Coughing - Northfield, MN

I've heard vicks on the feet- then cover with socks so it doesn't get all over-works well. I've never tried it, but I hear it works.

Also, we used children's tylonol cough for my 2 year old earlier this year..I think that's what it was...it did have a dosage indication for 2 year olds, so they can take it. What we did, was waited until bedtime and gave it to him, so he coughed less while sleeping...so he could get sleep and so could we. Then we didn't give him any in the day, so that he could work out what ever was causing the cough.

i agree with vick's baby rub, but put it on her chest...also they have menthol-type of baby bath...it smells really good and is so relaxing for a night time bath...it is made for colds.

I am a daycare provider and I will say YES honey does help but if she is that close in age I would call and ask her doctor first. Around my house I don't like to give meds to anybody so it is nice to see others taking the natural route to relieving symptoms.

M.

A humidifier in the bedroom and a steamy bath or shower works best for my boys.
I'm pretty sure the no-honey rule is for kids under the age of 1.

We use hyland's cough syrup. It's mostly honey and all natural - we found it at whole foods. The no honey is for kids under 1. Or plain benedryl helps. It stops the nasal drip, which is usually what's irritating the throat and causing the cough.

I've heard of using vick's on their feet, but we've never tried it. The hylands always works well enough.

We use Delsem, even though there is a scare of OTC medications for young children. I think it's taboo in alot of homes so take my opinion with a grain of salt and your own knowledge of the OTC medications. That's what we use and it works fab, clearing up the caugh in a matter of minutes.

This might not help much at night, but Cold-Eeze Brand caugh drops have a sucker for young children and they taste just like a regular sucker. We give those to my daughter, even when she doesn't have a cold. (They come in Grape, Cherry and Bubblegum). They might sooth the throat a bit.

Hi Laura,
The only restriction for honey is under 12 months so you can give her some without threat of botulism at this point. You could try making a "tea" out of warm water, lemon and honey. You don't need much, just enough to flavor.
Also, have you tried the Vicks Baby Rub? It's wonderful!
You could also try to elevate her bed or put a folded blanket under her pillow and torso to help her drain better.
Good luck!

She needs steam and humidity to loosen the mucous. Consider a cool mist humidifier at night. What's probably happening is the drier night air is causing things to thicken up, and that causes her to cough. I don't think the new plugs create enough moisture in the air to make a difference. Look into the new antimicrobial cool mist humidifiers. Vicks and the American Red Cross both make nice ones that are easy to care for in the $30 range.

For those really bad coughing jags, a warm shower, or just sitting the bathroom while a hot shower is running will do the trick.

Have her use a bean bag chair for a pillow. It will keep her propped up so that she has an easier time breathing (which in my experience causes a lot of the coughing at night) and she'll have a hard time rolling out of it during the night. My daughter's dr. suggested this when she was about 4 and we did that until she was almost 10. She's asthmatic and had kept me up one night coughing and wheezing (you know you're lacking sleep when you take your preschooler to the dr. and he asks how you're doing.)

We often use the vicks vapo-rub on the bottom of the feet. Just slather it on, put on socks or footie pajamas, and within an hour my boys usually quiet down. It tends to work half-way through the night, at which point they're either so deep in sleep that they're not coughing anyway, or we go in and apply a second round.