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Children's health

Dry Cough at Night

10 replies

grove10 · 29/01/2015 10:55

Grateful for any advice. DS, now 7months just getting over a bad cold but has been left with a lingering dry cough that seems to get worse at night which I know is v common with babys. However we're now on day 8 and am finding the broken sleep due to having to get up incredibly tough. Can be up to 5/6 times at night with coughing episodes. Have tried raising cot, putting a humidifier in the room, cough syrup, offering water, calpol but nothing is really making a difference. Does anyone have any tips otherwise guess it's just a question of sitting it out and waiting for it to go on its own? With thanks

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ASmidgeofMidge · 29/01/2015 16:55

I sometimes stand a bowl of boiling water with Karvol in it in the room... But see you've tried a humidifier so not sure if that would help...

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ASmidgeofMidge · 29/01/2015 16:55

Does he have a bath before bed? Sometimes that helps clear them out, too

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grove10 · 29/01/2015 21:14

HI SmidgeofMidge - thanks for getting back to me - yes he always has a bath about 30mins before bedtime and vaporiser on all through the night. Thinking it's just a matter of time. If only the weather would get warmer but no sign of that happening yet.....

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TheEalingFeeling · 30/01/2015 20:06

A friend told me to run Vicks Vaporub on the soles of their feet when they are in bed. Spuds ridiculous but I tried out of desperation and it worked a treat! Good luck :)

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AugustRose · 30/01/2015 20:25

I've used Vicks on the feet for my kids when they have a cough and it does work, it might not last all night but we always get a good 4/5 hours.

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grove10 · 31/01/2015 09:45

Hi - I have Snuffle Babe which is a vapour rub containing Eucalyputus oil, Menthol and Thyme - would this be similar to Vicks? I gave it a try yesterday and perhaps the coughing fits were slightly shorter but difficult to say. appreciate the tips!

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AugustRose · 31/01/2015 10:41

Yes snufflebabe is the same. I use ibuprofen before bed rather than paracetamol as it helps to reduce inflamation caused by coughing and a bunged up nose. Hope you get some sleep soon and your DS is better.

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grove10 · 31/01/2015 20:55

Thanks for confirming AugustRose. Good advice - just given DS some neurofen as teething pain as well so hoping all dosed up enough to give both of us some sleep!

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Kewrious · 31/01/2015 22:48

DS is asthmatic so we deal with this a lot. I nasal spray him, use Olbas Oil on the pillow. And then I use a cool mist humidifier (you have to be careful which one you use- apparently the warm most one makes it worse). And propping his pillow up to avoid post nasal drip. When it got worse he was given an inhaler as a last resort.

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grove10 · 01/02/2015 10:47

Kewrious
Thanks also for this advice, yes he's well propped up and I'm using something similar to Olbas oil. Last night the cough was quite a bit better so got a little bit of sleep but possibly because I brought him into my bed where I could keep a closer eye on him and constantly prop him up as he kept on rolling about all over the place in his cot.
DS isn't asthmatic but we just bought a regular humidifier that I think gives off hot steam - I did see the Cool Mist ones but wasn't really sure of the difference. I don't think i can return it now as we've used it quite a lot. Is the hot steam one not good just for regular coughs/ colds as everyone kept saying to take him into the shower room or boil pans of water which would in effect have been hot steam? It's the Vicks Warm Mist Humidifier.