Coughing Fits

I'd run it by the nurse call line or the doctor at least, maybe take her in. It can't hurt and it's always better to be safe than sorry.

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Katherine,
I know how scary it is to have a little one who is sick. It sounds like your daughter has what my son is dealing with too. We took him to the doctor about a week and a half ago and they said he had a virus (not much they could do) but they did give him a nebulizer and albuterol (like in asthma inhailers) to help with the wheezing and get his lungs to open up. He isn't wheezing anymore now, but he is still coughing pretty bad so we went back to the doctor yesterday and they said that it is still the same virus and it is taking 6 - 8 WEEKS to get rid of the nasty cough.
They recommended steamy showers 2- 3 times a day. Run a really HOT shower in a small bathroom, close the door and have the child breathe in the steam for about 10 -20 minutes. They also suggested running a cool mist humidifier as much as possible.
Also, if she is worse at night it's probably because when she lays down all the stuff stops draining and gets stuck in her throat. Have her sleep as upright as possible...prop her up with lots of pillows or (if she'll let you) try having her sleep in a chair or even her carseat. I know it sounds strange, but when my oldest was little he had croup frequently (very similar symptoms) and the only way ANY of us could get sleep was if we brought the carseat in and he slept in it. It kept him upright so junk could drain and he could breathe better, he was strapped in so we didn't have to worry about him falling and getting hurt and we could keep a constant eye on him since the seat could be moved with us (and how many kids sleep in the seat everytime they get in the car anyway).
If she is wheezing, I'd take her in and get something to help with that, other than that it seems all you can do is ride it out.
Best of luck,
M.

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I'm happy to hear she is doing fine. I have one suggestion, buy a humidifier. My daughter is 6 yrs old and has had crup for years on and off. I have noticed she gets it more when she is in cold dry air. Also, if she gets it again and has it for more then 4 days that her to the doctor because it can develop further.

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Katherine,
Be especially careful for whooping cough. We went through the same thing with our daughter when she was 5 months old. We ended up in PICU for 15 days because she would have these coughing attacks and stop breathing. go to whoopingcough.net to get more info. this is often misdiagnosed by doctors because today's drs have not seen it very much. Thanks to the vaccine it had diminished but it cycles every now and then. Also, it is usually passed to youngsters by someone within your close family community

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When my children get crup I take them to get a chiropractic adjustment. A good chiro will know the right adjustment to open the airways.

Get a cool mist humidifier to help with the cough. I avoided buying one until just recently because they're a little more expensive than the warm mist ones. Finally I broke down and bought one because my son had been fighting a miserable cough, it helped tremendously.

Poor baby! My two year old got the croup on X-mas. :(
Not fun.

FYI--it is yet another form of the flu virus. This one causes the trachea to swell which--since their tracheas are so small--is why the weird cough. Adults get it, but the couch sounds different because of the larger windpipe.

Ah...the croup! I remember it well. All four of my kids battled this at one time or another. Shutting up a small bathroom and running the hot water (usually until we drained the hot water tank) brought relief. The steamy air opens the airways. Vics Vapo-rub also helps tremendously, but the petroleum based product makes a mess of sheets - wherever you put a large area of it (I always rubbed some on their chests and put a little dab right under their nose) cover with a t-shirt or other clothing.

I use (don't know how it works) vics vapor rub on my little one's feet and it stops her cough all for the night. just make sure to put some socks on after so you wont get vapor rub all over the bed. Also she got this cold/3wk going on 4wk cough from some kid at a birhday party. ALL of the kids who were there got sick. Mind you her cough turned into an ear infection (yes chased her around the house giving her antibiotics for 2 weeks) So do what mommy gut says - take her back and make sure its still a cough and hasn't developed into an ear infection.

Just becareful waiting it out... I had a simple cold and thought i could wait out the virus well i thn got bronchitis which was so bad i couldnt catch my breath... Dr said If I waited much longer I could have gotten serious Pnemonia I am sure the likliness of it getting worse if much higher in children Sounds to be like its time to get some antibiotics

I would take her back there is a new epidemic of whooping cough that is going around. I have heard some doctors are not recognizing it. Look whooping cough up on the internet and see if she has the same cough. It plays a example of what whooping cough sounds like!

My daughter has the same virus! She had the flu and then it turned into this...I feel for you. I would just take your little one in to be checked out. If she is having trouble breathing they may put her on breathing treatments. My little one is 9 years old and she has been coughing nonstop for the past 4 days, I probably need to get her in again to :)
Hope she feels better soon!