Medical Care for a Coughing Toddler

My second child had several ear infections from age 6 mo. to 11 mo. I was tired of him being put on yet another antibiotic and they were talking tubes. I did some checking around and took him to a chiropractor. He has not had an ear infection since and rarely gets sick. If he gets a cold, I take him in and Dr. Brady works on his sinus area and he's better within a couple of days. He now only goes as needed and is such a happier guy for it. (He just turned two.) If you think this is something that you are interested in make sure you go to someone who works with children. We go to Brady Chiropractic in Plano and love it. Many work with kids and even infants as early as 6 weeks of age. It might help get her off of some of the allergy/sinus meds. Hope this info. helps and good luck.

1 mom found this helpful

Hello E.,

poor baby, she must be miserable. I guess she's allergic to ragweed (very high for the past few days) if she is allergic to ragweed, make sure she's not eating foods that contain sunflower or safflower oil (they're part of the ragweed family, which also includes lettuce, chamomille, & echinacea).

for the cough ---
put on a tissue or paper towel:
4 drops peppermint oil
3 drops rosemary oil
2 drops basil oil

put it in the room where she's at. and in her bedroom at night. put it somewhere she will not reach it. we don't want her to get the oils on her hands and then touch her face/eyes...

that "recipe" stopped coughs that codeine did not stop.

Also, eliminate milk for a while and see how she does. My son can't handle milk products more than 2 days in a row. he ends up with sinus congestion and if I don't catch it on time, it becomes a sinus infection very fast. so avoiding milk includes, yogurt, cheese, whey, lactose. if she's so little, why is she in singulair AND zyrtec.

if she's got the congestion and runny nose, then seems like those medicines are not helping her (assuming the cough is not due to a virus).

by the way, have you thought of adding chiropractic treatment as part of her medical care?
good luck! ~C.~

1 mom found this helpful

Hi, i am a working mother of 3 & i have come to know that to help cure a cough is to put vick's vapor rub on the
bottom of your childs feet & put socks on before bed &
it should stop or minimize the coughing.

N. m.

One thing you might try is rubbing Vicks Vapor Rub all over the bottoms of her feet when she goes to bed at night. Then put socks on over that. It works on my 2 kids, and isn't harmful to your child. You may wanna get Baby Vicks to be sure since they're young. Hope it works!

With all the winds from Hurricane Ike this weekend and the changing of the seasons, it's probably allergies. I'd suggest talking to your doc about allergy medicines. If the drainage continues, it could develop into a sinus or upper resp. infection.

Hi E.-

Both my 12 month old son and myself have experienced a lot of cough and congestion lately. Vicks has this little machine you plug into an outlet and you put a medicated pad inside the machine which puts out the vicks vapor for up to 8 hours per pad. I have used this when I'm coughing a lot at night and it completely clears up my cough while sleeping. I think you can buy this at most stores such as target, walgreens, etc. Good luck to you!

If her nose is running clear then I wouldn't take her to the doctor unless you might want to get her on some kind of allergy medicine. Sounds like she might have some allergys. Good luck.

My now 18 month old spent October through May last year with varying degrees of respiratory congestion/drainage/coughing, including 2 bouts which may have been mild pneumonia. We started working with an allergist, primarily for his nut allergy, but also to deal with the respiratory stuff. Zyrtec had no effect. He is now on Extendryl as needed (as soon as I see a drip, we do about 3 days of medicine). We reduced dairy almost completely but not quite. That helped a lot. Ironically, the biggest improvement, particularly in the night time coughing, was moving his crib out of the carpeted room and into a room with hard floors. I also got an allergen-barrier mattress cover, and got more zealous about dusting in his room and washing sheets and his stuffed animal in hot water. The allergist rolled his eyes, but I see a clear connection between the carpet and the respiratory issues. It probably wasn't causing the whole thing, but it was certainly making the situation worse. Our pediatrician encouraged me to try moving the bed. It's free, and it couldn't possibly hurt. You can even try sticking the pack and play in the kitchen if the rest of your house is carpeted. You should see a difference within a week if the carpet is a significant contributing factor for your child.

Good luck.
S.
SAHM of 3: ages 7, 5 and 18 mos.

