6 Year Old Coughing Only at Night

Coughing at night only is almost always sinuses. During the day, the person swallows... but at night they drain right into the lungs.

Since she's asthmatic though... it COULD be something in her room that's setting off her asthma. Anything new going on? New detergent, new construction, air conditioning, plants, anything coming in her windows?

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Hi E., same situation here with my son....he now takes Singular 1x/day and no more night cough. I also have asthma that causes a cough...just kind of a constant throat tickle at first, then if I still don't clue in to what's going on w/i a day or two it's a cough, although mine is both day & night. When the symptoms aren't there it's hard to remember the daily meds....plus I get to where I think I don't need them and then end up back in the same boat. I am very consistent w/ my sons meds since I bought him a pillbox a year or so ago and he no longer has the issue (but I can't fit my Advair in a pillbox to remember!) :) Best of luck, J.

It's probably drainage. Try mucinex, give it to her during the day as well. This keeps the mucous from pooling in the back of the throat.

Sounds like it could be a problem with acid reflux. I have this problem. For years I had coughing and wheezing at night. I went to a gastroenterologist for another problem and he diagnosed acid reflux and a hiatal hernia. After I started treatment I noticed that my night time asthma symptoms had gone away. Even my day time coughing calmed down. Ask your pediatrician to check her out. Something as simple as an acid blocker could clear it up.

I also want to say that raising the head of her bed helps with both mucus drainage and acid reflux.

When my daughter was about 2 1/2 she did the same thing. So I finally took her into the doc. and comes to find out she developed allergies. So she was given prescription allergy medicine to take once a day and she was giving a nasal spray to be used before bed. It help clear out her nose so it wouldn't drain at night which is what was causing her to cough so much. She only had to us the spray until it was gone and now she only has to use the allergy medicine once in a while but boy did it make a difference.

I wonder if it allergies? Dust, cold air etc.. My son had his asthma induced by allergies. My daughter has done that in the past ( no gets any sleep) but we hve her Delsym only at night to help quiet her constant cough but then it subsided. The other thing that comes to mind is maybe she needs a maintenience medication to keep the asthma at bay so that it doesn't trigger her into a constant coughing frenzy.

It might help to vacuum and dust her room really well quite often, especially if you have furry pets. Also, a Rainbow (or Hyle, OceanBlue, or other 'water') vacuum is best to keep allergens in check because you empty the WET dirt every time and it doesn't linger in dry filters. Vacuum even her (and others') mattress(es) periodically and wash bed covers monthly or so.

Any human or animal skin particles (dander) can invoke allergy, and they're also food for dust mites (little critters that live in carpeting, bedding, and upholstery and they breed in vacuum bags). The dust mites leave their waste pellets -- highly allergic and breathable particles -- behind. Some folks (kids in particular) have such a severe allery to dust mite waste that it has a name -- Kawasaki disease.
Also, humidity may hurt or help, and usually in the summer it's higher than in winter.

hi, my son did this because of allergies. he does not have asthma. his dr did the allergy test and found out what he wasallergic to and put him on singular. one at bed time. that took care of the cronic chough. good luck. R.

She needs Singulair. My son did this, he doesn't have asthma, but does have allergies. You will need a prescription from her pediatrician. It comes in a chewable form. She will take it once a day, will take about 4 days to build up in her system and cure the cough.

My 8 yo son just had a sinus infection that caused this....brought on by allergies....his are usually managed by Claritan. I do this when I have bronchitis.

My Son did the same thing... night time coughs could be bronchial spams... Might want to let your Asthma Dr know this is going on and the Dr could give a preventive med.....

I read the other responses, and I agree that it could be allergies. But I would highly recommend taking her to a doctor. I have had asthma pretty much all my life. Coughing at night is usually a sign that asthma is not well controlled. Asthma is very serious. She may need to go back on meds for a while.

Could it be that she simply needs a humidifier near her bed at night? When we lived where the air was dry, I found my daughter needed one in her room. The coughing could be from a dry throat. Try leaving a sports bottle filled with water on her night stand so she can sip through the night. I hope it's not allergies!

Our daughter was put on antibiotics for the same thing as it turns out it was a sinus infection. I actually posted a similar questions here a few weeks ago. The doctor did say that night coughing was a symptom of Asthma in kids...she had a chest x-ray that came up clear. Maybe since your daughter has already been diagnosed it's time to be re-evalutated...it might be her Asthma symptoms flaring back up.

The other things we tried were elevating the mattress (helped a little), using an air filter and Zyrtec...to rule out allergies. It was suggested she could be allergic to dust or pet dander. None of that helped though but the antibiotics cleared it up.

Try a new pillow. Do you or any of your neighbors have night blooming plants?

E., I have asthma and so did my youngest son as soon as he was born! I could hear it in his lungs right when he came out!...What I did was put something under the top of his so it raised it some so he wasn't laying flat. I ended up putting old phone books under there but I have heard of mothers putting bricks or wedges under the mattress's just to raise it so their asthmatic child could sleep and any parent could do this if their child had a cold or a sinus infection, it works great! I also agree that allergeries can affect asthma as well! Good Luck mommy!

My daughter had a fairly constant cough for several months just after her first birthday. Her cough was almost exclusively at night. There was always something else going on when I took her in (ear infections, colds, congestion, etc.), so no one gave a thought to asthma until I took her in for an actual asthma attack one day. The coughing had been her only symptom for months. But as soon as she was started on a daily dose of Pulmicort, the coughing stopped and never returned. We kept her on the medication for about six months, and so far, she has never shown any other symptoms of asthma, including the cough.

If you know that your daughter has asthma, and she has been coughing like you have described, you might need to talk to your pediatrician about getting her some treatment.

try elavating her matteress so it's on an incline. that way her her is somewhat higher to help the drainage!!