Should We Go to the Doctor?

Sounds like a cold to me. The flu will definitely cause fever and body aches. It may be worth a call to the nurses line but I'm not sure I'd just take them in and expose them to the H1N1. I know our doctor's office has seen tons of it. My girlfriend's pedi has masks at the door of her pedi's office.

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Amy, My son is 5 and he had the same thing a few weeks ago. No fever just a runny nose and that nasty cough. I called my Pediatrician and she told me not to bring him in but to follow my motherly instinct. I kept him inside & watched him closely. I gave him mucinex during the day to help break up some of the flem, which really helped. I also pulled out the juice & the pedialite to help. It all helped & he is over it now. Follow your mommy instincts. You know your children better than anyone else. Hope they feel better soon. I know it's nerve wracking

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I wouldn't take them unless they develop fever or lethargy or you can just see they are not feeling well. There is SO much sickness out there right now...if you take them to the dr., you are risking having them pick up something else that could be far worse than the cough they have now. If you are still unsure, put in a call to the pediatrician's office...I wasn't sure whether to take my 10 yr old in last week, she had a low-grade (100) fever, sore throat, headache and upset stomach but didn't act that sick. As soon as I told the receptionist her symptoms, she said 'bring her in today,' and sure enough, it was the flu (probably H1N1). She took tamiflu and is fine now. The doctors are really educating their staff about when to tell parents to bring their children in and when to tell them to stay away, so a call to them might put your mind at ease. I hope your kiddos feel better soon! :-)

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They may just have bad seasonal allergies. you should probably call your doctors office and see what they recommend you do. You don't want to take them in needlessly and expose them to the other very sick children.

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Call the doc and ask. My feeling would no because if you don't have the flu now, you might get it from going.

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If it's a persistent all the time cough, I'd consider taking them in. My 3 1/2 year old son had finished a course of Amoxicillin for strep and started this cough that I could not suppress for anything. Tried everything in the book. He wasn't running a fever, no runny nose, acted like he felt fine, just had this cough that would not go away. Took him in that next day, and he had walking pneumonia. Totally surprised me. If it is a cough off and on throughout the day, I probably wouldn't take them in. If it's really frequent, I sure would.

Good luck!

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1. I would elevate the head of the beds by putting books underneath the mattress or prop up with pillows so head is above body.
2. Run cool mist humidifier near the child's bed. It will help child breath easier at night.
3. I would give mucinex to older child during day and Benadryl at night. The younger child stick with only Benadryl every 6 hrs.
4. Suction with bulb syringe before eating or bedtime
5. If either of children are coughing so bad that they cannot sleep or if symptoms last greater than 10-14 days- see Dr. Also, need appt if new symptoms: fever, vomiting, sorethroat(decreased eating) or child just not acting normal, extremely tired.

hope this helps

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It's most likely allergies - it's been affecting everyone. I would suggest saving the dr's visit co-pay and visting your local Walgreen's for an OTC product. Ask the pharmacist to recommend something based on the age of your kids and their symptoms.

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Hi,
If they have had the cough for 2 weeks the answer is yes.
Usually if a cough lasts that long it turns into sinus infection.

E. M

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It is probably allergy. With all the stuff going around, I would wait until you are sure your sons can benefit from a doctor's visit. They could pick up a bug just by going into the drs. office. Suggestions: reduce the amount of sugar your kids consume, reduce or limit dairy as much as possible (makes you form more mucus), try a waterless vaporizor at night (works wonders for us), wash their sheets in hot water, and give them frequent baths to wash all the pollen out of their hair. My oldest gets a cough this time of year every year and we just do our best to control it with out meds. We have been successful thus far. She is 9.

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These symptoms would warrant keeping your children at home. Going to the doctor's office raises the slight risk that, while sitting in the waiting room, your kids will pick up a worse bug.

My insurance includes a Nurse Hot Line which I can call for advice. That's nice. Calling your pediatrician's office is great too, not just because it is free, but because you might get some information which would help. For instance, "please make an appointment if your child develops a fever" or "we are seeing a lot of kids with these symptoms, if you see no improvement in 3 days, please make an appointment" (or however number of days).

Otherwise, I like how the previous respondent worded their response. Push the liquids, wash hands often, and let your mothering instincts guide you. (For instance, if you can tell that your 4-yr-old is coughing in a hacking kind of way and it sounds like it is coming from his chest, that would warrant getting his cough checked out and make sure your child doesn't have any fluid in their lungs.)

This, too, will pass. Good luck.

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it sounds like allergies to me. Call and ask your doctor what you can give them OTC, Zyrtec works well on my daughter. If you get the runny nose dried up, alot of times the cough will also go away. Hope they get better soon.. there's lots of junk going around and with our crazy weather, everyone is sick!

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Chances are it is just allergies or a viral thing. My son has done that in the past, eventually I'll take him to the doctor only to be told that giving him cough medicine and allergy medicine as needed for the runny nose is all you can do.

Now there is a "barking seal" sounding cough that babies can get that you might want to take him in for. It's viral too, so there is not much that can be done about it.

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I would be careful about going to the doctor right now unless it 1) gets worse or 2) with plenty of liquids and rest, and vitamin C, it doesn't get a bit better in about 3 days. You should see gradual improvement every day, if they are "kicking this" themselves. But more sleep is a must!

One of my friends is a nurse and she told me they are trying to keep patients away from the Doctors office unless they really need to be there now! They are doing baby shots and baby checks only on 2 mornings a week right now, to keep the babies away from all the flu.

My 14 year old was supposed to renew his sports physical tomorrow and the office called and canceled on me--- I don't mind. We don't want to go in for a physical and come out with something real nasty.

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You did not say how long this has been going on, but as just another mom I would say go to the Dr. Kids get ear infections at a drop of a pin, and this could be just the begging of that.It could just be an allergy but the ears can start in.

Sounds more like allergies

if the cough gets worse at night you can put some vicks vapor rub on the bottom of the feet and cover with socks (cover entire bottom foot) cough stops { well it di fr my kids} and just a few extra suggestions probiotic, 2-4 vita c a day, good multi vitamin i use all natural vitamins
www.shaklee.net/healthydesire
hope this helps

Hi,

I don't believe in running to the Dr with every little sniffle. My kids are 26 and 15 and I could count on both hands the times they went to the Dr. If there is no fever, they are eating well and are acting ok, you can probably just treat at home with a good cough syrup (look at Robitussin for the type to control the symptoms such as runny nose), plenty of liquids including orange juice and rest. Watch for escalating symptoms such as fever, loss of appetite, etc but the Dr would most probably offer the same advice.

Sounds like regular allergies to me. Allergy symptoms can include cough, runny nose, itchy/watery eyes, having to clear the throat. I'd ask the pharmacist what you should give them to alleviate the symptoms if you're not sure. Good luck.