4month old vax but I think it's whooping cough... Need help

[Olives]

my 4 month old daughter is showing all the signs of wc. Last week she had a mild fever, watery eyes, snotty nose. A few days ago a cough started and for 2 ays now she has had nasty coughing spells. When I youtubed sounds of a baby with whooping cough she sounds just like it. She has had one dtap shot so far... Currently, she has 2 to 3 spells a day and the almost always end with her puking. It scares me silly every time it happens. Will it get worse before it gets better? What can I do?

[MeTooMama]

It could be croup! My DS had a whoop to him and I thought he was getting worse so I took him to the ER. Turned out he had croup and the shower mist made it worse so I did the right thing by taking him in. We were there almost all night. They gave him some asthma meds and a steroid shot. Poor baby. He smacked himself a nurse and a doctor... under a year old and already a handful lol.

I hope your little one gets better soon, but you might want to take her to her ped and see if they can check her out.

[KempsMama]

How is her breathing? Is she retracting? Do you hear any weezing in her chest (not in her throat, which can occur with a cold). If the answer to any of those is yes, I would take her in to see a doctor. If not, I would wait and see how she does.

[Olives]

No retractions and I don't think she needs to see the doctor just yet. I have been doing some looking around and am going to send dd1 and dh to get some sodium ascorbate. Does anyone have experience with this as a treatment option? I want to do everything I can to make sure this doesn't get worse and require abx.

What isbthe bestvway to give sodium ascorbate to dd she is 17 lbs?? Also she is exclusively breastfeed.

[cameragirl]

If it is croup, it should get better with steam from the shower, or cool night air. In fact, we have a couple firefighters in the family, and they both said that the first thing they do if called at night is to take the child outside. Most of the time, it makes it better and they don't have to transport.

[katroshka]

cameragirl is right, if it is croup either of those actions will clear it up within a couple of minutes. My oldest would get croup a lot for a couple of years and it always did the trick. Personally, if that doesn't do it I would take her in right away. While it is important to avoid antibiotics when possible, pertussis is serious enough to warrant their use, imo. Not only can it help your babe if she gets them early enough, it will keep her from being contagious. Good luck!

[happy*mama]

I would not wait on bringing your 4 mos old in to see the doctor.  You will get peace of mind knowing what the diagnosis is and you will be better equipped to provide relief for your child.  Even if you do not want to give prescription meds to your babe, you will have more info to work with in providing the care you wish to for your baby.

Two days ago my 2 yo ds came down with a fever.  A few days beforehand he had been saying he did not feel well.  He had all of the symptoms your baby has.   Today I brought ds into the doctor's because his symptoms worsened overnight and he was diagnosed with croup and his first ever ear infection.  I hate to give him the prescriptions (abx & steroid), and was questioning it as the nurse wrote the scripts and when I was standing in line for 30 minutes with ds at the pharmacy after picking up some groceries.  During that time his symptoms progressively worsened and I felt that it was urgent to get him some immediate relief so, now I feel a bit better know that he will feel better soon.  This is his first ever sickness that he has had taken prescription meds.  (And it is no fun trying to hide the stuff in his juice and yogurt to get him to take it.)  I just hate to see him suffer when there is a remedy, so I would rather give him what I can.  I may have chosen a different remedy if I had been aware of one, but I don't want my lack of knowledge to impede his health and comfort.

[cameragirl]

I hope I wasn't misunderstood. With a 4 month old, it is important to get things like this checked out. If the symptoms are eased by steam or cool air, it can mean going to see the Dr. in the morning instead of rushing to the ER, though. Croup is easily treated with home remedies most of the time, but pertussis would require medical treatment in an infant.

[happy*mama]

Originally Posted by cameragirl 

I hope I wasn't misunderstood. With a 4 month old, it is important to get things like this checked out. If the symptoms are eased by steam or cool air, it can mean going to see the Dr. in the morning instead of rushing to the ER, though. Croup is easily treated with home remedies most of the time, but pertussis would require medical treatment in an infant.

I figured you meant this, and I agree.  However, could you enlighten me with some more home remedies for croup?  The nurse practitioner did tell me that I do not need to give my son the full prescription of the liquid steroid if he stops coughing, I could then stop.  It is enough for three days, but I really would rather not have to give it to him.  

