Suggestions for 16Month Old Who Alway Seems to Be Coughing

Is sounds like some sort of allergy to me too. What is his bedding made from? Does he drink milk? My son has allergic rhinitis (seasonal allergies; sniffles, drainage, sneezing) and it is significantly worse (year round) when he drinks milk.

its allergies! Claratin.

Hi. It sounds more like allergies than illness. My son had a cough & we did 2 things that helped it to go away. I used natural chemical free laundry soap on his clothes & esp. important his bedding. I also used some organic essential oils in a diffuser & directly on his chest & upper back at night. I took dairy & wheat out of his diet for a while. They are both high allergens. If you have a pet I would keep it off his bed. I hope some of this is helpful, I'm sure he doesn't like this cough! G.

My son did the same thing. The Doctors told be that he has allergies and asthma. The asthma is triggered by the allergies so its not bad at all thank god. But I would try some allergy medicine and see if that helps. Good Luck!
Oh and keep bringing him to the doctor...Aidan got phymonia (sp). You never know, they can't tell us so we have to find out.

Hi, D.. Well, you're probably going to hear this from a lot of other moms, but here goes. It sounds like an allergy or a bunch of allergies. It sounds like something airborne because sometimes he doesn't cough, and that is usually a sign of whatever the pollen or dust content of the air is that night.

Instead of a humidifier, which is OK, I would get one of those filtration systems that takes all the dust, pollen, dust mites, etc., out of the air. It certainly can't hurt him to breathe cleaner air, and it may cut down on the coughing or eliminate it entirely at night.

Another thing to consider is that at night, our Florida air is much more damp than it is in the daytime. The dampness in the air may be making him cough. I, personally, cough a lot when the air goes from being very dry to being moist again. So the humidifier may not be the right thing for him.

If you are going to use a humidifier, though, make sure you clean it very well and keep it absolutely clean. Those things can breed mold spores, which will certainly make a kid cough. Again, the humidifier may not be the right thing for him if he is sensitive to mold. Maybe what he needs is a de-humidifier, although these can be a real pain to keep emptying the water they pull out of the air.

I would get him checked out for allergies. Your pediatrician may not be savvy to how he may be presenting with allergies. Allergies don't necessarily make a person sick in a way that can be measured, but the constant irritation of the throat, lungs and sinuses can eventually make a person sick. Definately get him checked out for allergies, and then do whatever you can to eliminate the allergens from his environment. Again, one of those really good air purifiers will pull the junk out of the air and away from his throat and lungs.

I hope everything works out and he sleeps peacefully at night again.

peace,
Syl

Dear D.,

Hi! Sounds to me like chronic allergies or asthma. I would go to an allergist and have things checked out, your child should not have to go through this so often, keep going to doctors until someone takes you seriously and looks into things.
Good Luck!
R. M.

From your description it sounds like post-nasal drip due to an allergy or to (GER) gastroesophageal reflux, both conditions are easy to treat under the guidance of a Pediatric Allergist or Pulmonologist.

A non productive cough may be a sign of asthma.

I suffer from both conditions and feel constantly tired because it ruins my sleep pattern, hence I had to learn where the cough came from. My doctor is in the Palms West Hospital area and his name is Gabriel Gonzalez, MD. He also treats children. I consider him very knowledgeable.

I recently read an article that said to put vicks vaporub on the bottom of your feet to help with a cough.

My son had the same thing, he would only cough at night. The doctor said his lungs and chest were clear. So he said it could be allergies or asthma but since he just turn two he doesn't want to say asthma b/c their lungs are fully formed. So he put him on Children's Singular which took about two weeks to get into his system. He said to put him on it for a month, then take him off and see if the coughing stopped. If it did stop then it was just a seasonal allergy, if it doesn't stop them put him back on it. So far it has stopped. I would ask your doctor about the Singular. It's a little chewable tablet. Good Luck!

This sounds like asthma to me. My 4 year old daugther has had asthma for 2 years now and that is exactly what she does. She never wheezes or gasps for air like most people think asthmatics do. She just coughs a lot and can't seem to stop, and seems to have a runny nose most of the time. when this first started we had to do some nebulizer treatments with albuteral to clear her lungs and then she has inhalers to use when things get really bad. If you'd like to talk about this or have any questions you can email ____@____.com this helps.
K.,

i think the lady is right about the post nasal drip. due to allergies. my 5 yr old has allergies really bad. i have dealt with this for years. achooallergy.com has some good covers for the pillows and mattresses at resonable prices. that made a big difference in my sons sleeping. i also dust his room 2 times a week. and wipe all of his toys in the room to get rid of dust which is mostly dander. i was giving my son a claritin in the evening to help and also sudafed if its bad. not a cough syrup. the drip is coming from the nose. but know i have my son on prescription nasonex and he has prescription D-allergy for nigt. but like i said my son has bad allergies. he has an allergist that he see's. but i would talk to your doctor about allergies.

Please be more persistent with your pediatrician. These guys see ALOT of children and will not always remember how many times you have been in or how long a problem has been going on until you bring it to their attention. Just politely explain how long this has been going on, how badly it affects your son, and that you want to DO something about it.