Hi E., A good natural remedy is to crush a clove of garlic and wrap it in a cloth and put a sock on the babies foot and then put the wrapped up garlic on top of the sock and then put another sock on top of the garlic as this will hold it in place at night and the first sock will keep the garlic off the babies tender skin so it doesn't burn the skin and the garlic will go thru the babies system at night and after a few nights of this the baby shouldn't have any more trouble with congestion. It should only take 2 or 3 nights and the baby should be a lot better and only do it at night while baby is asleep. Ed

You may need to consider if she has bronchitis. 2 out of 3 kids in my household start out the way you described, then the drainage leads to an irritation in the trachea and esophagus, and they start the coughing. Bronchitis doesn't necessarily need to be treated with an antibiotic, because it is an inflammation problem. But with the airway inflamed it is more susceptible to infection. She may need to be on some oral steroids or some breathing treatments. I don't know of a natural way to treat bronchitis. For allergies, you might try colloidial silver. Research it first. I use it, but really haven't seen a difference in mine, but I am not good at taking consistently like I should.
With all drainage clear, than you are probably right about the infection part, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the sinuses aren't infected. It could just be packed up there and yellow-green, it just hasn't "realeased" yet. Mine usually runs clear, until it "releases" and then nasty chunks start coming out all green. (sorry) But usually doesn't drain forward but backwards. I am sure she doesn't spit stuff out like adults do. Usually, an antibioitic is what is needed to realease it for me. The clear drainage is just a sign that something is wrong with me. But high up in your sinuses they usually don't drain, and can be infected. Remember the sinuses are under the bones above your eyebrows and below your cheek bones. Like a canal system, but not necessarily draining. The lower sinuses around your cheeks drain more easily into your nose. Packed gunk doesn't drain, and can still be clear. But something is going on.
BTW, my oldest takes zyrtec, singulair, rhinocort (nasal steroid). When he was younger we had him on breathing treatments. Now he has an inhaler. If all that doesn't work with some sudafed, and his nebulized treatments (better than an inhaler) we go in for antibiotics.
BTW. The coughing with bronchitis usually starts at night worse than during the day. It is typically dry, and there is a barking quality to it. Kinda like a seal. And it goes all the time. Cough, cough, cough...............cough...cough...cough. May get worse if she is hot. Typically wakes them up with all the coughing. We usually start treating with nebs instead of the inhaler if we reach this point. But I know when we are headed there becuse he will usually starts the coughing during the day but only occassionally, and typically after getting hot, like playing soccer. Then I listen to see if he coughs in his sleep. If he is coughing alot in his sleep, I start him on his nebs, before we get to the stage of waking up all night coughing for days on end. Then if that doesn't work we go to see the doctor.
If she is already on all the above medication, you really need to talk to your doctor about childhood asthma. She has to me, what sounds like a pretty good case for bronchitis. With her allergy history and already being on singulair there is a good chance she may have some form of asthma. Typically she will need to have bronchitis more than once for that diagnosis. Some children do out grow their asthma, they usually refer to that as "childhood" astham. It is also centered around the change in seasons and pollinating times of trees, grasses etc. My oldest and youngest have this kind. Couple times of year we have problems, but typically not all year, we are healthy all the other times. My dad however, has never outgrown his and can have symptoms without an obvious trigger, like cedar pollinating. ANd he has more symptoms year round, but are worse at those times described above. My kiddos are relatively symptom free during the rest of the year. For future reference, you may need to watch and see when her symptoms are worse. Like seasonal. Or cleaners. or around animals. or when the windows are open. or when she is hot. Stuffed animals and carpet are big problems for allergies and asthma. like pillows and dust.
But my oldest is having what yours is right now. So, he is going to pedi tomorrow.
Good luck,
L.

My toddler and I are just over a cold and my dh has it now. It is going around. We also had a sore throat with it though and also felt lousy for about a day.

I gave her saline for the nose, benadryl type medicine, took away the milk and she got water and juice...mostly water, and we had plenty of chicken noodle soup. She is old enough this time that everytime I heard her cough she would take a sip of water on her own. Water will clear all that out.
They both also got a little raspy or hoarse until it did.
I have heard about the vicks and the feet but have never tried it. I do keep our feet covered though.

If she really gets stuffed up and needs relief, bring her in the bathroom and sit with her, turn on the shower and steam it up.

This is my trick for coughs. I keep the chest covered and feet covered. socks and no v-necks, or just pull a blankie up over and get toasty and I make sure the house is not too cold. warm calms the cough and cold makes it worse.
Now, if congestion of course, it has to get coughed up but when you are trying to sleep, you don't care.
Keep chest covered and maybe prop slighty up.

hope she feels better quickly...we had it for about a week

I take my child to NAET of Amarillo. The doctor is Dr. Connie Danner and she is an alternative doctor. She specializes in allergy elimination and how to stay well. She uses all natural methods and products and is very affordable. If you take your daughter to Dr. Danner I guarantee you that your daughter will not have to use any medicines after a few treatments. The number to the office is ###-###-####. Call and make an appointment!!!

If you have a nebulizer (breathing machine) I have found that this works best with the Pulmicort medicine. If you don't have that, boil some water with peppermints in it and tent his head over it... YOu can also try sitting in the bathroom with a hot shower running. COugh meds never worked for my kids...

