sick most nights for 3 weeks - I'm going bonkers

[Pregnatron]

Has anyone had similar experience of this:

My 10 month has had various colds, ear infections - you know the score when starting nursery, bla bla. So, she's had a really bad cold for a few months & who knows where one starts & the other begins.

Anyway, she's coughling loads through the night & about 1-2 hours after she goes to bed at night she hacks at her cough & sicks up alot, mainly any tea or milk she's had that eve.

Been to the docs 4 times & he says it's just a virus. But, her cheeks, chin, arms & legs are covered in a nasty rash (which actually looks like the ones in the meningitus campaign ads) but docs (have seen 2 diff docs) say nothing to worry about just a virus.

Like I said, she's been sick most nights for 3 wks, surely this is more than a virus?!!

Does anyone know or had experience of something similar that might put my mind at rest? I'm all ready to go to A&E but I don't want to freak the poor little lamb out unneccesarily.

She hasn't got a v high temp & she's fairly chipper, just a bit moany.

Just cleaned up tonights batch of sick & she's gone back to sleep.

Please help, worried sick :(

[Sirzy]

Have you tried raising the head of her cot to see if that helps with the cough? Or steam?

Viruses can last for 3 weeks. Most of my family have been struck by a nasty virus and it has taken 2 - 4 weeks to clear.

[WilfShelf]

My first child used to cough himself sick every evening when he was little. Unfortunately I think you just have to roll with it. Against doctor's advice, we cranked up the heating - it helped enormously to ignore the advice about cool rooms but obviously I need to stress that this is NOT what is advised for babies. But it helped us for years, and thought my latest GP never formally supported it, he basically said' whatever gets you through...' We kept the room at more like 20 C rather than the 16 recommended

Two out of my three children had permanent coughs at night in the winter and they've both been on inhalers for asthma. This might help yours, even if they won't formally diagnose it in such young children. It is worth asking to see your surgery's asthma nurse (GPs in my experience are useless at dealing with persistent cough in young children) and maybe sign up to some of the asthma/coughing threads for advice there.

I don't know about the rash, but I think (think - not a medic) that meningitis rash is acute and not constant, but get it checked out. Is it possible that this is eczema - do you have it in the family?

It is probably worth trying things for persistent cough/asthma anyway - not getting too cold always worked and we always used baby sleeping bags to regulate, as well leaving heating on low. You need to try and deal with any dust, damp or mould in their room also if that's an issue.

By the way, DS1 grew out of the puking by about 12-15 months I think, and we used strategies for quick stripping the bed and returning him to it (lots of layers of waterproof sheets and spare duvets...) Eventually -about 4 - he grew out of the cough too, though DS2 also coughs and is not yet growing out of it!

[humanoctopus]

Poor child (and mum, you must be exhausted).

One of mine used to cough until she got sick too.

We saw a different doctor at our practice to our usual doc (busy day there).

It turns out she had asthma (night cough, starts shortly after they go to sleep). Not rocket science to diagnose, apparently.

Anyway, a couple of doses of ventolin, given at bedtime, sorted her out, more or less. She is more prone to chesty complaints, as with asthma the lungs are sensitive, etc.

Bring your baby to the doctor today and ask if it could be asthma?

Hope you get some rest.