Experience with children's pneumonia?

[jenrose66]

Preschool keeps getting worse and worse. After having the sniffles for a month, my son finally felt better last week!

On Sunday he woke up with the sniffles...no fever at all.

This morning he was quite congested but breathing fine, still no fever at all (I'm constantly checking temps).

Fast forward to 12:30 this afternoon. The school calls, he feels ill. I get him home he's lethargic, he won't eat or drink, and he has a fever of 103.

I take him to the doctor, because of the sudden onset of symptoms they say it's bacterial pneumonia.

The doc said it doesn't sound bad enough for chest x ray or hospital visit. But I'm worried sick. I'm having trouble keeping his fever down...and his breathin is getting very labored. I paged my doc and he said to take him for a ride to the ER, if breathing is better go home, if not go into ER. We did that and his breating did improve. He said we'll probably go thru the same thing at about 3am.

I have the nebulizer, I also have some amyacin (not the right name, but I don't feel like checking the bottle right now)...so I guess we just ride this out

I miss the old days when you can go to the hospital. I know if we take him and he's not sick enough they will just send us home. I literally can't sleep...and I'm already sleep deprived because I have a one month old. I'm worried to death for her too that she'll catch this...or DS2 for that matter.

I really think that I may throw in the towel with preschool. It just doesn't seem worth all this illness.

Sorry this is getting long..DH said I was worrying too much and he kicked me out of the living room where he and DS are having their "campout" I was just wondering if anyone else has been thru this.

Did you take your child to the ER. Were they admitted to the hospital. Any encouragement or advice is appreciated. Thanks!

 

[dis-happy]

Labored breathing? I would go to the ER. In the least they can check his oxygen sat level.

 

[bunkkinsmom]

IMHO kids are pretty resilient. Although that won't help you in the sleeping department.

2 of mine have had pneumonia previously, and it is scary! Just stick with the meds and keep your eyes on your little ones! However, the breathing thing would be an issue and I would have that checked immediately.

As far as the preschool question goes, for us it was not worth it. MyDD3 was in daycare for about 6 months and we yanked her. The doc finally said that she either needed tubes in her ears or to come out of daycare. Easy decision for us. My DH runs his own business so we can take her to work with us. This does not make for a very easy work environment, we don't get a lot done most days. But to us that is better than the ear infection onslaught every winter. It's a personal decision and honestly we will probably try preschool for the year before she goes to Kinder.

 

[simba20]

Is this his first year in preschool? Things are always bad the first year of preschool/daycare/kindergarten (if the child has not been in the setting previosuly).

DD has been in daycare since she was 13 months. From September of '08 to April of '09 (that first couple of months) we were at the pedi CONSTANTLY. I was releived when last year/Fall we only made a few visits.

This year, she has the sniffles, but that about it.

The first year is always the worst.

 

[Ar1el]

Mt DS age 4 now had his first run in with pneumonia at the age of 2 yrs 4 months. We just got back from Disney in which he was sick the last day. Took him to the doc and he said it was pneumonia. He had the high fever and looked like a mac truck had hit him. He was on Antibiotics for 5 days I believe and he got better with in that time frame.
On Oct 22(my due date with my 3rd) I took him to the doc bc his breathing was very very shallow. He had been sick that weekend before but did seem to be getting better. Anyhow, they put him directly on oxygen as his oxygen level was around 80 and it needs to be at least 95. Every time they stopped the oxygen his levels would go back down, They gave him 2 more treatments with oxygen and Albuterol and it was not working. They called the ambulance and he was taken to the ER. They did chest xrays there and gave him many treatments. By 3pm his levels were 93 and they let us go home. He had meds and Albuterol treatments for 5 days.
It was very scary but the hospital was great with him. He since then has been sick more often than not. He to is in pre-school and catches all that flies in the wind.
Good luck and I hope ur little one feels better soon.
Just watch him closely and I am sure he will be fine.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Preschool keeps getting worse and worse. After having the sniffles for a month, my son finally felt better last week!

On Sunday he woke up with the sniffles...no fever at all.

This morning he was quite congested but breathing fine, still no fever at all (I'm constantly checking temps).

Fast forward to 12:30 this afternoon. The school calls, he feels ill. I get him home he's lethargic, he won't eat or drink, and he has a fever of 103.

