Bronchitis - Westbrook,ME

I have 2 small kids with what they call "reactive airway disease". My 4-year old daughter has been very sick since day one. On top of the breathing issues, she was also born with a congenital heart defect which she had repaired at 3 months old.
My almost 1-year old son seems to have the same problems as my daughter. As soon as he gets a cold, it goes straight to his chest. He coughs and wheezes until he vomits. There really isn't much you can do, except try to keep them as healthy as possible.
Both kids are on medication: my daughter takes Albuterol as needed, as does my son, but he also takes Flovent twice a day for what they call "preventative maintainance".
All you can do is hope that the kids grow out of it, and do your best to keep them healthy and happy.

Bronchitis is an inflammation of the mucus membranes (lining) of the bronchial airways caused by irritation or infection it can be acute or chronic. The infectious agents can be influenza (flu) and also can be triggered by irritants: asthma, allergies dust, pollen, fumes etc. Usually for a child to be diagnosed with chronic Bronchitis they must have had a persistant cough for 3 full months at least twice in 1 year other wise its considered acute. Acute cases can happen numberous times in 1 year but not coughing for 3 months straight with no brakes.

Treating: Bronchidialators, inhaled steroids (same as asthma) Increase fluid intake to keep excess secretions moving. May need antibiotics during outbrakes. SHOULD always recieve the flu, and pneumonia shot each year to prevent outbrakes.

Helpful hints: increase fluids, small frequent meals high in protien to combat weight loss during illness, use pursed-lip breathing to increase airflow when sick.

If I were you I would ask my pedi about astthma and allergy testing for your child. Hope this info helped
Jenn

Hi Lexi
I know what your going through and it's no picnic. It can be scary.My daughter use to get that all the time along with asthma. yuk. This is what I found to be helpful./detox your home yes detox. What I mean by that is get all the toxins out of your home. Such as soaps, baby shampoo,cleaning products, laundry detergents ect. Switch to safer alternatives. Do a google search on the ingreidence on what your using around your children. You'll be surprised to learn how bad they are and what they can cause. Check out this video http://t2sweb.com/Movies/toxic_brew_movie.html
Feel free to ask me for more help or links.

I do not have any children with this, but I use this web site called www.kidshealth.org and they have everything that you could possiably think of of children health problems. I have found alot of useful information on it. Hope it help and good luck!
N. F

I remember my oldest daughter got it and we had to keep a humidifier going all the time, but especially when they're sleeping. Also you have to follow dr's instructions! You have to make sure they spit out the phlegm and not swallow it!! That's the hard part..Good luck.