thought it was just a cold....

[dana76]

My DD is 8 mos old, and has had a runny nose for 6 days. Clear and runny. I haven't thought much about it bc we're in a playgroup and babies get stuff. But today, she started coughing. and it's not a dry cough. It's kind of phlemy and deep.  RSV is rampant here right now and I'm really worried!

I hate to take her to the ped., because 1, is there anything they can really do? 2, she always pushes vaxing on me and will really push it now. 

Anyone?

[wishin'&hopin']

RSV can be nasty...it would be a good idea to get her checked out if that's the worry.  They would check her oxygen saturation levels and possibly treat her with a nebulizer/oxygen if necessary.  (Babies get hospitalized for RSV when their oxygen levels don't respond consistently to the kind of outpatient treatment parents can do at home--like a nebulizer).

[rlandnl]

my 7 month old has had a runny and stuffy nose, clear, then it was a little yellow yesterday, she has had a really junky cough for over a week now. I called the peds twice, and took her in today. According to them it's "just a cold". RSV is rampant here, as is bronchitis as well as some recent cases of whooping cough... I was worried, but I feel much better about it now. Her lungs were clear as can be it was all the post nasal drip making her cough

[LittleBirdy]

DS is also 8 months old and he just got over what we assume to be RSV.  We did not get it confirmed with a lab test because his doc said it is really miserable for babies and anyway it wouldn't change the way she would treat him.

The upside to going to the ped is to get oxygen levels checked.  Even if it is RSV, if the O2 levels are good than you're pretty much ok - you just manage it like a regular old cold.  With my DS they were borderline on Thursday but when we brought him back on Friday they were much better.  He still has a cough and sounds a little rattly, I asked the doc about it and she said it would just take time to work itself out.

I know it sucks to get hassled about not vaxing (we don't either but are lucky to have a doc who doesn't utter a peep about it), but the peace of mind you'll get from knowing your LO's oxygen saturation is good might be worth it.  She also gave us three things to check for that indicate respiratory distress so when his cough got bad I could reassure myself that he wasn't doing any of the three things (nostrils flaring, rapid breaths - like 70 breaths per minute, and sucking in under his ribs like he was really having to work for air).