Awful Coughing

Hi,
My daughter has had the same cough for the last two weeks too. And according to my daycare provider, most kids have the same cough. I recently tried Vicks Vapor Rub. It works great. My daughter doesnt cough at all at nite and I have peaceful nights sleep. I hope this helps. If you child is 2 or older you can use the adult version of Vicks.

T.

Have you tried Sudafed?? It has worked great with my 2 year old if the cough is caused by post nasal drip. Good luck.

Sounds like what my daughter went through a month ago. Her doctor told me she had croup and one of the best things to do when they start coughing like that is to take them out side. I know it sounds strange and against everything we are tought to do but it realy dose work. The cold air at night helps open up their lungs and makes breathing easier.
Good luck
S. H.

S.,
No I did not read all of the responses...just glanced... But here is something probably different !!!!!!

My son who just turned 8 has had bad ear infections most of his life. Now when I say bad he never really complained about his ears or pain. Mostly it was a NASTY cough that countless Dr's told me was asthma. But he ONLY got the cough when he had an ear infection so that made no sense to me. And actually the cough would start BEFORE the ear would turn red, so we always made multiple trips to the Dr before he got on antibiotics and then it was days before the coughing stopped.

SO finally I found a couple of small articles online that suggested that SOME kids have a nerve that is "tickeled" if it were, when fluid builds up behind the ear. This would explain why the thousands of $ on asthma and cough remedies and drainage meds NEVER worked. He would cough and cough and cough and vomit and cough and cough until he could barely breathe.

I tried to talk to the Dr about this... the one said NO it's asthma. The other said well maybe and tried giving him a liquid steroid and it cleared up overnight ! However this did not keep him from getting the ear infections AND long term steroid use if not acceptable.

So finally a new Pediatrician joined the practice and she believed me ! She sent me to an ENT and we had ear tubes put in within a month and he has had them 10 months and the cough and colds are GONE!!!!!!!!!!!

For immediate relief I would discuss trying a liquid steroid. That can get you over the worst until the ENT appointment and then discuss this idea with him/her providing your child has a HISTORY of coughing with ear infections as my son did.

Also we have been using Airbornne supplements for ourselves and the kids and have been virtually cold and illness free (other than the ear infections prior to ear tubes) for almost 3 cold/flu seasons! How awesome is that!

Blessings.
M.

If it is a wet cough, try Vick's 44 E for children. It's very hard to find. I have had luck at walgreens. It has to be "E" for exportorant. My son will have this problem every winter and if delsym doens't work then the 44E does. good luck. I'd also be on the phone with the ped. there was an RX that they gave my daughter had some steriod in it to help the lungs. I wouldn't just let her suffer with it. I'd call even on the weekend. And i hate calling a doctor on the weekend or off hours.

Have you tried Mucinex? They recently came out with a formula for children. I started using that for colds when it first came out in the adult form and love it! It really clears up all the mucus. It thins it out and helps you get rid of it more easily. It is on the expensive end but well worth the price. I was very happy to see it in a children's form when I went to buy some last week when I was sick. I had to sing at a friend's wedding and had all this congestion still hanging on after a cold. I've used it several times when I had a singing performance to scheduled and unexpected gotten a cold. I think that it comes in both a cherry and grape flavor for kids and I know that the next time my kids are sick, that is what I'll be using! I hope this helps!

I have been going through the same thing with my 4 yr. old grandson. I took him to his doctor and was told it is a combination of allergies and asthma. His cough is due to the drainage of his nasal passages during the night. I've been using a vicks vaporizer during the night and he seems to sleep a lot better.

Have you tried maybe a cold/sinus medication? I've had the same thing and the only thing that I can get to help is Motrin cold/sinus.

My little one still has this (2 on the 11th!) THe dr. diag. as allergies and allergy induced asthma. But to be sure we have an appointment next month with a specialist. Ask your doc about allergies and maybe for a referral to a specialist.

My 3 1/2 yr old is currently experiencing the same thing. Try a hot steam treatment sucha as steaming the bathroom and put her in the bathroom for like twenty minutes. We tried this but still ended up in the er.They said he is healthy but still give him a cough medicine to help it.

When my son was a baby, he did this, but he would actually vomit. I kepy calling his doctor and finally convinced them to do chest xrays. It turned out to be RSV and Pneumonia. Luckily we caught it early(within the first week)and so he didn't need to be hospitalized. I would definitely watch her and if it persists through the weekend, call her Dr. fist thing Mon. Also, have you tried Vics Vaporub? It's pretty good stuff. Iwould grease her upper back, neck, and chestwith it. It's definitely scary to have your child coughing to the point that they are gagging and/or vomiting. Hope all goes well.

Have her drink lots of fluids- water and juice, to thin out the drainage. She may be having some post-nasal drip, and that drainage tickles the back of the throat and causes the gagging/cough reflex.

