[mnm4242]

My baby is 11 months old and she caught an illness that's been going around.

She has had a fever since Friday morning. It has been controlled to an acceptable level with Tylenol but it persists even now. I took her to the doctor on Friday morning and this morning (Monday).

She has a really bad cough too and lots of mucus. She is miserable.

The doctor listened to her chest and back today and in her ears. She said her it sounds a little wet so she wants me to do back percussions when she coughs to break it up.

She said if she still has a fever by Friday that she wants to see her again. She also said if she had trouble breathing she wants to see her or if her temp gets up to 104.

So far her temp is usually 101.4 or 101.8. It varies and sometime goes to 100.4.

Can someone just confirm with me that she will most likely be ok and get over this. This is the first time she's been sick (besides for a minor cold she has about 5 mos ago). But she is sick as a dog right now and I am SOO Worried. I am a FTM and this is my first time having to deal with a sick child.

 

[foreverinbluejeans]

It is really scarry when your first baby gets sick. No one can tell you for sure that your baby will be OK, we don't have enough information and we can't see your baby. This is not the place to get medical diagnosis. We are moms, some of us happen to have medical training.

Fever is good. It helps kill the bacteria or viruses that are causing the illness. Some of us choose not to use medicine to bring down the fever or we might only use the medicine for fever at night to help the baby sleep.

Babies get ear infections and have problems breathing. It's very common, even for breastfed babies. My 3 children all had ear infections by the time they were 11 months old.

It's really hard for us to see our babies be ill and miserable. Take care of yourself so you can take care of your baby. I hope your baby is well soon.

 

[Nicks Mom]

Sounds a lot like what I"m dealing with with my 4.5 yo - 101ish fever, started with cough - now cough is gone but he has an ear infection. And we're at a week and a half of it now. This is the sickest ds has ever been - so I feel like it's my first time as well! I understand what you're going through!

 

[mnm4242]

Thanks.

Her fever went to 103.2 last night. The PED recommended we give her motrin since the Tylenol didn't work.

What remedies do you guys do other than medicate. Anything besides cool air humidifier, wipe down with cool rag, bath, and lots of love?

Her fever went down with the Motrin. Her cough is SOOO bad now though. Her breathing became more normal now that her fever went down.

She screamed and cried all night which I'm sure did not help the soar throat. Poor poor baby.

Oh, and I am not looking for medical advice in replace of my pediatrician. I have been in contact with my pediatritian throughout all this. Just looking for ideas. And I know that nobody "KNOWS" for sure that my baby will be ok, I'm just looking to see if this is normal sick pattern for a baby or if this seems worse and I should be more concerned. Since it's my first time dealing with a sick baby, I'm not sure what is normal for them.

 

[columbusmomma]

She sounds "normal" for a LO experiencing illness! It is hard to deal with when this is so new

How about making sure the head of her crib or your bed if you bedshare is elevated, to help drain her lungs? I would also continue the percussion as well. Would you feel comfortable giving her a dose of honey? That's always helped us a lot. Keeping her comfy is really all you can do. Hope she's feeling better soon!

 

[Nicks Mom]

Well, we didn't give ds motrin last night - after giving it to him for sooo many days in a row he was complaining of his tummy hurting and I got paranoid that the ibuprophen was finally irritating his stomach. (It could also have been from sinus drainage or the fact that he hasn't been eating much too - but I worry) He made it through the night with only a few wimperings - and this morning he has no fever and for the first time in forever says that he feels fine - and that his ear doesn't hurt. I'm holding my breath that it won't creep back today, but it's been about 10 days now so maybe the virus has run it's course.... Hopefully that's how it will be for you!!! I know nursing your sick child can be one of the most emotionally draining things to go through. You really question yourself.

