My poor sick babies. Please help us.

RClaffee

Despite my preemie mommy paranoia, my girls both got a whopping dose of RSV for Christmas. Abby is on the mend and is doing well, but poor Lil is having a really hard time. Right now, she has an ear infection that won't go away despite being on medication, and she is still coughing up a storm. 

What I need some advice about is eating. She has so much mucus in her throat that when she tries to eat, she just chokes on it and ends up throwing everything back up in a disgusting, stringy ball of milky snot. The poor little girl is so hungry, but she really is having a hard time eating. We have been bringing her into the pedi to get weighed and to check for signs of dehydration, and luckily everything looks OK for now, but I am freaking out a little. I don't think I could handle having her back in the hospital. Anyway, does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions about what I can do to help her? 

DramaMama06

i'm so sorry! do they have her on a nebulizer? i found that J's mucus broke up after his treatments and he was able to eat about 40 min after.

it might also look like it's more than it actually is.

i'd ask your pedi what they think.

Nurse Lisa

My Lo never had RSV, but did have a bad cough/cold about a month ago.  What really helped her mucous clear (only briefly) was steam in the bathroom. Me or my husband just closed the bathroom door and sat in there with her for ten minutes with the hot water running in the shower. I actually don't know much about RSV so I'm not even sure if you're supposed to do the steam with it or not. We would feed her right after that because it made it easier to eat.

Pockety

Is she eating solids at all yet?  When DS was sick last week, the amount of formula he was drinking went down substantially, and the amount of solids that he wanted went way up.  I think it was just hard for him to drink while he was so stuffy, but he had no problem eating the solids.  Now that he's feeling better, the amounts he's eating are going back to how they used to be. 

RClaffee

Thanks for the replies. She is on a nebulizer every six hours. It seems to help for a while, but she is really struggling before it is OK to do it again. The pedi thinks that she is doing alright when you consider everything, but I can't help but to worry. 

To the PP who suggested solids, she is on solids. I suppose I am going to try giving her more solids and water it down as much as possible with her milk.

RSV is just so awful. I can't wait until this goes away.  

Mason n me

Pockety:

Is she eating solids at all yet?  When DS was sick last week, the amount of formula he was drinking went down substantially, and the amount of solids that he wanted went way up.  I think it was just hard for him to drink while he was so stuffy, but he had no problem eating the solids.  Now that he's feeling better, the amounts he's eating are going back to how they used to be. 

THIS EXACTLY!!