night time cough

[shmuf]

Dd is fine during the day,yet is waking herself up more or less every hour from coughing.it started 2 weeks ago with her waking up omce or twice a night,but over the last fewe nights has gotten worse.doctor says its left overs from a virus.she's 6months old-we raise her head,give her cough syrup and spray saltwater up her nose before bed.any other suggestions??is it ok to give a bottle of warm tea to sooth her cough during the night?

[fortyplus]

I've never heard of anyone giving warm tea to a 6 month old baby! Though come to that I haven't heard of spraying saltwater up their nose before bed either! Was this on doc's advice?

You can get vapour releasing stuff to put on their pillow but ask pharmacist for advice as I'm not sure it's suitable till they're 12 months.

[EMS23]

Presuming you mean Saline spray.

I use a vaporiser which helps coughs. Boots do one and there is a Karvol one available in most supermarkets.

Don't give tea, the baby is far too young plus caffeine would surely make her more awake? Why not warm milk?

[Sirzy]

I certainly wouldn't be giving tea.

Snuffle babe type stuff on feet is supposed to help ( not sure of age it's suitable for though)

If its really bad talk to your GP about an inhaler as a short term thing to help

[ItLooksLikeRainDear]

The air in our homes this time if year can be very dry with central heating have you tried using a humidifier?

Night time coughs could also be the first signs of asthma though at this age is difficult to diagnose.

DS had a repeated cough but was 11 months old & was prescribed an inhaler which really helped him. He needed it for about a month & is now almost 3 & not needed it again. Hope things improve.

[shmuf]

Thanks for the quick replies!yes I meant saline water.I don't live in the uk,and I forgot to explain tea here is sage/mint/verbena leaves in hot water,so no caffeine there..think we'll give it another night and try snufflebabe etc,then go back to the doctor if it continues..

[nameuschangeus]

It's worth going back to the gp and mentioning it. in older children a night time cough is often a sign of asthma and it can be alleviated with an inhaler. I'm not sure if this is true of a little one but no harm in getting it checked out.

[PenguinBear]

Vicks vapour rub in the feet and then a pair of socks gets rid of a cough, although not tried it on a 6month old so check the label first!