I don't know how much difference it would be with someone less than a year old vs a 4 yo, but when ds had the cough in the beginning of this, I sliced an onion into some honey and let it sit for a while and the juice from the onion was drawn out - then I'd give ds spoonfuls of it (no onion pieces). It was actually palatable and the onion is so good for them. I also had him eat raw minced onion in some butter on bread - but he's soooooo sensitive to anything he deems "hot" that I could only do that once. Otherwise, I've been giving him zinc tablets (for children), vit C, cod liver oil - to try to help his immune system deal with it. And one night when he was really bad I just took him out of bed and snuggled with him in front of the tv - it helped distract him from how awful he felt until the motrin could kick in.

Hang in there - your little one is fortunate to have such a loving mama!!

 

[k9sarchik]

Dealing with a sick baby for the first time can make you crazy nervous.

A lot of mamas on here, including myself, do not medicate for fevers. Antipyretics can actually prolong symptoms. Fevers are your friend. They do not need to be feared. If the fever gets to 105 you can call your Dr. for suggestions.

For congestion the best you can do is really run a vaporizer and do steam baths. Provide lots of water to drink, or nurse if baby is BFing. Don't give any cow's milk because that increases mucous and makes it thick. Having them sit up or being a bit propped up too helps with relieving congestion.

Lots of rest and TLC and your LO will be fine.

 

[mnm4242]

Thanks Mamas!

She drinks emfamil with Lipil about 4 6oz. bottles per day. (Please don't make me feel bad for not breastfeeding still. We had so many problems and I gave it 110 % for 4 months and it just didn't work out. I had to weigh the stress on her and me with continued breastfeeding versus her being formula fed. Trust me, I feel bad about the breastfeeding thing all the time and oh how I wish I could have done it for a year at least) OH and yes, I know that breastfeed babies get sick less and less severe when they get sick.

This has cows milk in it, so I wouldn't know what else to give her. I wouldn't want to start giving her Soy formula because she's never had it and I wouldn't want to try something new while she's this sick.

Thanks for the info about the fever thing. I need to relax a little bit about fevers. I think I have been too quick to medicate. I just got nervous when I saw her fever at 101. But, in doing more research, it's nothing to worry about... Like you said, it's the body attacking the sickness. Thanks for the input. I think I am going to be a lot less trigger happy when it comes to medicating. Today her fever has been around 100.5 (just barely a fever) and she is fussy but not extremely fussy, so I haven't given her any medication all day. If it gets to 103 again along with her being extremely fussy, I think that's my new cutoff of when I will give her fever reducing medication. Better than my old cutoff of 100.4, eh natural mamas?!

Quote:

Originally Posted by k9sarchik Dealing with a sick baby for the first time can make you crazy nervous. A lot of mamas on here, including myself, do not medicate for fevers. Antipyretics can actually prolong symptoms. Fevers are your friend. They do not need to be feared. If the fever gets to 105 you can call your Dr. for suggestions. For congestion the best you can do is really run a vaporizer and do steam baths. Provide lots of water to drink, or nurse if baby is BFing. Don't give any cow's milk because that increases mucous and makes it thick. Having them sit up or being a bit propped up too helps with relieving congestion. Lots of rest and TLC and your LO will be fine.

 

[didelphus]

One of mine tends to run high fevers for days even with viral illnesses. My other two almost never run fever regardless. So, I'd say it's normal to keep fever for while.
I tend to medicate for fever at night so everyone can sleep better. I do the advil/tylenol switch which works well for us.
She'll be ok! If you're still concerned don't be afraid to take her back in, though.

 

[mnm4242]

UPDATE:

So last night my LO screamed and cried for over 4 hours straight. It was horrifying. My DH and I were holding her (taking turns) and sometimes she would start to fall asleep in our arms and as soon as we tried to lay her down, she would start screaming again. She would cough (OMG it sounded so painful and she would cry when the coughing was over and during it). When we would hold her, a lot of the times she would curl up in a ball in our arms and cry out in pain. We were so frightened. Her fever wasn't too bad, but still a fever (about 101).

So finally at about 1am of dealing with extreme fussiness all day and 4 hours straight of excessive unconsolable crying, we decided it best to take her to the E.R. THE LAST THING I WANTED TO DO. I am so paranoid about being in there and exposing her and us to who knows what's in there. Anyways, both of our instincts was telling us something is just not right and we determined we just had to go. I called the PED and explained to her what was going on and she said we should go.