Poor baby! We've been battling this at our house too! I swear by the no milk and vicks + socks on the feet at night! This method really seems to work for our boys, but if they continue, we do the vaporiser too. Good luck! A sick toddler makes for an exhausted mommy, so make sure to take good care of yourself, and relax as much as you can!

Hi E.,
So sorry! Nothing is so stressful as having a sick toddler.
My son had lots of allergies as a toddler. I learnded that I was letting him have too much joice and milk. He was getting sicker and sicker. When I started giving him chewable Vitalea for children and Vita-C, his problems cleared up. He is now 16 and alllergy free for all those years.
You can read more on my website www.shaklee.net/healtforlife or if you want to find another distributor, go to shaklee.com.
V.

Hi E.,

Your daughter needs adaptogens! My husband and I ordered an incredible book off Amazon titled Adaptogens: Herbs for Strength, Stamina, and Stress Relief by Winston and Maimes. It is fascinating. From the book "There is a category of herbs called adaptogens that help the human body adapt to stress, support normal metabolic processes, and restore balance. They increase the body's resistance to physical, biological, emotional, and environmental stressors and promote normal physiologic function".

The 10 most potent adaptogens on the earth, with the highest therapeutic properties available, are now delievered in a fast acting oral spray, called Tunguska Mist. Go to www.VitalHealth.TunguskaMist.com to learn more.

Tunguska Mist Pure will help reduce the negative effects of stress on her body (including weakened immune system), and help restore balance, or homeostasis. Tunguska Mist tastes great and with the intra-oral spray you get over 90% of the nutrients absorbed immediately, which go to work within seconds. A serving size is 6 sprays for adults (1/2 that for kids under 100 lbs) inside the lining of the cheeks. So, I would start with 1 or 2 sprays for your daughter, as needed, and go from there.

My husband used to be on allergy medications and used Affrin all the time. Since he's been taking adaptogens, my husband doesn't deal with the stuffy nose and congestion, and no longer takes any medications. Please let me know if you have any questions. We are passionate about helping people reduce the damaging effects of stress on the body and restoring balance naturally, without medications. Good luck and God Bless:)

Best regards,
N.

You are received a lot of advice, you definitley need to do the humidifier in the room. That will help the cough amazingly.

Beyond that, coughing can be a symptom of the bronchitus irritation like the others have mentioned. My son lived on the nebulizer for the first 3 years of his life and it is a miracle how well it helps them breathe. Don't be afraid of it because the relief is a miracle.

-L.

E.!

I wanted to respond for a couple of reasons!

1)TOTALLY AM WITH YOU ON THE NOT WANTING TO GO THE ANTIBIOTIC ROUTE UNLESS YOU HAVE TO! Visit your local health food/natural supplement store and ask to talk to the supplement specialist. They are very informed and can tell you right away what would work best for her! I am sure you can find some things to help! Have you tried a vapor rub on the feet at night? There are other things you can do as well to help her out and boost her immune system!

2) Don't assume that just b/c her mucos is clear that it is/she is not infected---that is an old wives tale. ANY EXCESS OF MUCOS IS BAD AND CAN CAUSE/SHOW PROFF OF A POSSIBLE INFECTION, NOT JUST THE COLORED STUFF!!! Look for other signs of infection (fever, etc) before rulling it out completely (though it prob. is allergies as they are bad right now)! Any dr. though will tell you that color of mucos has nothing to do with infection: it is more about excessive amount and thickness as all mucos actually holds "infection"/germs in it. That does not mean that all mucos shows that the PERSON is infected as even a healthy person has mucos. What it does mean is that mucos (thick/runny, excess amount/normal, etc) shows how effecient the body is at getting those germs OUT of the body and THAT is what makes the thicker and excess amount more common to show an "infection" than regular mucos, because it is less efficient at trying to get the problem out and causes complex other side-effects (congestion, which keeps the mucos/germs in further, post nasal drip, etc).

Sorry if this is confussing-just tried to explain it all (maybe with too much detail)! But my point is that color does not totally rule out infection!

Good luck at getting to the culprit and making her feel better!

T.

I alway rub baby vicks on his feet and put socks on. that seems to help with the coughing. I also got the pediacare gentle vapors plug in. Not sure how much that helped beecause I would forget to plug it in some nights but I can really attest to the vicks on my little one.

i will say that i totally understand about not wanting to fill your kids with antibiotics. however when it comes to allergies, my daughter's are really bad & if i dont give her a reg. allergy med. during allergy season then she cant even function from all the coughing, & drainage (which also upsets her tummy)
if your little one is 20months old then she is nearly old enough for allergy med. (i think my dr. said when they are 2) but you could still use mucinex or claritin, both are otc, & have liquid forms.
also my dr. says if it goes on for longer than 2 weeks, then they treat it for a sinus inf. so that they can knock out all that congestion.

