened to sound files websites but when I listen to his lungs, there's so many other sounds going on, it sounds like a video game, so it could be digestion sounds. I hate to drag him in and possibly expose him to more germs, but on the other hand, I don't know about dealing with pneumonia, when I have a wheezing kid. We're kind of new to this wheezing thing, and I'm really hoping we're not also going to get pneumonia with every cold.

[Marnica]

The only way to diagnose pneumonia is with a chest x-ray.

Wheezing does not automatically mean pneumonia. How was he diagnosed with it the last time X-ray?

[lmk1]

Originally Posted by Marnica

The only way to diagnose pneumonia is with a chest x-ray.

Wheezing does not automatically mean pneumonia. How was he diagnosed with it the last time X-ray?

No, the Dr. listened to his lungs and could hear the fluid. She actually didn't want to do an xray as she felt that it was an unnecessary xray exposure for him. We did end up doing one because he kept getting sicker, and I was wondering what happened to my healthy kid??? By the time we did the xray, it showed only the effects of wheezing, but no pneumonia. I think (fingers crossed) that he's doing better today...but gosh, it's hard to tell unless I actually count how often he coughs and how "bad" it sounds.