I just want to provide our experience with RSV with my 18 month old twin girls to help other parents experiencing this with their littles! Everything I had read before was so scary and included hospital visits and ER scares. Fortunately, ours was much milder, but still anxiety inducing. My husband was diagnosed with RSV first, so I knew what we were dealing with before their symptoms started. Here was our daily timeline:

Day 1 - The day after Christmas, the girls started with a sporadic cough. It worsened throughout the day and sounded mucousy. They slept terribly that night, and were obviously in pain. I am assuming that they had sore throats because they were arching and crying and awake about every hour. We use the Owlet socks, and it showed their oxygen levels as normal throughout the night.

Day 2 - No runny nose or nasal congestion, but very deep, mucousy cough. Both ran consistent low-grade fevers of about 101 and Tylenol and Motrin every four hours did not lower the fever much. Another terrible night of sleep with both girls waking up frequently due to cough and discomfort. Oxygen levels were normal throughout night.

Day 3 - Both still had a low-grade fever with nasty cough and were obviously uncomfortable. Nasal congestion and a runny nose started this day. We kept alternating Tylenol and Motrin every four hours. Another terrible night of sleep. They wheezed when breathing, but saw the doctor this day and she said their lungs were clear and the RSV cough always sounds worse than it is. She said as long as their oxygen levels are normal and they’re not retracting, there is no major cause for concern. Oxygen levels were normal throughout the night.

Day 4 - Seemed worse on day four. The girls both seemed lethargic and one of them refused to eat and only drank milk and water. The runny nose, cough, and runny eyes were terrible. We continued to alternate Tylenol and Motrin every four hours and used Zarby’s baby cough syrup and chest rub to settle their cough. Gave a steamy bath before bed. This ended up being the worst night of sleep. They were up every 20 to 60 minutes crying and uncomfortable. Oxygen levels were normal throughout the night.

Day 5 - This was by far the worst day and the peak of symptoms. They still had a fever of 101. There was so much snot and they needed their noses wiped constantly. The cough also sounded incredibly nasty and they seemed lethargic. We continued with Tylenol and Motrin every four hours and gave extremely steamy baths before bed. The beginning of the night was brutal with the girls refusing to sleep. However, by 2 AM, there symptoms seemed to improve rapidly, and they slept until 9 AM uninterrupted. Oxygen levels were normal throughout the night.

Day 6 - The girls still have a runny nose and sporadic cough, but they seem mostly back to normal! No more fevers and they are playing like normal!

My biggest recommendations:

- Alternate Tylenol and Motrin - keep this routine!

- Zarby’s baby cough syrup and the chest rub are awesome for easing the cough at night.

- The owlet socks were a Godsend! They allowed us peace of mind at night by monitoring oxygen levels. I would NOT want to go through RSV without it.