A Time Out for Mommy

NYC Mom Blog

Know the Facts about Respiratory Syncytial Virus

This post was sponsored as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central
and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.

 

Virus season is officially upon us. As I type this, my little guy is on his 3rd virus in 3 weeks. He has a 2-day reprieve and then gets sick again. Just based on this month, I’m thinking this year will be a bad one for us, as it seems we can’t catch a break. It reminds me of all three of my kids’ baby days- where they were small and susceptible to so many illnesses. It wasn’t until my first got RSV that I realized just how dangerous a simple cold virus could be for little lungs. She was over a year old and her doctor warned me that if she was younger she would be hospitalized. He handed me our first home-nebulizer with some saline and sent us home, but requested that we come in every two days to check her and make sure we stay out of the danger zone.

My middle daughter seemed to escape RSV as an infant, but that’s mainly because I knew more about the virus and how to protect her. Proper hand washing, staying away from people with colds, and limiting visitors during cold season worked for us. Fast forward to 2 years ago when my little guy was just 5 months old. We didn’t get to see escape RSV with him being so little, unfortunately, and he picked up the virus from his older sister who also had RSV but was able to kick it quicker. From November until February, my little guy had to have nebulizer treatments for RSV. Fortunately, he wasn’t hospitalized, but he was sick for months. The constant rattling in his chest kept me up many nights and I still look back on that time and think how awful that season was.

What is RSV?

RSV stands for Respiratory Syncytial Virus. It is a highly contagious virus that affects nearly all infant by the age of two. Epidemics generally occur between November through March.

Symptoms of RSV

Many children, like my own, have generally mild symptoms that mimic the common cold. Premature babies are at an increased risk and RSV can be dangerous. Trouble breathing, wheezing, constant coughing are all dangerous symptoms for underdeveloped lungs.

Preventing RSV

While prevention is nearly impossible when older children are in school, we stress frequent hand washing, no shoes in the house, and keeping sick people away. I always asked visitors to wash their hands before touching baby, and requested that kisses are limited to the back of the head or the feet of the baby in order to not spread germs on baby’s face or hands, which babies often put in their mouths.
You can find out more about symptoms and prevention by visiting Little Lungs.
[pdf-embedder url=”https://www.atimeoutformommy.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/RSV-Awareness-Month-Infographic.pdf” title=”RSV Awareness Month Infographic”]
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