[Olives]

Thank you all for your thoughtful responses. I went a head and had our doc take a look. She listened to her lungs and all was clear... Of course she didn't have a cough attack in the office do our ped feels that this is not wc and said to let her know if things get worse. Plus she has had the dtap so that also makes her think it isn't wc as well.

I'm going ahead with the SA it can only help... And with all of the research I've been doing indicates that the abx isn't going to help with clear lungs... Grrr...

I have been steaming the bathroom and going to the cool air as well. Im not sure if is helping or not but I will keep it up.

I really hope that this is just a terrible cough because this is nuts!

[cameragirl]

Originally Posted by happy*mama 

I figured you meant this, and I agree.  However, could you enlighten me with some more home remedies for croup?  The nurse practitioner did tell me that I do not need to give my son the full prescription of the liquid steroid if he stops coughing, I could then stop.  It is enough for three days, but I really would rather not have to give it to him.  

Usually they recommend the steam and cool air, and sleeping upright if possible. If you have a place where you can sleep upright with them safely on your chest, that can help. It will help any mucous to drain instead of clogging up their nose, throat, and lungs. If their nose is clogged, a drop of breast milk in each nostril will help them sneeze it out.

[happy*mama]

Originally Posted by cameragirl 


Usually they recommend the steam and cool air, and sleeping upright if possible. If you have a place where you can sleep upright with them safely on your chest, that can help. It will help any mucous to drain instead of clogging up their nose, throat, and lungs. If their nose is clogged, a drop of breast milk in each nostril will help them sneeze it out.

Thanks for your reply.  Too bad my ds is 35 lbs and 3 ft tall. I miss that kind of cuddling.  But I do recall doing this with him when he was an infant.  Wish I had known about the cloggled nose trick when I was breast feeding.  Breast milk will never cease to amaze me!

[happy*mama]

Originally Posted by Olives 

Thank you all for your thoughtful responses. I went a head and had our doc take a look. She listened to her lungs and all was clear... Of course she didn't have a cough attack in the office do our ped feels that this is not wc and said to let her know if things get worse. Plus she has had the dtap so that also makes her think it isn't wc as well.
I'm going ahead with the SA it can only help... And with all of the research I've been doing indicates that the abx isn't going to help with clear lungs... Grrr...
I have been steaming the bathroom and going to the cool air as well. Im not sure if is helping or not but I will keep it up.
I really hope that this is just a terrible cough because this is nuts!

Good to hear and good luck with you lo.

[katroshka]

I'm glad your doctor doesn't think it's pertussis, but I feel I have to mention that in the CA outbreak last year, many of the babies that died had received one or two of the dTap shots. Also, misdiagnosis is very common. There is a mucus test that will tell you definitively if your baby has it. I hate to sound scary and I think it is most likely that your baby does not have it, but it wouldn't hurt to get a little pushy with your doctor. After a strange incident with my infant daughter, our doctor asked me to take a video of it if it happened again and send it to them or bring it in. Maybe you could try to do that?

[cameragirl]

Actually, filming it would be a good idea if it keeps up. Often kids mysteriously stop seeming sick when they get to the doctor, only get get their fever and cough back when they get home. Doctors realize that. Trust your gut, too. We were told DD didn't break her arm after a fall, but my gut told me that she did. Sure enough, after insisting on an x-ray, they found a two breaks.

[Olives]

me again... My little one is still sick. I took her back in again last week for her well child check. Her doc listened again and said she had croup and that it can last up to 6 weeks. She did offer for her to get a steroid shot but didn't feel it was necessary so we skipped it. She isn't throwing up any longer when she coughs but she does have raspy breathing at times but not all the time... I am ready for her to get better. Having a sick baby is so stressful...

[choochootwo]

My son had croup when he was almost a year old. It started as a running nose and some sneezing. I didn't think much of it because he seemed fine during the day, but his symptoms always were worse in the evening. After two-three days he developed a barking cough and a crazy runny nose. I took him to the doctor and they promptly diagnosed him with croup and also prescribed a steroid. What I've heard from other moms is that croup seems to get much worse in the evening ( like when you're supposed to be sleeping ), that's not always the case, but it was with the other moms I spoke with. He did not vomit while coughing, he really didn't have any food in his belly to vomit, but would make a noise after a big cough like he wanted to vomit. 

If your baby seems to breathing fine for now, I would take her first thing in the morning. I hope she feels better. Croup is more common that whooping cough, so the odds are in your favor so far.