2 1/2 weeks?? you need to find a new doctor!!

my son had something similiar, well, we have had it almost constant since school started. we got a perscription from the doctor, it is for his runny/stuff nose and for his cough. recently though i found triaminic long acting cough plus cold. it is the kind that they sell BEHIND the pharmacy counter. we went to several places and only could find it at walmart. i think that has worked the best so far, but i definitely wouldn't wait for 2 weeks!! poor babies!!!

take care

Hello S.! Sounds to me like your little ones have allergies and not a cold. Unfortunately, cold and allergy symptoms mimic each other and it's difficult for even doctors to diagnose the two. Allergies can even cause ear aches, and infections because bacteria love mucus!

So, my suggestion would be allergy testing and try benadryl liquid, or buy Triaminic Strips for colds (which is just benadryl with triaminic label put on it). The gagging is caused from two separate things. The drainage coming from the sinuses and draining onto the throat and two, if it is allergies, the throat will itch causing a gagging, tickly sensation. If it is allergies, it will probably take a few days of the bendryl to alleviate the symptoms. So, Try the benadryl and it should take care of the coughing some. And get them into the allergy doctor for testing.

blessings,

M. F

hi S.! my name is A. and i have a 8 month old daughter and she also was sick this winter a bit. i tryed everything!! plug in sudacare, it helps them breath at night. the humidafyer, little colds, for and the health problems she had. took her to the doctors and was told she had an ear infections. she couldnt sleep through the night and was driving me crazy! so i know how you feel. you could try any ocean spray for children. it may work!!

You may have her checked for bronchitus. My son had a cough like that a couple of nights ago and was diagnosed w/ bronchitus. Of course he has the crackling breathing too, but it could be something like croupe or whooping cough and you don't want her to get that. It's dangerous. I hope she gets better soon!

P.S. I took my little one to urgent care, not a ped. His developed in a day and even though her's didn't develop so fast, she's had it for a while.

Sorry to hear your kids have been so sick. Have any of them been running fevers? I know my 4 year-old had the same symptoms and we were going through the same nighttime stuff you are now. We took her to the doc and she ended up with mycoplasm pneumonia (walking pneumonia). Once they got her on the right antibiotics we finally got rid of the cough, but it took almost 3 weeks. Uusually they use amoxicillin for ear infections and that won't treat mycoplasm, if that's what it is. My daughter had to be put on azithromycin aka "z-pak"

Good luck to you!

I have 3 sons and they just now got over all of that. my youngest 3 months also had it, it got so bad we thought he had croup. My two oldest go friday to have tubes( 1st set for one and 3rd set for my oldest) they would vomit at least once a day because they would cough so bad that it would lead to that. finally i had to put my oldest on zatac, which my family doc just called it in for him instead of them having to see him. and the vomiting stopped and the cough went on for about a week longer and then it finally stopped. It is something that is very hard to get rid of.

Hi S.. Those poor babies are probably miserable. My son had that kind of cough due to asthma, the Dr. put him on Singulair and Nasonex. It helps to dry the drainage up and keep the swelling down in the nasal passages. That gagging cough is usually due to drainage and if your daughter had an ear infection, normally caused by fluid in the canal, she most likely has sinus drainage.With my son they went hand in hand. If he started with a cough it would end with an ear infection in a matter of 3 days. Also find a different Dr. you shouldn't have to wait that long when your child is sick!! Good luck.
T. B

Hi S.! Well, I would definitely be looking into seeing an Allergist. If all three of your children have this coughing, it sounds like they may have allergies, especially since it is related to a certain season. I'm not sure where you live, but often in the fall or if it is a mild winter, there is an increase in mold inside and outside. Also, for your oldest with her coughing until she almost vomits-if it is only at night she may need her tonsils removed. My daughters tonsils were large and continually gagged her during coughing spells related to her asthma. Which brings me to my last point: An allergist could also help determine if she may have asthma. I know everyone associates asthma with wheezing, but my daughter has pretty severe asthma and rarely wheezes. Her cough is similar to your daughters, although she also has accompanying shortness of breath. Bottom line, take her to the ENT, but also ask about referral to an allergist-this would be my best guess!!!!

~L.~

Instead of using a humidifier, try using a vaporizer. It will put moisture in the room and help with the gagging and dry cough

I just went throught the same thing and the only thing I found to work was using a vaporizer and putting vicks on my sons neck and chest, it seemed to work really good. I used the equate brand from Walmart, Cold and Cough, this seems to be better than the name brand stuff, all I can say is try it and see if it works, I'm an ol' timer using vicks, I get this from my mother...LOL. I also use it when I get sick, try putting it on the bottom of their feet and putting socks on them when they go to bed...be sure to wipe them off really good before going outside though, If you don't it draws colds to them...Good Luck!!

your 21/2 week old ask the doc about reflux are 12 week old has that meds realy help. about your 4 year old does she have the flu.
P. s