11 answers

Habitual Cough

Has anybody's child had this?

My son had a case of croupe around Thanksgiving time. I took him to see the ped a couple weeks later because his cough seemed to be getting worse. At that time they diagnosed him with a sinus infection and prescribed antibiotics. He seemed to get slightly better, then relapsed again around Christmas time.

We saw the ped again shortly thereafter and she thought his symptoms seemed curious - no rhyme or reason to the cough and no coughing at all during his sleep. She told me to give him zyrtec, remove the stuffed animals on his bed and change the sheets on his bed frequently to see if allergies are the culprit. None of these things changed anything, except he was more sluggish in the morning because of the Zyrtec. I took him back off it after about 10 days.

A friend of mine, who is also a ped, listened to his cough and feels it has become habitual. She sees him very frequently, much more so than his official ped (our kids playdate). She didn't seem particularly concerned and didn't recommend doing anything beyond letting it run its course. The cough has definitely lessened over the past couple weeks, but his teacher seemed concerned about it today and made me wonder if I'm doing enough to treat it. He goes through spells of coughing followed by long stretches of not coughing at all.

If anybody's child has developed a habitual cough in the past - did it eventually go away on its own or did you have to seek treatment?

What can I do next?

Featured Answers

I would ask to have xrays of his lungs and see if breathing treatments are needed. My nephews have asthma and it was a simmilar road for their diagnosis.

3 moms found this helpful

More Answers

I would ask to have xrays of his lungs and see if breathing treatments are needed. My nephews have asthma and it was a simmilar road for their diagnosis.

3 moms found this helpful

I know this stuff was going around where you got a cough like croupe, etc and it lasted a long time and I wonder if your son needs to be on breathing treatments or inhaler for a short time to clear up the bronchial tubes, etc. from the illness he had. I would check with them and see if they could give you treatments or inhaler for a short time. We have allergies in our family and sometimes we needed to do that with the kids and now grandchildren need it too. He should get over it in time but that would help.

3 moms found this helpful

As Kristina said, don't discount asthma. This is how my daughter's symptoms presented at 2, 2 and a half years old. She never was a "wheezer," like the rest of my family, so I was completely missing it. Cold air was/is her trigger, as was coming off the tail end of a chest cold...

2 moms found this helpful

Have you had him tested for asthma?

2 moms found this helpful

My son has a habitual cough. It's in the throat from sinus drip. It generally happens whenever he has a cold or a runny nose of any kind. We generally give him some pediatric Robitussin Cough & Cold. It's the only thing that really helps for him. I have a friend with adult kids, and she said one of them spent 6 months on cough medicine for the same thing.

2 moms found this helpful

My daughter did the same thing. Pulmonary doc. said it was asthma. Prescribed her inhalers and the breathing machine with meds in it. Her cough cleared up very well. It is like a dry cough, like something in your throat. Which can be asthma..

Good luck
D.

1 mom found this helpful

I know that you tryed zyrtec but when my daughter had a cough that hung around her pedi put her on Clariton. It did help. We also used Mucenex Mini Melts at the same time.

1 mom found this helpful

As a child I developed a habitual burp. It did eventually go away. The best treatment, if it's a habit, is to ignore it because when you draw attention to it, it reminds his body to cough.

Since two doctors have heard the cough and suggested it didn't need treatment, I would wait awhile longer before seeking further treatment.

My daughter has asthma and I can usually tell the difference between an asthma cough and a regular cough. The cough comes from in the chest while a habitual cough is in the throat. Trust the doctors.

1 mom found this helpful

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