What should i do if my newborn is wheezing a lot and it seems hard for him to breathe?

See doc or ER now: "wheezing a lot" and "hard to breathe" are a bad combination - your baby could have a simple cold, or could have bronchiolitis, pneumonia, have a foreign body in the airway or be having an asthma attack. You should be seeing a doc right away to find out which. He/she might need oxygen and/or medication.

See medical provider: Wheezing stems from several sources. We have a saying in medicine that "all that wheezes is not asthma." having said that, it is important to have a thorough evaluation of a wheezing child. Once you correctly diagnose the problem, then appropriate treatment recommendations can be rendered. It is also important to make sure that what you are hearing is truly wheezing--- sometimes it's not!

Call 911 (ambulance): A newborn, or any young baby, who is having trouble breathing (not just a stuffy nose) needs immediate help. Parents must call 911 for the paramedics, who will bring oxygen for the baby, and take the baby to the emergency room. It is not good for parents themselves to drive a baby in distress to the E.R., one reason being that the baby will not get extra oxygen while riding in the parents' car.

Go to er: This is a newborn. If your child is under 1 month of age it could represent a major heart defect that will send your child into shock in less than 1 hour. Go to the er now.

CLARIFICATION: Lots of parents think their newborns are wheezing and having difficulty breathing, when actually they are all just stufffed up! they have noisy breathing, rattles in the chest and pulling muscles in between ribs from being so congested in the nose. This usually prompts a lot of unncessary emegency room visits. To er only if indeed life threatening!