My little boy started having this problem at about age 2. It persisted for months before I finally told the doctor how concerned and troubled I was about this "cough". Mostly at night, rarely during the day. And so bad he couldn't sleep and neither could we. We even tried propping him up on pillows, but that only helped a little. So finally the ped put him on Singulair, they make it in chewable tablets, and it really helped. He is 4 years old now and sleeps through the night without coughing. But we keep him on the medication, especially during allergy season because the ped strongly advised that we do so.

My son was the same way until I tried homeopathic remedies. Now when I hear a cough or cold coming on, I give him a remedy and he is quickly fine.
Ask around at Whole Foods to see what's best for him. I've found remedies with Belladonna to be the best at relieving him because it's a natural anti-inflammatory.
Good luck,
S.

You don't want to hear this with a new baby coming into the picture, but the culprit here may be the preschool. I had the same issue with my kids...my newborn was never sick, but my 2 year old was sick all the time until I took her out of that school and kept her home. I got a nanny to help me. Of course that situation may be temporary.....eventually I found a preschool that was not a "sick school"; it was more of a school than a daycare; most of the moms were SAHM's and they wouldn't bring their kids to school if they were sick, thereby decreasing the germ count. This preschool only met 2 or 3 mornings a week, but it was enough to get my older one socialized and out of the house for awhile, and give me some time alone with the baby.

Another thing is your son may have allergies causing that cough....you mentioned the humidifier; you might try an air purifier (I have one I can even give you!!) , also taking out the stuffed animals, washing all the bedding in hot water, thoroughly dusting his room and removing the carpet (bare floors are easier to keep dust-free). This sounds extreme but there are dust mites, little microscopic bugs that live in dust and produce allergens, that really cause problems with kids and their little airways. Also (ask your pediatrician first) you could try claritin or some other allergy medicine suitable for children. You might be pleasantly surprised at how much this helps!

Good luck.....hope you resolve the problem! Let me know if you want my air purifier....i have 2 and don't use them anymore; they're just taking up space. My daughter has outgrown her allergies (she's 16 now!!)

K. G.

my daughter has the same thing but she is never actaully sick. she has had the cough for about a year too. i just thought it was because she could not control the urge to cough.

www.notmilk.com most people have allergies to cows milk as they are not cows. Cow's milk is intended for calves, animals with 4 chambers to their stomach. Cows chew their cud, we don't.
Congrats on your pregnancy.

My kids do this: http://liveitdontdiet.isagenix.com/us/en/isaleanshake.dhtml every morning and this:http://liveitdontdiet.isagenix.com/us/en/isakids.dhtml and this: http://liveitdontdiet.isagenix.com/us/en/isamune.dhtml
DAILY!

No sick days, no couching no colds, no flus NOTHING for 2 years now.

B.

D.,

Honestly, I would get the advice of another doctor.

Daniella,

I am with 2 of the moms, it sounds like allergies or asthma. I just had my 2 boys at the doctors today because they are coughing up a storm. So the doctor told me that because their chest and lungs are clear which means no colds that it is more than likely allergies or asthma that I would need to give them a breathing treatment (nebulizer). I would speak to your pediatrician about this posibility. If they are too easy to dismiss it I would think about changing pediatricians.

Good luck.

S.
35 y/o SAHM of 3 boys 14, 6 and 3

This sounds similar to what my son went through except at a much younger age. My son began this as an infant & I took him in about 4 times by the time he was 4 months & at that point they said they hate to diagnose children so young with asthma, but they wanted to put him on the nebulizer & see what happened. Well guess what....it worked, almost immediately. They ordered me one & got me the prescription for the liquid. I only used it when he began with a cough but that is what it was. They finally allowed me to treat him & he got over it. My husband also has asthma so we knew it ran in the family. Now, at age 7, when he begins to cough, I set him up with the nebulizer & give him 3 treatments a day & it usually nocks it out of his system within a day or two. I would definately push the doctors b/c he has to be miserable.

My son had a cough for 3 weeks. I finally took him to the doctor and he had an ear infection which was draining and making him cough. He had no other symptoms of being sick except a cough. No mood changes, pulling on ears, etc. I would see if he has an ear infection.

I went through 3 years of my oldest daughter coughing and also vomitting. She would cough so hard that she would vomit all the mucous out. This would happen within 30 minutes of putting her to sleep. They doctor just kept telling me it wa
s a virus. Finally I took her to a allergist myself. Her was mostly in the winter (we lived in MI at the time. The allergist gave her the Singulair too. It has worked. She still sometimes in the winter has ended up on steroids to control it. We just moved to FL and I am hoping she will not have to be on them down her. They call her asthma, bronchial spasms. They cannot control the coughing. With this type of asmtha, it can be aggrivated by a virus of any kind. So even if the only have a cold that should not cause much discomfort, it becomes a lot more.
I just took my 3 year old off her Singulair the beginning of October. Then when the weather started to get in the low 50's and 40's she started to cough. After about a week the vomitting started. I put her back on the Singulair and now she has stopped. I also give the Claritin liquid to help with the drainage before she goes to bed.
The best thing I ever did though was to follow my mothers' instinct. You do know best so do what you feel is the right thing.