# sick baby, fast breathing



## chlaal (Jun 28, 2006)

Poor baby (~10mo) has had a tough few days. She's teething, and yesterday she burned her hand on a radiator pipe in our home







: and she has been fighting some kind of a cold/flu bug, which was worse today. Congestion, wet cough, very mild fever. A couple of small vomiting incidents, several very watery poops (diarrhea?). Droopy, lethargic, just generally miserable. It's so sad.







She hardly even wants to nurse!

I know that this just has to run its course and hopefully will do so soon. She loves to drink water from a cup so between that and nursing, I'm not too worried about dehydration. She ate a bit of solids earlier tonight and has kept it down fine so far, so that's good. But I'm primarily concerned with the fast breathing. Right now I have her on my chest in a wrap and she's sleeping, but her breathing is much faster than usual. She doesn't sound wheezy or congested at the moment and doesn't feel particularly warm (maybe a teeeeeny bit). How worried should I be about this and what should I do?

tia!
-Joan


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## nichole (Feb 9, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *chlaal* 
Poor baby (~10mo) has had a tough few days. She's teething, and yesterday she burned her hand on a radiator pipe in our home








: and she has been fighting some kind of a cold/flu bug, which was worse today. Congestion, wet cough, very mild fever. A couple of small vomiting incidents, several very watery poops (diarrhea?). Droopy, lethargic, just generally miserable. It's so sad.







She hardly even wants to nurse!

I know that this just has to run its course and hopefully will do so soon. She loves to drink water from a cup so between that and nursing, I'm not too worried about dehydration. She ate a bit of solids earlier tonight and has kept it down fine so far, so that's good. But I'm primarily concerned with the fast breathing. Right now I have her on my chest in a wrap and she's sleeping, but her breathing is much faster than usual. She doesn't sound wheezy or congested at the moment and doesn't feel particularly warm (maybe a teeeeeny bit). How worried should I be about this and what should I do?

tia!
-Joan

i would seek medical care for the fast breathing. you are obviously concerned b/c you posted here. call the ped or go to the ER.


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## blessed (Jan 28, 2006)

Can you take her in to an ER to get checked out? The fast breathing has me a little worried. Along with the cough this is making me think of pneumonia.


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## BelgianSheepDog (Mar 31, 2006)

How fast? If she's breathing faster than 60x per minute, especially while she's sleeping, you should take her to the ER. In fact fast breathing that's noticeable combined with lethargy and not wanting to nurse, personally I'd just take her in even if it's under 60.


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## North_Of_60 (May 30, 2006)

If it makes you feel any better, DD has the SAME symptoms. Vomiting, lethargy, fever, and tonight, diarrhea. She also has the faster breathing, which seems to be accompanied with the higher fever (101 and higher).

We went to the clinic yesterday because her fever was staying at 103.5, and our DD's ped said the faster breathing is common with fevers. It's the body's way of trying to regulate temperature. Sort of like a dog (though without the panting







).

He was not overly concerned with it, though he did say that if it seemed as though she had troubles breathing (which she does not) that we should call.

It's hard when they're sick, huh? With teething on top of it? Oh man.


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## RedOakMomma (Sep 30, 2004)

Follow your instincts. If you're feeling that little fear light going off in your head, then head to urgent care.

If the fast breathing isn't all that fast, and if you feel comfortable, then you can wait until morning and call your ped for an appointment on Monday.

Either way, she'll need to see someone to check for lung involvement...it's just up to you if you want to do it tonight or tomorrow.








s


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## My Three Boys (Feb 10, 2004)

As the mom of an asthmatic, I'm thinking, "Take her in!!!" Pneumonia can set in VERY quickly (ask me how I know). But, I also know that fast breathing can be normal with a fever. Trust your instincts. Signs that she needs to be seen immediatelly include: breathing with her stomach instead of the lung area, "caving in" under the neck area with each "in" breath.

There are so many simple things that can be done for wheezing/difficulty breathing. You may want to take her in for peace of mind.


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## mother culture (Oct 19, 2004)

My 3 children always have rapid breathing when they have a fever. It is the immune system ramping up. Need to go to the ER when your child is eating and drinking and nursing IMO. Keep her close you are all she needs to get better adn go through the stages of her illness.


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## karre (Mar 22, 2006)

The breathing rate does go up a bit with a fever. If there is no fever she should not be breathing more than 40 breaths per minute. If there is a fever it goes up to 60 breaths per minute. That is what we were told by a pediatric nurse at childerns when our son had similar symptoms. She said to bring him into the ER if the breathing rate were greater that 60 breaths per minute and he had a fever above 102 degrees f. (at the time he was about 10/11 months old)

When we counted are son's breathing rate it was very high-- 58 breaths per minute and his temp was 103.8 . However when his fever went down his breathing rate also went way down so we did not worry anymore. (We did give him tylenol that night although i am usually against it.)

My son gets a very wet sounding cough when he has a cold due to the post-nasal drip. I worried alot about it first. He has even coughed up probably 1/2 cup of mucus....but i think it was all because of the post-nasal drip.


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## chlaal (Jun 28, 2006)

Thanks for all the input mamas. I ended up calling the ped last night and she said it didn't sound like a rush-to-the-ER thing but to bring her in this morning. So I did (after a REALLY tough night for us...very little sleep, sigh) and we have a diagnosis of RSV







They did a nebulizer treatment in the dr office and the improvement was considerable, so we have an albuterol rx & hopefully lots of rest and fluids. She still isn't nursing much and my boobs are really painful (suspect blocked ducts) so I'm going to pump and see if she'll take it in a cup.

-joan


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## KatWrangler (Mar 21, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *chlaal* 
Thanks for all the input mamas. I ended up calling the ped last night and she said it didn't sound like a rush-to-the-ER thing but to bring her in this morning. So I did (after a REALLY tough night for us...very little sleep, sigh) and we have a diagnosis of RSV







They did a nebulizer treatment in the dr office and the improvement was considerable, so we have an albuterol rx & hopefully lots of rest and fluids. She still isn't nursing much and my boobs are really painful (suspect blocked ducts) so I'm going to pump and see if she'll take it in a cup.

-joan

I am glad you took her in. I hope she feels better soon.


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