Need Advice on Infant Cough

Has he been tested for childhood/seasonal asthma. My daughter has this. The seasons get her very bad. She has an inhaler and a nebulizer. These both help some, she also take Zyrtec and Pediatek. They both help, but it is still mostly a waiting game. She will have a cough that mostly happens at night and it has lasted 2 to 4 weeks.

Try Delsym. It is just for a cough. Also I agree with Tonya the nurse. Saline and a good nose sucking can work wonders. My husband is the nose sucker in our house. It seems that hte children are less fussy with him when he does it. Also a incline pillow with side supports so he will not roll off. YUCK!!!

if it is worse at night, i would have him evaluated for asthma and/or allergies. if your insurance permits, just take him to a pediatric asthma doc. I waited on mine and it wasn't until she has a really good attack that it became clear what she had, up until that point she has been on so much childrens med, i should have had stock in it!! She was sick from the day she was born and the coughing was really bad at night and it wasn't until she was 1 1/2 years that i convinced them to test her for allergies and such so don't wait that long... also, if you have any animals, that could be the "trigger", we had a cat and found out she was HIGHLY ALLERGIC to the cat...

Good luck, i know all about those sleepless nights....

Ok just a little advice on this ,my son has had a cough on and off since he was a new born like you we tryed everything ,finally the doctor thought maybe he might have allergy he's now three and has to take allergy medication once everyday but cough is gone. I know its crazy to think your little baby has allergy but they are getting them so early these days.

HELLO I KNOW HOW YOU FEEL WHEN MY SON WAS 2 YEARS OLD I WENT THREW SOMETHING LIKE THAT WITH HIM HIS DOCTOR WOULD GIVE HIM MEDICINE IT WOULD HELP BUT THEN AFTER A WHILE IT WOULDNT DO NOTHING ANYMORE I DECIDED TO TAKE HIM TO A DIFFERENT DR. AFTER SEEING HOW HIS COUGH BECAME WORST I TOOK HIM TO AN ALLERGY AND ASTHMA PEDIATRICIAN HIS WONDERFUL HE DIAGNOSED MY SON WITH ASTHMA PUT HIM ON SOME GREAT MEDICINE THAT DID WONDERS WITH HIM MY SUGGESTION IS IF YOUR DR ISNT TAKING CARE OF THE PROBLEM I WOULD DEFFINETLY TAKE HIM SOMEWHERES ELSE IT WILL EVENTUALLY BECOME WORSE PLEASE LEET ME KNOW HOW HIS DOING ITS TERRIBLE WATCHING YOUR SON LIKE THAT MINE WENT 6WEEEKS BEFORE HE STARTED TURNING BLUE ON ME WHEN HIS COUGH BECAME REALLY BAD

My daughter also went through this - it is caused by allergies. The only thing that got her through it was what I have had 3 different pediatricians recommend - PEDIACARE. They have a "cough" one - not only has any pediatrician I have ever talked to recommended it, but I can tell you from experience it really worked for my daughter. Hers lasted 2-3 weeks and then finally went away. Good luck.

Sometimes these coughs can last for weeks. It's very frustrating, isn't it?
We just went though this with our son. The "wet" cough is a good sign, and it probably means he has some sinus drainage. You are wise in not wanting to medicate him a lot. The cough is his body's way of dealing with/fighting off illness. I tried not to medicate too much either. I increased his fluid intake during the day (for a baby as young as yours, maybe give him pedialyte between feedings), and used nasal saline spray every couple hours. I only used medicine if the cough was interfering with his sleep. Since we attributed a lot of his problem to allergies (he had other signs, like watery eyes, itchy nose) Benadryl really helped give him some relief, but again, only at nap or bed time. If it's just a cough interfering with sleep, a cough suppressant really helped. Make sure you read the ingredients of any cough/cold medicine. Robitussin, Dimetapp, Pediacare all make the same stuff. You want to make sure you're getting JUST a cough suppressant, not a decongestant. The decongestants aren't really proven to be effective in infants and can actually make them very irritable. I don't remember the ingredient that is a cough suppressant, but if the medicine you're getting just says "cough" and not "cold and cough" then you probably have the right stuff. Also, the pharmacist or your pediatrician should be able to tell you what's in everything.
When things were at their worst (about 2 nights in the middle of this very long illness!) the benadryl or whatever would wear off after about 5 hours and he'd wake up coughing in the middle of the night. We'd give him something to drink and another dose of the medicine so he could get back to sleep. Then, in the morning we had him sit in the bathroom while we steamed it up with the shower. This really helped break things up for him (more so than the humidifier in his room).

Hi A.,

You might want to consider asking your doctor about Whooping Cough. It is a diagnosis that is often ignored. However, I work in pediatrics, and can tell you first hand that there have been a number of cases of this in our area. Although cases are often in adults (because we tend not to update those immunizations), young children (especially those who have not had their DPT shots) are also prone.

I don't say this to scare you - you might just find it helpful to rule it out. This cough can hang on for weeks(6-8). The person usually presents as basically fine, except for when a coughing fit begins.

Again, because I have witnessed this first hand, I felt compelled to respond to your concern. You can google Whooping Cough. There is one site that actually lets you hear what the cough sounds like, and lists symptoms.

I hope this is helpful - and something you can rule out.

All the best,
S.

A., I know this can be tough. My friend's little girl had a constant cough that was diagnosed as air related allergies early on, then food related allergies. There were a lot of tests and other theories in between. After seeing many specialists, etc, she was diagnosed with silent reflux. It took them over a year to diagnose this correctly. Not saying that this is the situation with your son, but keep it in mind if it does not pass or if other remedies don't work. Good luck.

