3 Year Old W/ Bad Cold

Ditto SH.

AND DO... Bring her into ghe doctor, even with her meds, if you haven't. Pneumonia & other secondary infections are common.

A fingertip oximeter is daily life here. The good ones are about $40 on amazon. Takes the guesswork out.

I check my son's vitals hourly at night when he's sick. Its not overreacting. Its just what you do. Asthma attacks are obvious... But the hypoxia can be going on for AWHILE before the actual attack. I wish I had a REAL oximeter (tied to an alarm) for nightines when he's sick... But those are thousands. So instead... You just wake up every hour, or stay up all night & get a sitter in the daytime to nap, or have your husband call in. You can't be on 24/7. You need to sleep.

And when the meds aren't working... We're in the ER or admitted for a few weeks for o2 and 24/7 monitoring on high dose medication.

That's just whatcha do.

Breathing = first step to life.

I have had asthma since I was a child.
For some, YES... colds WILL and can, trigger asthma and make it worse. Keep in mind, that also... secondary infections can occur with an Asthmatic, even via a cold, and it can develop into Bronchitis or Pneumonia. I have had both of those, developed from a simple cold.
Because I have, Asthma.

Asthma meds, keep in mind, does NOT "cure" the cold. It is for helping with the inflamed constricted airways, and to help open it up so the the person can breathe. Asthma meds are albuterol types or corticosteroid, types. Both serve different purposes, and both serve to help the person breathe... and to hopefully help control an asthma attack.

Asthma attacks, cannot be predicted. Keep an eye on her closely.
If her lips or fingernails turn blue or her chest sucks in as she breathes, or if her breathing is "shallow".... this is an ACUTE situation. And she needs to be taken to the ER.
This means, that her body is not getting enough oxygen. Not only the oxygen in her lungs... but also in her bloodstream etc.

You NEED to take her to the ER, if needed or if her symptoms gets worse. No one likes the ER. But you need to take her in if need be.

Sure, a child/baby/adult, cannot sleep... when having active asthma AND a cold. It is VERY VERY hard. And yes, there is ALSO mucus and post nasal drip etc. from the cold. Even without Asthma, a person has a hard time sleeping with a cold.

Now ALSO keep in mind, that you need to use the Asthma meds as directed. Don't just use more, because you think it will help. In some cases, a person can also overdose on the asthma inhaler, if used improperly. IF at anytime, the Asthma meds do NOT help... you need to tell the Doctor. So that another type can be used.
Each person, will respond to asthma meds, differently.

There are Asthma inhalers that are "emergency" types and those that are "maintenance" types. And often, 2 different types are used in tandem... depending on the person's acuteness of their Asthma stage.

Did the Doctor, give her any antibiotics for her cold????

And, she should be taken in for a follow-up appointment with the Doctor, as well. Because, she has Asthma and a cold illness, at the same time.
This is common, with Asthmatics.

Your daughter is now sick with a cold.
No doubt, her Asthma will be or can be, triggered.
You need to have her see a Doctor, because she has the complications of an Asthma condition.
Remember, Asthma meds, does NOT "cure" a cold.

You should talk to me about boosting her immune system. You can get rid of all that medication (in time) - I have a colleague whose daughters had asthma, and one of them couldn't even take the steroids (due to a heart condition) so that little girls ALWAYS wound up in the ER with every attack. After 3 months, they threw out all the inhalers and nebulizers and haven't needed a thing since. Believe me, that mom is happily sleeping through the night now. If you're going in there every 2 hours, you're going to get really run down yourself, and get yourself sick. That's going to put your daughter at risk going forward. I understand your fears - my friend had the same ones. Happy to connect you with her for a phone conversation.

Our son has been plagued with the same thing (brought on by colds) and we are on the same asthma plan. I take my son to the pediatrician to have them listen to him and then at night I try to gauge if it is not worse than when they listened to him I figure we are safe.

They told me the difference to look for is the concave chest/stomach - are they pulling through when breathing and you can see their ribs. Listening for the "crackles" and the wheeze. You can hear that crackling sound when it is more in the lung than just them having trouble breathing through their nose.

The truth is it's scary. So I bring him in bed with us during these kinds of "worry" nights so that at least I am right there and I don't have to keep checking on him all night. I can obsess while he is right next to me and get some sleep! Keeping them propped up with wedge.

Rest assured. The medications are suppose to prevent them and by doing them early you are ensuring he won't have a terrifying attack like the ones you experienced but that being said they can't always be avoided. But you are doing everything right! So if bringing him into your bed will ease your worry AND let you get more sleep its worth it.

Good luck, hang in there.

my daughter gets the same way she has only had one attack though. she may have alleries too which can also flare up asthma. when my daughter was 3 almost 4 i started her on nasal washes when she was congested. this helped a lot i also gave her 1/2 tspn of benadryl (drs ok) to help dry her up.
her asthma meds were as follows (at the age of 2)
albuteral every 4 hours when coughs start until 3-4 days of being symptom free.
pulmicort (prevenative) everyday no excuses and double dose when sick. she got .25 daily then .50 when sick.

now she is 5 and rarely uses any of her asthma meds. but when she starts coughing and her allergies act up the process starts over again. she also has a cool mist humidifire in her room when shes congested etc to help keep her airway moist.
do you stop her prevenative when shes not sick? if so dont do that give it to her every day. if it doesnt seem to be working ask the dr for a different medication. i really like pulmicort. though when you start using it it can take a week to start to see results but it works great (and yes its a very strong steriod that they dont typically give children under 4). also is she getting these meds through an inhaler or a nebulizer. small children benifit from a nebulizer over an inhaler because they recieve more medication that way.

I would think that she should be ok with the prevenative meds, but asthma is very dangerous in kids, so I don't blame you and personally, I would be driving my husband more nuts than you. So, don't fret too much. But, if you are concerned, please call your pediatrician and let them know what is going on. They might want you to bring her in, or they might want you to just watch her. But, its Monday, so it can't hurt to call. Put your mind at ease!