chesty baby

my baby boy is 5 months old tomorrow he's had a bad chest for about 4 or 5 weeks now i took him to the doctor 2 weeks ago, and she said his heart sounds fine but he just has a viral infection she didnt perscribe nothing for him, she said if he is no better within 3 weeks to bring him back,
now its been over 2 weeks and hes still no better if anything he's worse, isnt 3 weeks too long to leave a baby when he's unwell and does anyone have any tips on how to treat him myself??

[GoingOnFiveKids]

Please go to the ER, my baby was sick and for two weeks I was told the same thing. I went to doctor and doctor and I was told also that he had to ride it out I even went to the hospital and was told this which surprised me. They didnt even check his chest but heard the mucus. Your baby by now could have Phnemonia. Please, Please take him to a Children's hospital and make sure they give a chest xray so that your mind can be put at ease.  My son wound up being hospitalized for a week because he wound up with a pulse oxygen level not 100% he was in respitory distress. he was given albuterol treatments, steroids, and antibiotics. his condition improved within 24hrs. Please keep us updated.  

[shan161]

was your child unwell in himself???,
because my son seems pretty fine but his chest seems so ruckley.

[GoingOnFiveKids]

he had been born premature but he was home for a month when he got sick. the cold he got turned him very sick but all these places I took him to didnt take his condition seriously even though there was a huge risk of RSV and that's exactly what he had but even after he was treated for this ,  he would get very sick this way again. he was hospitalied 3 times because the doctors would ignore my pleas until it was too late. I no longer let them make me wait. I put my foot down right away and my son has not been hospitialized since. he just turned 2 on JUNE 18 and no longer gets as ill as those first three times. You situation is different than mine because your baby wasnt premature but even at this most frail they ignored his illness and here you have a regular healthy baby right? I hope he feels better soon.    

[shan161]

thankyou i'm sorry to hear about what you had to go through with your son, thats terrible i'm glad his better tho and i hope he enjoyed his birthday,
i can tell that sonny (ds) is not poorly in himself i'm just a little concerned that he has asthma or something as he does have x-ma and i do know that the 2 are linked!! x x x

[GoingOnFiveKids]

do you think it's allergies because allergies and asthma act almost the same and can confuse even doctors. I hope he gets better soon, he must miserable like this. All my best and let us know what they say.

[Crritter]

If your son seems well and is just rattly, they may be waiting for it to pass.  If it's viral they can't do much, but 3 weeks does seem like a long time.  My Cam has had a rough year + and has had RSV and pneumonia both a few times.  He got RSV at 10 weeks ( really was full blown sick before).  He was still rattling at his appt at 4 months old.  He sees a pulmonologist for his breathing.  Although they treated his reactive airway, the mucous was so thick and he did have an infection.  He was given an antibiotic and even the first round didn't do it.  Are you nebbing your son to break it up?  I do and then I rub Cam's back and pat him gently to help him.  Milk will also thicken the mucous, but you can't really do much about that at his age.  I would call the Dr. and update them, tell them your concerns and ask to get him in sooner.  If not and you are worried, you can always go to the hospital.  Out here they don't do more than the immediate triage and refer you back to your ped.  When Cam has had pneumonia he was really having a hard time breathing and was sweating he was working so hard.  He felt awful and you could tell.  Other times he rattles and it's nothing, I would ask to be seen though.  Even when Cam was feeling better, we had to stop in each week for quite awhile to get his pulse ox checked, and we have had so many chest x-rays.  Sometimes they can guess how well he's doing by walking in and hearing him, but I have no idea how they can tell as the rattle seems bad and may be nothing, may not be there and may be something, etc.  You can never be too careful with your baby, I hope he feels better.

[shan161]

thankyou ladies for your adv....
he really isnt unwell he's playful and giggly most of the time all though he does get him self really worked up sometimes over nothing (my daughter never did that so it is something new to me) but every child is different i suppose,
his chest is almost constantly rattling however and it does concern me as he coughs untill he is sick occasionally.
after hearing your adv... i am goin to get him in to the dr's sooner, unlike you tho here in england our children dont have ped's that will see then just normal dr's and the accident and emergancy, so unfortunately my dr will have to do x x

[Crritter]

So glad you are gonna try to get him in sooner.  I hope it clears up soon, it's so awful to listen to and you feel so bad for them, you just want to fix it and have them feeling better.  Good luck!