Cough but No Cold

Both the American Acadamy of Pediatrics and the FDA recommend against giving cough medicine to children. (Here's one story: http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/01/17/fda.syrup/index.html)

If her cough is caused by asthma or allergies, you want to treat the cause and not the symptom. Dosing her up with cough meds everynight is not a long term solution. Try a night without the meds and just the humidifier and see if that helps.

Best of luck to you!

I know my 3 kids cough with allergies.My cousin and my niece cough so bad they throw up and thiers is asthma/allergies.Try giving her claritin.That is what the doctor has told me to give my three and has also told my sister-in-law for my 1 year old niece.Most of the time my kids get other allergy symtoms like runny nose,etc...but you might give it a try.

If she is starting to vomit from the coughing, it is definitely time to go to the doctor, especially since it's getting worse. You certainly don't want this to develop into anything else.

You might shop around for another pediatrician. The office we go to in Lee's Summit has nurses who answer questions over the phone for no charge. Maybe there is a pediatrician in your area who will do the same thing. For that matter, you might be able to call your pediatrician and ask if they think you should come in or if there is something else you should try. Good luck!

Do you have animals in the house. It almost sounds like allergies. How long ago did the cough start? Does the cough keep her awake at night? It might be well worth it to take her to the doctor just to rule out anything too serious. Good luck and I hope she gets better soon.

B.-
My 2 yr old son had a chronic cough and no other symptoms for awhile in the spring. We took him to the dr and they gave me some samples of singular to try. I never had to use them because out of the blue he stopped and has not had the cough since. A little history before that..my son had been sick with a cough and had trouble breathing on and off in the winter. They gave us an inhaler and a steroid to try for that. After repeat visits the dr did not have a solid answer. It was explained to me that he could possibly have asthma and only time would tell. From what I read if your child has a chronic cough you should take them in to be checked. I know how frustrating it can be when they are sick and you just want them to get better. Good Luck!

My son JUST went through this last month. The doctor told me it was one of two things. 1.Bronchitis - in which case it will clear on it's own in a few weeksand I should keep him comfortable (rest, cough syrup, vaporub etc.). 2.Walking Pneumonia (Pertussis) - In which case the only way to get rid of it is through antibiotics. Scary proposition for me since my son is allergic to two out of the three kinds you can use on that sort of infection.The only way to tell the difference is to either wait it out or get a chest x-ray. I waited a couple weeks and when it still didn't clear I had him get the chest x-ray just to be sure. We have to be VERY careful how often he gets antibiotics. Turns out he had the Pertussis. A week of the meds and he was back to normal. Also my son would cough so much at night that he would often end up throwing up. I was told it was fairly common and that the heavy coughing was just triggering the gag reflex. As long as she has no other symptoms wait it out for a week and see if she improves. If at anytime she gets a fever or other symptoms then you really do need to get her to a doctor. I hope this helps.

could be allergies ... could be asthma. My son had the cough and puke, and he has intermittent asthma. I suggest you take your child in, but that is just me. Since on treatment, my son's cough is gone, and when it comes back, I have the correct medicine to treat it instead of just giving my child meds. I hate to just give children medicine without knowing it is something that medicine will even help. I even switched asthma/allergists because of this. My first was having my child take Zyrtec but he had no allergies, not even seasonal.

My son had only a cough, and I decided it would eventually go away. I decided to take him to the doctor after it wouldn't go away and he ended up with an ear infection. They said it could have turned into a pneumonia. This has happened twice in the last year or so and each time turned into an ear infection. You may want to go ahead and get it checked. Good luck, I hope she gets better.

B.,
I know exactly what you are going through. My son is having the same problem. My doctor told me that it is allergies. I am in the process of taking him to an allergy doctor. I have been giving him Clartin and that seems to help. A friend told me about a plug in that is a vapor type thing. It is made by Vicks and is the cold/allergy isle. I hope that this helps.

M.

sounds like she might have some allergys. I am not a doctor though so you might try an allergy med

My 5 year old son had the same thing. No other symptoms just a terrible cough that first started at night then was round the clock. I was giving him mucinex. He is over it and now my 8 year old daughter as well as myself have the cough. We feel fine, just cough a lot and can tell it comes from deep in your lungs. I think it must be some kind of virus.

Hi B.,

Just for your peace of mind, I think you should take her to the doctor, and I know that can be expensive, but it might be worth it if you are not sure what it can be.
I wouldn't fill her little body with medicines, specially since it is going to end up being more expensive to try everything and poisonning her body too.And in the end you won't know what caused it.
I would say doctor first, and if it is possible for you, get rid of tosic chemicals in your house, does it makes any difference if she stays home or if she is outside? That can give you a hint.
My husband has asthma and allergies, since we switch all our hosewhole products to non toxic, he doesn't need his inhaler any more. I have been with this great company for more than a year and it made a huge improvement in our lives. You can check my website and see if it is something you might be interested in. Specially because their products are less expensive than the ones you can get at wal mart! Otherwise you can try whole food...but those are pretty expensive.
I didn't know that I was using this kind of chemicals in our everyday products before, it was scary to know that even number one baby shampoo on the market has formaldehyde on it (quarternium 15 or Q125) Read the labels! Those things are the ones that can trigger lots of things like asthma, allergies, migrains and even cancer. I don't want to scare you, but as moms, we should all know.
Hope you find what is going on with her soon, it is really sad to see your little one like that. And good luck with number two! I have 2 girls :)
Mariana Abadie
www.MyKidsfirst.com

could be allergies..try benedryl (sp).

