My Baby was Diagnosed with Laryngomalacia

When my son was only six weeks old, he was diagnosed with a breathing disorder I had never heard of before - laryngomalacia. Laryngomalacia causes the airways to act as if they are swollen; breathing becomes very labored and noisy. The child sounds like he is congested even when he's not. The cartilage in the larynx (voice box) is not as developed as it should be. This causes breathing attempts to move the cartilage and narrow the windpipe. It is a frightening thing to witness in your young child.

My son seemed to be having trouble breathing while he tried to eat or while he tried to sleep. He would get upset at night from waking up so often and that only made the problem worse. His breathing was fairly noisy most of the time, but it was much more apparent while he slept - or rather, while he tried to sleep. The pediatrician told me that he had laryngomalacia. She told me this disorder was sometimes known as "floppy vocal chords" because of the immature development of the cartilage supporting the voice box. The result is the sometimes hoarse sounding, sometimes high-pitched sounding breathing. It is especially evident during sleeping. It is more pronounced when he is on his back, and at six weeks old, my son was definitely sleeping on his back.

His condition was worsened because he had developed a slight cold. He began to make noises that sounded almost like hyperventilating or an asthma attack. The pediatrician told me this was "textbook case" stridor. At one point, the doctor was ready to admit him to the hospital, but a steroid-based breathing treatment using a nebulizer stabilized the condition. He was placed on breathing treatments using a nebulizer for two weeks. I had to take him to the pediatrician every day to check his oxygen saturation to make sure that his breathing was efficient.