I take him to the doctor, because of the sudden onset of symptoms they say it's bacterial pneumonia.

The doc said it doesn't sound bad enough for chest x ray or hospital visit. But I'm worried sick. I'm having trouble keeping his fever down...and his breathin is getting very labored. I paged my doc and he said to take him for a ride to the ER, if breathing is better go home, if not go into ER. We did that and his breating did improve. He said we'll probably go thru the same thing at about 3am.

I have the nebulizer, I also have some amyacin (not the right name, but I don't feel like checking the bottle right now)...so I guess we just ride this out

I miss the old days when you can go to the hospital. I know if we take him and he's not sick enough they will just send us home. I literally can't sleep...and I'm already sleep deprived because I have a one month old. I'm worried to death for her too that she'll catch this...or DS2 for that matter.

I really think that I may throw in the towel with preschool. It just doesn't seem worth all this illness.

Sorry this is getting long..DH said I was worrying too much and he kicked me out of the living room where he and DS are having their "campout" I was just wondering if anyone else has been thru this.

Did you take your child to the ER. Were they admitted to the hospital. Any encouragement or advice is appreciated. Thanks!

Is your son moving around with dad for their campout or laying there glassy eyed like a ragdoll struggling for each breathe?

Hard to decipher "labored breathing" VS "campout" in the living room.

Labored breathing is....

unusually rapid breathing
breathing with grunting or wheezing sounds
labored breathing that makes a child's rib muscles retract (when muscles under the rib cage or between ribs draw inward with each breath)

If your child is showing signs of labored breathing you need to go to the ER and get checked out.

 

[jenrose66]

He took his neb treatment and the breathing improved. It's a night/day difference. His eyes do look glassy, and he's very tired. He's been up since 7 this morning with no nap etc....

He decided he'd rathter sleep in his room then in the living room so him and dad are up there. I'm going to check on them now, I'm just trying to get the baby to sleep. She's not having it, she seems to be enjoying just lying on my mattress with the paci....

 

[MELSMICE]

My twin DD's had pneumonia when they were very young on more than one occasion. Just keep an eye on him. They are usually very tired, but bounce back pretty quick.

Did he put him on a steroid like prednisone? They had this when they were younger. My oldest DD (21 now) got over pneumonia about 6 weeks ago & also had prednisone. I think it helps open their air passages (although I could be wrong about that, but I thought that's what the Dr. told us).

 

[MomRN]

Not that I would question the doctor (okay, I would, not saying you should)... and this should not be taken as medical advice... but I'm really, really surprised about him not having a chest x-ray. But, anyway, that's just my opinion.

Other than that, I have nothing much to add... everyone else's advice has been spot on. Breathing isn't anything to take likely, and if in doubt... go to the E.R. Alternate Tylenol and Motrin to keep the fever down. Food isn't all that important, but make sure he's getting fluids however you can, even if that's through popsicles.

Hope he feels better soon!

 

[golfgal]

Did they not give you an antibiotic?? No x-ray, no antibiotic for bacterial pneumonia would have me looking for a new doctor ASAP, especially if you have a nebulizer-does he have asthma?

DS15 gets pneumonia often, usually in late May. He has never been admitted to the hospital for that. They generally give him an antibiotic and he is fine in a day or two.

If you haven't slept in days I think you may be over reacting a bit to your child being sick. No, pneumonia isn't something to mess around with but it also isn't a reason for you not to sleep.

As for throwing in the towel for preschool, if he is this susceptible to illness, preschool is probably the BEST thing for him. Have him get sick now and build up his immunity so when he really needs to be in school he won't get sick as often. Kids get sick, it is what it is. Our kids usually got a couple bad illnesses each year that kept them home from school up until middle school or so. Then it was down to once/year. Now that they are in high school/college they RARELY miss school.

 

[mjkacmom]

Did they not give you an antibiotic?? No x-ray, no antibiotic for bacterial pneumonia would have me looking for a new doctor ASAP, especially if you have a nebulizer-does he have asthma?

DS15 gets pneumonia often, usually in late May. He has never been admitted to the hospital for that. They generally give him an antibiotic and he is fine in a day or two.

If you haven't slept in days I think you may be over reacting a bit to your child being sick. No, pneumonia isn't something to mess around with but it also isn't a reason for you not to sleep.

