6 Week Old Diagnosed with RSV

My Daughter was diagnosed at 1 month old with RSV and she recovered at home but it was a very nervous time for me. Now she is 5 and every fall and spring she starts with the wheezing and coughing and I use her neb and within a couple of days it is gone. Good luck.

my son was diagnosed with RSV 3 times, it is a virus, and very contagious. He also has asthma. We were hospitalized twice both times for a week at a time. The doctors put him on a nebulizer treatment. It really helped him breathe. The nebulizser is the most important part of treatment. They also gave my son a steroid to help his lungs fight off the RSV. I am psycho when it comes to his breathing, even with a little cold that wouldn't really affect a healthy kid. The advice I can give you regarding his breathing is watch his belly when he is breathing, if his belly is going in and out with his breathing or if he is breathing shallow, or if he is yawning or very tired he is probably having trouble breathing. I don't want to scare you, but I let my son go too long once and we ended up at the hospital with his blood oxygen level was 85, it should be 95-100. All this happened before he was 2,he is 4 now (yesterday was his birthday) and he has been healthy for over a year. The doctors say sometimes they grow out of it, I am keeping my fingers crossed. Good Luck, if you need to talk more you can e-mail me at ____@____.com, 27
Mom of 3

My son was diagnosed with RSV back in February. He was only 2 1/2 months old then. Initially it presented as a cold but when his nose got so stuffy he was having a hard time breathing while sleeping I took him into the ER (sunday) where they ran some tests, took a chest xray, gave him a nebulizer treatment and told me to take him home and watch him carefully over the next few days because it wasnt severe enough to hospitalize him at that point. I took him to his dr the next day (monday) and he said that it still wasnt too bad but if it were going to get worse it would over night. (that is always when it happens right?) well, i put off taking him in that night cause he didnt meet the criteria of 60 breaths/min or severe chest sucking in or out but I did take him to his dr Tuesday. He had gotten worse so they admitted him into the hospital that day and kept him overnight for observation. The nurses did absolutely NOTHING except take his temp and vitals at shift change. I fed him, held him and changed him. Then weds morning they let him go home cause he was getting better. He progressively got better from there on out so the worst of it was 3 1/2 days. It is scary but those little guys are fighters and they sure do get things out of their system fast!!!

Some tips, keep a cool humidifier next to where he sleeps or even sits, keep him inclined while sleeping with a sleep wedge (you can get one at Kmart for like $15) and keep putting saline into his nose and sucking out the junk with the nasal bulb... He wont like it but oyu have to get all that bad stuff out of him so he can breathe better and get well!!!

Hi C.,
There are various degrees of RSV..if your child is at home ist is very mild. Just keep m eye out for any breathing difficulties this would mean it is getting worse--then go to the Hasbro ER ASAP.. It is a virus which is very common but effects young child the most severly. I hope everyone is well soon
D.

My third daughter had rsv twice when she was 1. She was hospitalized with it. Some cases are mild and then theres the cases I went through when your living in the hospital for a couple days with your very sick child. Keep a humidifier in the house our the babys room. It helps keep anything in the lungs loose. Hope this helped and good luck with your little one.

My very good friend's son was diagnosed with RSV. He was the same age as your son. He was hospitalized for eight or nine days. It was very rough at first because he had stopped breathing a number of times. My friend had a rough time of it, also, because she had two other kids and her husband worked nights. We all helped out and the little guy made it through. I remember the virus hung around for quite awhile. It seemed like he had a bad cold with a cough. He is three years old now and in great health. It is a nasty virus and I hope your son makes a smooth recovery.

Hi C., so sorry your peanut is sick. rsv really sucked for my lil guy. he got it at 9 mos old. for him it seemed he was sick for about 4 mos. dont be alarmed that this will happen to you. understand my son has a very impaired immune system & a severe brain injury due to a bad birthing process. so when hes sick its like 50 times worse then the average child his age. he is turning 3 next friday. time flies. anyhow this is what happened with us. the first day he was just weezing alot so we gave albuterol nebs & tylonal or motrin for fevers(which he had on going for 4 mos)by the 2nd day we were back at the peds office & then he was rushed to boston childrens where he was put into icu & a tube needed to be placed into his mouth/throat(intubated). he was intubated for 36 hrs then the lil bugger coughed the tube out & by the machines it said he wasnt ready yet....well he was just fine actually. anyways when we went home. he was on 3 diffrent nebulizer meds(albuterol, atravent, & pulmacort) we also need to use a humidifier & give extra fluids with pedilyte. now my son is fed only thru a feeding tube & yet he still got dehydrated. go figure. anyways please dont be scared that this could happen to you. oh ya we were in the hospital for 10 days. anyways if you have anymore questions or concerns. im what you call a mommy nurse with out a degree. i been there & done it all too many times. also if you;d like to see pics of my son go to www.cameron42704.zoomshare.com well good luck & take care. luv always C.

p.s. please stay brave & dont let this get you down. it can either seem like another yucky cold or feel like the worst thing to ever happen.....either way just take it in strides. i know it will be ok in the end :)

RSV is something that all babies are susceptible to, especially preemies. However, my daughter turned 2 in December. She spent 4 days in the PICU in Boston for RSV. Make sure you follow all of the Doctors orders and give meds as prescribed. Keep your baby warm, especially after baths. Keep up on nose suctioning to get the "yuckies" out. Just a few ideas....... Hope it helps.

My daughter is 2 months old. She just had her first cold, coughing runny nose and watery eyes. Can you please tell me if this is what starts before rsv I am so nervous since shes had this cold I maybe got a total of four hours sleep since monday its now wednesday I wake with every sound she makes. Can you let me know ............ thanks

Hi - my twin nephews were diognost when they were 9 weeks and they were in teh hospital for about 2 weks. they could nt get their oxygen to the right mark to go home. Fo rthe first year they did have ahrd tiem with colds but they are 3 now and great! So stay strong it will get better

Yes, my first daughter was diagnosed at 5 weeks old. They admitted her to the hospital because she needed extra oxygen during the illness and to be monitored. Is this something that they discussed with you? What happens with RSV is that they go through a strange course with the disease. At first they have mild symptoms, then by day 3-6 of the illness, they tend to get much worse and have difficulty breathing. After we spent 6 days in the hosp, we had to give her saline breathing treatments to help loosen up the junk in her lungs. What happens with such small babies is that they don't know how to cough effectively and so all the mucus gets trapped in their lungs and can turn to a pneumonia...NOT GOOD!

I would ask your Pediatrician if your baby needs to be admitted. Let me know how you make out!
-Kim

Hello my son was diagnosed with RSV when he was about 1 year old. It can be very scary, he was never put in the hosptial but we were close to it.It seems that the littlest cold turns to the wheezing, fever, it is very frustrating. I have a 3 year old and she was and is never sick. We were just recently at the ER, it is very scary that night he was in his crib with his crib mattress elevated and the humidifier, as I was sleeping all I heard was my songasping for air. I thought that I could ever get out of bed that fast, I ran there and grabbed him and brought him right to the er. He had a fever of 103 and while he was breathing you could see his ribs. As soon as the nurse seen him they brought him back and start the nebulizer meds(albuterol) with in minutes he was all most back to normal breathing. They sent us home and we went to the doctors the next day and they sent him home with a nebulizer and albuterol and pulmacort. He is now much better. I am sorry you asked for suggestions and I am giving you a story. for tips all I can say isw keepm him well hydrated and kepp the yuckys out of his nose, keep mattress elevated and keep the humidifier going. If you have any questions please feel free to email me! Hope the baby gets better real soon......