6 Month Old with RSV

I know this probably is not much help but, at the end of summer my 3 yr old came down with croup. I also took him to the hospital where they gave him treatments. The cough lasted about two weeks. Then the rest of the family came down with bronchitis and pneumonia we were sick for about a month. Then after about three weeks the cough came back. It went that way for this whole winter. Now my 3 year old woke up yesterday with that barking cough again. I think whatever this is is a pretty strong thing. A lot of my friends and their families have been dealing with the same stuff. We have been living on decongestant and humidifiers this year and lots and lots of tissues! Good luck and just hope that it isn't like what we had.

Hi N.,
First, I am sorry to hear that your little guy isn't feeling well and hope he gets better soon. Our 2 year old daughter had bronchiolitis in October of last year and was also on the home breathing treatments 3x/day until the medicine was gone. It was about a 2 week supply and she finally started sounding clearer about 7-10 days later. We also ran a humidifier in her room when she slept and gave her baths with the Johnson's vapor bath. Hang in there and try to keep him quiet and hydrated. Good luck!
W.

I would talk with your pediatrician, but I do know that RSV is very nasty. I have a friend w/ 2 children in the hospital right now because of RSV... one child's been there a week, and the other was just admitted a couple of days ago.

Hi there. After dealing with RSV with my premie twin boys and nearly losing one at 8 weeks to the virus, I spent about 6 years being a parent advocate for RSV awareness. It is still amazing to me that the entire world knows about SIDS but for some reason the medical community doesn't make as much noise about RSV.

Take a deep breath because things will be ok. EVERY CHILD WILL ENCOUNTER RSV BEFORE THE AGE OF TWO. The issues come in to play with how each child's body reacts to the virus. Most times premies are not as able to fight off the virus as a full term baby. The fact that your son is six months old, not struggling to breathe and that he is not lethargic are great indicators that he is equipt to fight this virus. I am assuming that he is on some antibiotic although your post didn't indicate that. Continue with the meds but if you do not see any significant improvement by the end of the course, request another round of something stronger. You are his mother and you know him and his mannerisms better than anyone else...doctor or not.

Make sure that everyone coming into contact with him practices good handwashing proceedures, especially your 4 year old. If she goes to pre-school, make sure to wash her hands really well as soon as she comes home. Also, due to the bronchiolitis make sure he is not around anyone smoking or being held up against clothing of anyone who smokes.

Hopefully you will not have any future issues from this episode, but be forewarned that asthma and repeat bronchitis can be results of having had RSV. My boys are 11 and are still dealing with the asthmatic results of RSV.

If you would like to contact me via email, feel free to do so at ____@____.com will both get through this with flying colors!
Hugs,
L.

the lingering effects of RSV can last up to 2 months is what my pediatrician told us. Our daughter had it when she was barely a month old, and spent 72 hours in the hospital. Just keep track of his breathing patterns, and keep up with the breathing treatments. Most insurances cover the cost of a nebulizer, and you should have it on hand "just in case". We were told that she may be more prone to colds, coughs, and bronchitis. She just turned two in December, and has only had to have a week of breathing treatments back in early October, and nothing else so far this winter. The nurses at the hospital did say that she could develop asthmatic tendencies later on, as she got older. There are online articles available for reading, if you google RSV. Good luck

I'm going through the SAME thing right now with my 3 month old for almost 2 weeks now! She was on the nebulizer treatments of albuterol, then they had to put her on prelone (steroid) and zithromax! And she is still coughing and has that flem gurgly sound! They say her chest is clear now and its just working itself out. Its driving me nuts, I feel so bad for her !

My son just had bronchiolitis...and was tested for RSV but it came back negative. Regardless our docs you cannot do anything really for either except to run it's course....I mean no antibiotics. One of the docs we saw suggested the nebulizer/albuteral. It seemed to help to break up some of the congestion. They said that the cough could last up to two weeks! Thankfully his is gone. We didn't leave the house for a week and just rested...he was miserable. And he wouldn't eat...only drink bottles. Put a vaporizer in the room and continue to run that....we were also doing motrin/tylenol, as one of his top teeth started to push through and he ran a low grade fever for 5 days! The doc also said to pay attention to the breathing and count his breaths during naps...if over 24-32 then you should have him at the doc immediately to check the oxygen level.

Good luck!

My daughter had bronchiolitis when she was 9 months old and we had to give her albuterol treatments for 2 weeks. After that she was fine. Good Luck!