As for throwing in the towel for preschool, if he is this susceptible to illness, preschool is probably the BEST thing for him. Have him get sick now and build up his immunity so when he really needs to be in school he won't get sick as often. Kids get sick, it is what it is. Our kids usually got a couple bad illnesses each year that kept them home from school up until middle school or so. Then it was down to once/year. Now that they are in high school/college they RARELY miss school.

I think the medication the OP said was prescribed is an antibiotic (I probably would've spelled it wrong, too). OP, if you have a nebulizer already, does your ds have asthma? My twins were diagnosed with RAD when they were babies, and they have viral induced asthma (basically, they have attacks when they get colds). Most of the time, they need oral steroids, as the nebulizer just isn't enough. I can see if they're bad by watching the base of their necks, and when I can see the rapid intake/outtake of breath, we start the steroids (my pediatrician prescribes extra, so I don't need to go to the ER).

ETA - yes, he will be sick most of the year, and the next year. However, he will have a lot less illness when he starts school. My youngest were pretty healthy in preschool, because the older kids brought home the germs when they were babies, so their immune system was strong, and they were done with most of the standard illness (coxsackie, fifth's, rotavirus, roseola...).

 

[LuvOrlando]

Be very careful. Pneumonia puts infection very close to the blood in the lungs so it is very easy for an infection to jump into Septecemia. This happened to my 11 year old daughter last year. She went from Flu to Pneumonia to a Blood infection in under 72 hours. If anything gets worse, more lethargy, trouble breathing out like to blow out a candle, less talking and if the fever stops responding to OTC medications or if the temp won't drop, even if you put the child in a lukewarm tub, get to the ER ASAP.

Knowing what I know now I would insist on an x-ray so they can tell if there is effusion building in the lungs.

 

[HelenePA]

my dd10 had it last year. She was sick for a few weeks and had been to the dr, she would have a good day then a bad. she was on the pink stuff for about a month.. finally one day I had enough and made dh take her to the ER... a few chest xrays later they found a slight pneumonia... her oxygen was okay or they would have admited her... they did give her IV antibiotics and more oral to take at home for 2 weeks.. Still she had a cough that lasted for months, she also wound up with tubes in her ears in June...

 

[smb6]

If he is struggling to breathe- take him to ER!

My ds 8 had pneumonia over Thanksgiving.... you could barely tell he was sick...

 

[dis-happy]

I wouldn't be as concerned about no chest x-ray. If they can tell definitely from the stethoscope that it's pneumonia (and my peds always have) then why expose your child to extra x-rays? More and more they are finding that unnecessary x-rays in children lead to a higher cancer risk.

 

[Tinkermommy]

My daughter has mild asthma and has had pneumonia several times throughout her life.

My doctor is always leery of putting them in the hospital since you can pick up much nastier stuff there than at home. And you never get any rest there!

I always go by how my kids are acting. If they are playing even a little then I know they are OK. If they are laying there lifeless, then something is wrong.

A fever will effect their breathing. If his breathing is really labored (sucking the stomach in so far you can see their ribs) you need to take him in.

Best of luck and hope your little guy feels better soon!

 

[indimom]

I have to second and third all the other posters regarding "labored breathing." Depends on what you mean.
When DS was 11 months, he had been sick with an ear infection for about a week. Went to bed one night sounding fine, got up in the morning and was making a huffing sound on every single exhale. He didn't visually look like he was struggling and I debated for an hour or more and finally took him to the ER.
They took X-rays and admitted him with pneumonia. He spend 3 days at the hospital, then was sent home with a nebulizer, antibiotics, steroids and something else I've forgotten. Eighteen hours later, his fever was back up, I called the ER and they said to bring him back in. They did blood tests which showed his white count was through the roof.
He ended up spending a total of 21 days in the hospital with pnuemonia and a blood infection they described as "nonsocomial" or something you catch from being in the hospital.

I only tell you this so you will understand why doctors sometimes prefer to keep them out of the hospital. Lots more nasty germs there to catch when they are already run down.

On top of all the other advice you've received, do keep him as far from the baby as you can and wash up well when you move from caring for him to caring for the baby.
Hope this passes quickly and he is feeling better soon.

 

[terri01p]