4 Year Old with Cough That Keeps Coming Back

My daughter (4 years 2 months) coughed off and off for about a month. There was never any fever or anything 'coming up' but I called the doctors and they told me to put her on allergy meds (Claritin type) for 2 weeks and if it doesn't go away to bring her in. It went away. So it could just be allergies (winter possibly?) I'd call the ped and see if he/she recommends doing the same thing.

I have a brother who has had severe asthma and a son with bad asthma and now several grandchildren with it. I know they won't be helped by humidifiers and if it's bad they should be taken to the emergency room. I know for a fact too that you don't always here the wheeze. I've taken our son and they emergency room nurses acted like he was fine but when they did the tests he was extremely bad. There is sometimes no sound of wheezing so don't go by that. I also know that an infection or cold even can trigger asthma if it's not under control and even them sometimes. Usually there is a cough with asthma but you will learn to tell if it is an asthma cough in time. You need to get your child to a good allergist and have them evaluate him and get him under control which is the main thing. I know the albuterol inhalers are not recommended for long term use now and our allergist said it may take extreme measures to get the small air tubes in the lungs ( can't remember their name ) clear and not inflamed, maybe even with Prednisone short term. If that's not done then the asthma is not under control. It's nothing to mess with. I hope you can get something to help but please see a good allergist.

My son was born coughing (literally). He's had chronic cough his whole life. I started using an air purifier several months ago and he no longer coughs all night long. Humidifiers never helped him, but the air purifier seems to be the trick for us. Hope you find something that works for you!

Sounds like cough variant asthma to me, which my older son has. I'm surprised the humidifier is helping since that can sometimes make it worse for asthma. He should see a pediatric pulmonologist, which has made a HUGE difference to my son. From age 2 to 4 it seemed like we were in the ER or urgent care once a month. He's now 15 and well-controlled. Knock on wood, I don't think we've needed urgent care or the ER since we started seeing the specialist. We have had to battle a couple of cases of pneumonia and put our "action plan" into work several times, but our pulmonologist has armed us with the tools we need and has kept our son controlled. Good luck.

Well my daughter does not have asthma and she has been hit with viruses non stop since school started in September and has only had a few cough free weeks in the last 3-4 months. It has been really bad this year. When it seemed to get worse and was accompanied by a fever I got her antibiotics (which I try to avoid) and she finished the whole course and they did absolutely nothing. So it may not be his asthma...it could just be all of the bugs going around right now.

My daughter has asthma, not bad so I guess a mild case. She was diagnosed really young (toddler) and has two different inhalors that thankfully we hardly have to use.

Her doctors told me NO humidifiers or dehumidifiers for children with asthma. I don't remember exactly why, but I remember two differeent Dr.s at the practice being very firm on nothing in her room at night. I would check with your little ones doc about that.

It could be either, if it is asthma there should be a little bit of a wheeze between the cough, you know when he is trying to catch his breath in between the start and end of the cough. I have no idea how to explain it, but try to listen for the wheeze.

Do you have a nebulizer or inhalor to control asthma?

To me it sounds like asthma and he may need an allergy med (Claritin etc..) or an asthma med(s). My daughter does the same things and we have a whole host of meds to use to treat her depending on what's going on. A Vick's Vapomist humidifier works really well with her too. The camphor in the medicine you put in really helps her cough. Another thing to consider is acid reflux. It'll cause you to cough and of course more at night since you're laying down.

My daughter had coughing asthma when she was younger. When the cold weather and the new types of stuff come in with the nothern wind she starts to cough. Thankfully she seems to be growing out of it but sometimes she still gets effected.

Sounds to me more like an allergy and asthma thing. I say that because my daughter has allergies and pre-asthma while I have allergy induced asthma and it sounds very much like us. Singulair has helped us tremendously. As has getting rid of the typical toxins that all households have (harsh chemicals in many personal care and household products).

I have Asthma and have had it since I was a child.

Asthma.... does not go away and it will always... recur.
Keep that in mind.
So, in addition to getting colds or other illnesses... Asthma is STILL always present. It is a condition that a person always, has. It is not situational. Except that certain "situations" can exacerbate, it and its severity or attacks.

There is no way... to predict, when Asthma will arise in a severe form or mild form. And what things, makes it arise or not. You cannot predict that. But you can make the home environment, more suitable. ie: using air purifiers and filters. Keeping no carpet in the house because it harbors dust. Keeping pets outside. etc. Keeping him away from people who are sick. Because, anytime an Asthmatic gets sick, their Asthma will get worse. And get the Flu shots. I do.
Keep in mind, that if sick with any cold, Asthma gets triggered. AND, it can also develop into other lung issues. ie: I once was sick with a common cold. My Asthma got pronounced. I later got PNEUMONIA.
So, you really have to learn about Asthma and its symptoms in children (because children often present different symptoms than an Adult would) and learn about it.
Asthma is very serious. People die from it. If there is lack of oxygen in the body and blood stream, that is not good. An Asthmatic, has a hard time breathing, because the bronchial airways... gets inflamed or constricted. Hence, the lungs cannot expand or expel enough air/oxygen.

ANY time, an Asthmatic is sick or has a cold... the Asthma... gets or can be, present MORE so.

Asthma, is a DAILY thing and daily condition.
With which, "maintenance" medication(s) has to be used. ie: inhalers. There are emergency inhalers and there are daily use for maintenance type inhalers.

Your son should be seeing a Pulmonologist.

It is not a matter if it is Asthma or not... because Asthma is ALWAYS present... even if you do not 'see' symptoms.
And a person has to take care, in light of their inherent Asthma.

As I said, I have had Asthma almost all of my life.
I have never, used a humidifier.
Cold or warm, humidifiers can harbor mildew.

hard to tell the difference. You need to be the judge. Is he wheezing, grasping his chest? Does he seem more tired than usual? Does he get a slight bluish tint to any extremity? childhood Asthma can go away. Despite what someone said below about asthma being a whole life issue. Its not always, it depends on the severity and if there is allergy or just asthma. My husband has childhood symptomatic Asthma, since he lived in a dusty, dirty, polluted city in a third world country. Had an inhaler for 5 years, once he moved from that city, he was fine. When he moved here, he is great till winter. The dry, cold air is hard on his lungs. While we dont use humidifiers due to mold issues, we do run the shower hot in the bathroom and he sits in there for 20 minutes. Helps him with his breathing and he is on his way. He is 34 and never had to go back on an inhaler. My 2 daughers are healthy with no issues. My son developed a Bronchial infection at 9 months and it lasted over 3 weeks. They refused to give him antibiotics, and we did some home remedies. It did go away for a month only for him to get it back. He coughed horribly for another 3 weeks. I finally took him in and they said the infection was back and they think it was from an ear infection that looked mostly gone. So they did give him antibiotics this time. Went away in 4 days. Literally a month later, it was back. We thought it was the cat, so we took the cat to friends for a few months. It wasnt the cat, so we thought it was the dog, nope. Its something but he is now 13 months and he has not had it back yet. I had taken him in for x-rays, 2 different doctors, and 3 ENT doctors. Everyone told me the same thing. Its too young for him to be diagnosed asthmatic, and nebulizers did nothing for him cause it wasnt that. It was just a chronic bronchial infection. What I think did help some, but have no proof, is that we had our ducts cleaned professionally. Helped loads. He has not had an infection since.