My 9 month ols son has coughed on and off since he was like 2 months old. His lungs are always clear, he's tested negative for RSV a half dozen times and the Dr's keep telling me it will run its course. Well finally, they have decided that it may be a very minor case of acid reflux which is why it gets so bad at night. Sometimes its a real wet productive cough, other times not. We were told to try Soy formula for 1 month to see if that helps. Our Dr. said it does happen where children up to 3 or 4 have reflux when they are laying down that is just enough to cause them to cough and gag. I know this doesn't necessarily help you - but maybe an avenue to explore?? Best of luck! I hope your little one kicks it soon!

One of my daughters will get a cough just before bed and then after she wakes up. I have been giving her Pedicare Long Lasting Cough. It does the trick. It only treats the cough and she stops coughing. Hope it helps. J.

Hello Emma and Mom-

From my experience as a peds nurse, i would take her to see your doc. I agree with the posts about asthma, which can be allergy induced. The OTC meds are fine to use short term, but if you havn't seen any improvement, then it's time to take her in.

Good Luck!

Hi B.,
My 4 year old had the same thing. No cold or any other symptoms, just that horrible cough. It eventually went away, it took about 2 weeks. I was giving her a tussin--something with guaifenesin in it. I just used the CVS brand and it was called Tussin cough formula.(ask about dosing levels from the pharmacist.) This will help loosen up the chest congestion and help her to cough up the yuck a little easier. (Maybe that will cure the throwing up). You could also call a pharmacist at CVS or Wallgreens and ask them what they think. They are very knowledgable about that kind of thing and they will let you know if they think you should take Emma in for a checkup. You don't want her to get Bronchitis or Pneumoia.

I am a mom of 2 (4 and 1) and I understand that it can be very frustrating to have a "sick" child and not know what to do. I have had the experience at the doctors office where its just a little bug and they send you home with no more information than you came with but a lighter wallet!
I am a stay at home mom also and we are a 1 income family,so, that is why I tried the Tussin first to see if that would help and it did seem to do the trick. Good luck!!!

Sounds like asthma to me. My son has had it since he was quite young and that's how it manifests when he's really having trouble breathing. The doctor taught me an interesting way to tell if it was his asthma acting up or something else. Take his shirt off and watch his back when he breathes. If his rib cage sucks in when he breathes in, it is his asthma. It is even more prominent on the front and you will see the abdomen distend as the lung area sucks in, but if the child knows you're looking for something, they frequently won't breathe normally. If it isn't asthma, the lungs fill up and expand when the child breathes. If she has asthma, you will want to have a doctor visit. It can be very dangerous when left untreated. My son and I both have struggled over the past couple of weeks with our asthma because of the weather and pollution.

Good luck!

Another cough suppressant you can try is Delsym.

Is there any family history of asthma? Coughing at night can be an indication of that. Also is the daytime coughing in response to anything - exercise or laughing, cold air or food - a popsicle or slushy will set me off if I eat it too fast. The humidity could set it off, and the generally nasty air conditions we've had outside.

Check the air filter on your a/c. My dh changes ours more frequently than recommended because of my asthma, and particularly if he notices me coughing or sniffling at all. He also uses some super hypo-allergenic type of filter. They do cost more, though.

Another "secret" home remedy for coughing - don't laugh - chocolate. I didn't believe it, but I swear it's true. DH brought me a bag of those chocolate stars when I had pneumonia, and it really did help. Temporarily, but it did help. I let it dissolve in my mouth, and I think it coats the throat or something. But it works.

Oh - warm tea with honey and lemon helps. Or just warm water with honey and lemon. Or, just honey and lemon. (My youngest is 9 now - I don't know what age they say honey or chocolate is okay now, but then they said 12 months)

Hi B.. If she's coughing that hard I would take her to the doctor although during this time of the year it's usually extremely hard to get children in (b/c of back to school physicals). It sounds like she may have allergies or an inflammation of her bronchioles. Some things you may try until you can get her in are: change your filters on your air conditioning unit/system, cool mist vaporizer during day and night, also keep her fluid intake up.

Hope this helps,
Mama Tea

B. -

Its allergies dear. Ragweed most likely if it just started this week because the ragweed counts are high. Andy has it pretty bad too and this week has been rough for him. Benadryl. It might knock her out but it should help. That or Claritin. They have a children's dose of Claritin out now. Andy says hi. :) Get that baby better! ;)

She could have asthma. Does she seem to be a bit weezy? You may or may not be able to hear it. My asthma usually acts up in the high humidity, and most of the time is accompanied by a dry cough, because my lungs are irritated. Most of the time it is worse at night, because I am lying down.

Nothing will really help her, if it is asthma, until you get her on a breathing program. It's better to be safe than sorry at this point. If she just has an irritated cough, and no other symptoms, that's worrying. I'd make a Dr appt.

Good luck! And I hope it isn't asthma.
S.

I am sure that it is asthma or allergies it is the first sign of asthma.