Constant Cough

considering it is at night and this time of year and the fact he is on Zyrtec already... there is a good chance he has COUGH VARIANT ASTHMA. Is it a dry non-productive cough? I have asthma where my attacks are just coughs like that, as do two of my children. Cough medicine won't make any difference - have you noticed that? Many doctors won't diagnose a young child with asthma, especially if they are having coughing rather than normal attacks. They may say he has reactive airway disease... basically asthma for tykes. If you are really concerned, talk to your pediatrician or an allergy doctor. We use Dr. Garcia - he has offices on Sheldon and somewhere in south Tampa.

To alleviate the problems you could assume it is airborne allergies causing an asthmatic reaction and follow the protocol the doctors would prescribe (minus the drugs and rescue breather).

1. bath every night to get pollens off child
2. put allergy barriers on all bedding (can get them at Bed Bath % Beyond using 20% coupons) - that includes the mattresses!
3. remove all 'soft' toys and upholstery from child's room. If you let them have a stuffed animal wash it weekly with the bed linens which should be washed weekly in HOT water (yes even the comforter!)
4. get a hepa filter for their room
5. eliminate carpet or use dust mite powder on the carpet once every 6 months
6. never allow pets in the bedroom.
7. never ride in a car with the windows open if the child is in the car

I'm sure there were more, but those were the highlights I remembered. It will cover the major common allergens - pollens, dust mites, pet dander - mold is always an issue so keeping your a/c on was also recommended.

Good luck

E.,

I spent the majority of my life in Jacksonville and the one thing I can tell you is that they have probably not hit there full blown Spring yet. The pollin is probably 3 times as bad here as it is there. You might talk to an alergist. If he had been caughing in Jax. as he is here, I wouldn't suggest it, but there shouldn't bee any difference if it was something other than allergies.

My Pedi. told me to use Claritan (spelling?) for both my 2 & 4 year old. It has worked amazingly. They even make it in chewables!!!

Good luck!

Hey E., my daughter has the same issue and we are taking her to her doctor on Tuesday. She coughs alot in the morning and at night. We have been giving her dinmatapp, but I don't want to do that every night. She has had this for at least a month, I took her in before and the doctor said it may be allergies because her thorat wasn't red, ears clear, so i am taking her back because it seems to have been getting worse.

Hi E.,

You are not alone. I know of about 3 children who's mom's are complaining of constant coughs right now. Nothing seems to be working for them either. My best friends son, was just prescribed something for the post nasal drip issue. I am not sure if it's working, but will get some more info and get back to you.

C.

E.,

It could possibly be allergies. I had severe allergies growing up here in the Tampa area. This time of year is really bad for pollen and trees. That alone can cause a little bit of scratchy-ness in the back of his throat and become a cough. You might take him to a ear, nose and throat doctor.

Good luck.

My son(who is now 8) used to do that. He would be fine during the day but at night he would have this horrible cough. I think he had the coughing more than he did not. Doctors kept trying all sorts of stuff. We saw a different doctor one day and she took one look at him as told us that he had childhood asthma and the way it affected him was the cough. We have a nebulizer and the inhaler but he very seldom uses it now. If he gets a cold we use it until the cold is gone or if we hear him start coughing at night we give it to him for a week.