Child with Asthma

[mrs.meg]

Okay, mom brings boy this morning. She says he may need a treatment, so she has nebulizer machine. She says he may get to coughing a lot and then I am to give him one. Or, if he just "wants" one he can have one-weird but whatever.

So, he is fine this morning and she called to check on him about 10am. Then around 11 I notice he starts getting worked up and coughing like crazy, so I give him the treatment. I call her twice on her cell phone and she has yet to call me back. She says she would keep checking her phone throughout the day. Now it is naptime, the kid is coughing nonstop and I can't give another treatment until 3pm. I do not want to call mom at work unless it is an emergency, but I don't know what to do about the kid's coughing? What you you all do?

[Former Teacher]

I'd call the fool at work and just tell her firmly that you have been trying repeatedly to get a hold of her and that the boy is uncomfortable etc. If she can't leave work, perhaps you could telephone her ER contact for her so the boy can go home.

Nowadays with everything going around, you can't be to careful. It could be something more than just asthma.

It is not fair to you, the other children in care, and most of all, to him.

[mrs.meg]

Thanks for your response. I called her at work and she acted like she didn't want to do anything, so I said, "is it okay for this child to cough and hack for 2 more hours? I felt really sorry for him, so she told me to give him some Robitussin. That helped but I guess I should have had her find someone to pick him up since she wouldn't leave work, I am going to have to figure this out since he is an asthmatic with severe allergies.

[Former Teacher]

Thanks for your response. I called her at work and she acted like she didn't want to do anything, so I said, "is it okay for this child to cough and hack for 2 more hours? I felt really sorry for him, so she told me to give him some Robitussin. That helped but I guess I should have had her find someone to pick him up since she wouldn't leave work, I am going to have to figure this out since he is an asthmatic with severe allergies.

Poor guy. TX law states that we can not give over the counter medicine without written approval from the parents and/or doctor. Should it be a case like yours (over the phone) we had to go by the child's age and/or weight. If the bottle stated consult doctor, we couldn't do it without a doctors note. It's sad that the little one had to suffer though.

Something totally different (you know me and my posts HAHA!)...we once had a 6 week old baby. The mother said to put her on her tummy to sleep as that's the only way she will fall asleep. I told her in light of SIDS we were required to place all babies, unless they can turn themselves, on their back. She insisted that her baby was on her tummy so she can sleep better. Well naturally we didn't. However I did tell her, that if she brought in a doctor's note stating the baby can be on her tummy, then we will. That way, if state came in, we would be protected. She said she would bring one the following day. She didn't. I asked her about a week later. She said the doctor wouldn't give her one because of "the daycare's SIDS excuse" I thought...oh brother!

[Unregistered]

I too have a child with asthma, thats why I'm changing my major so I can have flexibility. I usually get a call from the nurses office about once a week. I switched doctors and things have gotten better. My son uses the nebulizer machine but he can only have it every fours hours. I'm surprised she didnt give an inhaler also. I would ask her if there any other problems you should know about any that she should leave an inhaler with you also. The child might need to be on some type of steroid to help him from coughing.

From a mother who has been going through this with her six year old.

[momofboys]

I have a child with asthma who does nebs & another child who has severe allergies & sometimes their coughs sound so terrible like they have pneumonia but it's really just allergies. My youngest has had a cough like that but dr says his lungs are clear as can be. We are going to an allergist to figure out what he is allergic to that is causing that. The mom should have given you clearer directions & she certainly should have checked back with you frequently. I'm sorry you had to deal with that. I would ask her if he's been to the dr to figure out the cause of the cough b/c it sounds like it is not being managed well if it is asthma. when my child with asthma gets a cold he is doing constant nebs, 4-5 x a day. If it's so bad that he's uncomfortable mom should have come to get him. The dr also put my son on Singulair to help him manage his asthma better.