So we went. We were there from 1am to 4:30am. This whole time I was holding my precious baby in the ER and she didn't even sleep a wink. She settled a little just because she was distracted from all the lights and people, etc.
Anyways, the ER doc basically spent 1 minute with us and listened to her chest one time for one second and diagnosed her with a bacterial bronchitis. He then proceeds to prescribe antibiotics.

I tried to talk to him and ask him, "How do you know it's bacterial?" and he said "it's a judgement call and from the way it sounds, I believe it's bacterial" and basically said to give her the antibiotics.

Well, I felt uncomfortable about his diagnosis, because he only listened to her chest/back for literally one second. My PED always listens for at least a minute and in different places on the chest/back. So basically, I question his diagnosis.

So we didn't get the antibiotics. I called my PED this morning (actually she called me to check up on her) and told her what happened. She sounded disappointed in the ER and what happened and said we can come in ASAP this morning and get a second opinion.

So we did it and the PED listened to her chest/back for a while and recommened we have a chest xray before deciding how to proceed. This was mostly based on my LO wheezing. That made the PED a little more nervous even though she didn't think it was pnemonia (there was a small chance). Plus this will let us know if we should proceed with antibiotics or just let it run its course.

Anyways, the chest xray came back that it was viral not bacterial so the plan is to just let the virus run its course and she should be on the mend. Also there were no signs of pnemonia.

Well her cough is still horrendous. Her fever is now down to 100 and a lot of the times, it's 99. Big improvement from 103. And guess what?!!! SHE IS FINALLY SLEEPING...OMG, she has only slept 3 hours in the last two days. Kinda scary because rest is what's going to help her kick this, not excessive crying.
Sorry for the long post, thanks for reading! I'll keep you guys updated on her status.

 

[carfreemama]

Just read your post and wanted to congratulate you on your EXCELLENT mommy instincts! You took care of your lo, but weren't afraid to make and trust your own observations. Wow. Great job. I hope your precious little baby is feeling better and that you are too!

 

[mnm4242]

Quote:

Originally Posted by carfreemama Just read your post and wanted to congratulate you on your EXCELLENT mommy instincts! You took care of your lo, but weren't afraid to make and trust your own observations. Wow. Great job. I hope your precious little baby is feeling better and that you are too!

Thanks a lot! Now I just can't wait for her to get better. I am holding all the time to comfort her. DH is playing with her right now so that's the only reason why I'm checking the board.

 

[Gitti]

We always give a large dose of AS as soon as something like this happens, plus some baby echinacea and warm honey water.

My grandson has a croup right now and that is what his mom gives him. He already asks for it himself when he gets a croupy cough.

We don't use any medicine and all illness is generally over in two days. He did have a severe infection this winter that lasted about 8 days but we used the same treatment.

We get all healing aid from the health food store, none form the pharmacy.

 

[k9sarchik]

Congrats on not giving unneeded antibiotics!
Good for you!
I'm so sorry your LO was soooo uncomfortable. But it sounds like she is already getting better.
That ER doc......

It's also good to hear that your Ped took the time to make a correct diagnosis instead of also just prescribing abx.

 

[Girlprof]

Yeah for your LO doing better! An ER trip is a scary thing. You'll get the hang of it. As horrible as it is to see your baby sick, I can pretty much guarantee that this isn't the last time it's going to happen. Sounds like you've got a good ped and that plus the good sense to follow your own instincts counts for a lot.

Perhaps contrary to some on MDC, we will always give motrin or Tylenol to fevers above 101. I know I feel lousy when my fever is that high and I can tell that my kids do too.

One piece of good news - kids can get sick so fast, but they also seem to recover fast. Our little girl had a horrible horrible virus earlier in the month. Fever of 105 for five very very long days. But then - *poof* - when she was better, she was all better. Like she'd never been sick.

I, on the other hand, am still recovering, three weeks later.