IF AMOXIL DID NOT HELP AND HE DOES NOT HAVE STREPH STEAM STEAM STEAM....WILL ALAWAYS WORK, MU DAUHGTER HAD CROUP COUG FOR A WEEK AND HALF, I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO GO CRAZY THEN SHE HAS STREPH ACTAULLY BOTH OF US AND WE HAD TO GET ON AMOXIL FOR THAT, BUT STEAMING IS THE BEST ASLO I ADD EUCUPLTUS, I KNOW I SPELLEED IT WRONG BUT THIS HELPS THEM BREATH AT NIGHT, LITLLE DROPS IN THE TUB WHILE YOUR BATHING, I USE THE ALL NATURAL FROM BATH & BODY WORKS.........YOU WEILL TELL THE DIFFERENCE I STEAMED MY DAUGHTER TWICE A DAY.....HOPE THIS HELPS....PEACE & BLESSINGS :)

PERSONALLY I DONT THINK HUMIDFIERS WORK AS WELL AS STEAMING.......

One word.......Asthma!!!! My son, who is now 6 years old, had the exact same symptoms when he was your childs age. It was horrible!!! He would just cough and whine and cry in his sleep all night long. I knew that there was no way that he was getting any rest. Unfortunatly he was not diagnosed until he was about 23 months old. Imagine....2 years of that misery....for him and for me. Anyway, my suggestion is to find a asthma specialist ASAP. A friend of mine, whos son is now 18 months, started having the same problems. After about 6 rounds of antibiotics, his doctor put him on a daily allergy and asthma medication. He has been without a "spell" for the last 6 months.

We have had the same issues with my son. Get his doctor to do Xray.
We ended up in the ER after they did the Xray our son had an infection on his right lung.
Just to be on the safeside, get Xray done

My son is going through the same exact thing right now. He is 7 months and about a month and a half ago he got a cough. I took him to the pedi and he put him on amoxicillon. He got better and then 2 days after he stopped taking the medicine he got sick all over again. He is now on a different antibiotic but has only been on it for a few days. My doctor did prescribe him Singulair for allergies and put him on Albuteral for asthma. I would definitely bring that up with your doctor. I have also been giving him Dimatapp for congestion.

There was a study done (don't have it with me at the moment) that said that the more antibiotics given to a child under a year, the more chance they will have asthma. The saline solution would the one to try first. Their little bodies get such a beating with antibiotics, but if there is no other option, then it has to be done. I would try the "natural" solutions first though.

A. - I feel for you! It's so frustrating, isn't it? I see several moms have already told you it could be allergies. Definitely check that angle!

My saving grace when my son was very young and always sick (it seemed) was www.askdrsears.com. If you go to the child illnesses you can then look up by symptom - there is great info on cold/cough and on allergies. I still refer to these articles every time my son is sick. It is written very plain and easy and helps with "is it this or that?" He recommends, and I do, too, to try Delsym. You can find it at Walgreens or similar and it's one of the more expensive cough syrups, but it was worth it to me.

As a side note, my son is allergic to milk (not lactose intolerance, the actual protein), and this manifested as horrible congestion and cough - it took us 4 months (and many rounds of meds) to figure this out and have him tested - so really don't overlook or dimsiss the allergy angle - it can be a food or sinus allergy. It's tough to find pedis who are willing to test for allergies so young. Push for it. Good luck!

S.

A.,
I have been an ER nurse at Childrens Medical Center and can tell you that you should try to bulb suction your baby's nose with lots of saline drops. You should have been sent home with the blue bulb suction from your delivery, or you can purchase one at Walmart, a pharmacy, etc. It may sound like it is in the chest, but the chest and nose are so close on the anatomy of the infant, that the sound can resonate. The way that I have taught tons of parents to do this, is to lay the baby down, place the saline drops in one side of the nose, and while holding the other side of the nose closed, gently place the bulb as far in as you can, and aspirate the saline ( and hopefully) the mucus. I usually use about 1cc of saline per side, and suction 3 times per nostril, then switch to the other side. I repeat if it seems that it would be beneficial. Then, I will place the bulb suction in the mouth and gently cause a little cough. I have noticed that a ton of mucus collects down in my children;s throats, historically, and this seems to help the most by preventing the mucus from draining down into the chest, causing the cough. I know this method may sound disgusting (nose to mouth to nose, etc,) and somewhat barberic (your baby will cry- alot), but I have learned over the years, that the over the counter meds are not all that beneficial, and have some nasty side effects. Just a side note-- Babies are what we call "obligatory nose breathers" until they are about 6 months old. This means that if their nose is clogged, they are unable to breathe. Unlike us adults, when our nose is stuffed, we just open our mouth. He really is not old enough to have allergies. Asthma is not diagnosed until later in childhood- at this age, with similar symptoms, it is called bronchiolitis. Good Luck and let me know if this helps!!

Hi A., I feel your pain on this one. My son is almost 8 months old and has had similiar problems. It started at about 3 months old, which was right about the time he started daycare. He has had about one instance of this each month since and each instance lasts about 10-14 days. It starts with congestion which gets progressively worse and turns into a really nasty cough, yucky green goo in his eyes and an ear infection. My pedi instists that it is cold after cold and it is normal when they start daycare. All he suggests is nasal saline with bulb suction with the exception of when he get the ear infection and then he gives him Augmentin. When he is at his worst, I find that it helps if I sleep in a recliner with him on my belly so he can be more upright. It also helped to loosen the congestion to sit in the bathroom with lots of steam. I don't know much else to advise, but at least know your not alone and it will pass with time.