That sounds like to much medicine for a 2O month old...This was all prescribed by a doctor? I think if this persists you should go see the docter and let him/her know all medications she is on. 4 just sounds like to many for that age. Most medicines out there are for at least 2yrs. and most are 6yrs and older...So I would check w/the doctor. Especially since it sounds like these medications aren't even working!!!!

Outside of the Vicks on the feet, your first response gave you the best advice. If your child has allergies, you should be running a cool mist vaporizer in her room every night and during nap time. We were running them so often I finally bought one for all of our bedrooms, they stay out and are run probably every week of the year. This has kept me and two asthmatic boys out of the emergency room for at least 5 years and ANTIBIOTIC FREE. It helps to keep the mucus membranes wet and really helps to keep the nose stuff from settling in the chest. Dairy products promote mucus secretion which makes the already overloaded system have to deal with more of it so that too is good advice.

Also, if you can put something underneath the mattress at one end to try to elevate her that is also helpful because if she tends at all toward asthma, lying prone causes the lungs to fill up with fluid, creating a worse cough, etc. I would also recommend a cough medicine called Delsym. My pediatrician recommended it because it is 12 hour, doesn't taste horrible, and can be used for adults and children alike. It is the greatest thing since sliced bread.

You are accurate about the doctor because since she has no infection, an antibiotic would not be prescribed anyway. Also correct on the carpeting, if the room has carpet, removing it will make a significant difference. I would listen to the cough, however. If it seems that it has settled and is not breaking up she could have an infection in her chest that is not showing up in the nasal secretions. If that develops, do go to the doctor so that they can rule that out.

One thing I would guard against as your children grow is making sure if you go with the dust free method, you limit that level of cleaning to the bedrooms only. My brothers and I all had allergies and my mother consequently dusted the entire upstairs of the house every day. She vacuumed every day and you could eat off my mother's floors at any hour of the day 365 days of the year, me, not so much. Anywho, the problem was that when I was in a "normal" environment, my allergies went berserk.

If they are exposed to some dust, carpet, etc. in the common areas they will begin to develop so that the allergen does not continue to produce the same level of results. They can still retire to their rooms if they happen to have a bad day because of pollens outside, weather changes, etc. This is really the premise of allergy shots. Causing the person to acclimate to what they are allergic to by introducing it into their system.

We have been going thru the same thing this week. Benadryl helps dry things up and helps them to sleep and the vicks on the feet really does quite the cough. Now we are just using the multi- symptom tylenol. Good luck

My pediatrician said a teaspoon of honey in warm apple juice works just as well as medicine. Good Luck!

If you haven't already eliminated cow's milk/dairy products, you might try that. Our daughter had a lot of sinus issues too, with her first sinus infection at 11 months. An allergy or sensitivity to the milk protein called casein can cause this kind of congestion. She hasn't had but one or two runny noses/congestion issues since we took her off dairy. That was 4 years ago!!

You're doing well with the saline too. You might also try a cool-mist humidifier in the room.

One thing that seems to help ours is mucinex. It might keep her awake, so use the minimum dose, and don't give it anywhere near nap or bed time. When I use it, I typically give it once in the morning with breakfast. If I think they need it again, it's right after the afternoon nap.

Also, after chatting with our doctor she gave us some samples of a cold/cough treatment that works really well. I wish I knew the name of it, but it's clear (we wanted something dye-free), raspberry flavored, and doesn't have benadryl in it.

I wouldnt go to the Dr. over this unless she develops a barky persistent cough. Plus you don't want to pick up some other bug at the Dr.'s office, don't go if you don't have to. My 20 month old daughter is having the exact same symptoms right now, with the pollen counts being so high I suspect seasonal allergies here. I am also having similar symptoms.

I second/third the cool mist humidifier idea. I have a Hunter Care-free humidifier that is pretty easy to use and it has a night light thing in it that my daughter likes. I always notice an immediate improvement with my daughter the next day after she sleeps with it on. I only use it at night since she goes to daycare.

A note of caution, be careful if you decide to try Benadryl or other allergy medicine not to use too much and make sure to get her to drink lots of water. I wasn't too good about this the last time I tried it and it kind of gunked things up and we wound up with a sinus infection because it dried the drainage up but it didn't come out like it needed to. Ever since, I have just stuck with the humidifier.

For actual colds where there's a LOT of runny nose and the cough sounds not like the result of drainage but like trying to expel congestion, I add a bit of baby vick's rub to the chest after a warm bath at bed time.

From a vitamin perspective, we are on 250 mg of vitamin C per day to ward off daycare germs and when I think shes getting an actual cold, I give her one dose baby echinacea/graperoot for two days. That seems to help it go away faster.

Good luck!