Persistent cough

[Idoitforthelove]

Hi everyone,

My DD is coming up to eighteen months and has had a cough since her first birthday. We've been backwards and forwards to the GP, she's had several rounds of antibiotics and we've paid for her to see a consultant paediatrician. They have all told me that it will pass and that she just has a cough.
Has anyone else experienced this? I'm not worried about the cough itself (I'm confident that it isn't a sign of anything more serious) but it can't be very nice for her and I'm wondering if there's anything else I can do to help? We've tried inhalers, steamers, plug ins, oil burners, tilting and raising her cot etc etc
Many thanks!

[VimFuego101]

Is it a dry cough, does it get worse at night? What inhalers did you try? Asthma can sometimes present as a dry cough even if no wheezing.

[Idoitforthelove]

It's a productive cough. The problem seems to be fluid accumulating when she lies down. She has a blue and a brown inhaler and we've been trying montelukast granules as her dad has the asthma/eczema gene. If someone could tell me confidently that it's asthma then I'd be happy to use the inhalers every day, but im not sure about giving her daily medication when there's a possibility that it's not the right medication..! Is that wrong? Should I be using them any way?

[Jibberjabberjooo]

They won't diagnose asthma at her age. They may do when she's older. Yes you should use the inhalers if you've been given them.

[BattyNatty]

I could have written your post. My son is now 21 months and had a cough since he started nursery at 1yo. He has had many viruses and a couple of serious illnesses requiring trips to a&e but always had this bloody cough that wouldn't go away. (He also had a cow milk protein allergy and had prescription milk/stuff for his bath/cream etc but is pretty much fine now food wise but constant use of the bath emollient and creams for his eczema keep his skin lovely.)

Cough was always only at night after going to bed, sounded 'dry' but also sounded like there was phlegm there that just wouldn't come up. Sometimes he would cough so much he was sick. After just recently seeing a consultant (after months of questioning GP's about his cough) he now has 2 inhalers. I was told 'we're not calling this asthma'. After being ill, almost constantly all year, I was told his lungs are probably inflamed and his ribs are/were splayed out at the bottom which means that the diaphragm is working too hard.

He has to get the brown inhaler as soon as he wakes up and just before bed, it states 'preventer' on the box (don't ask me the proper names!) And he only gets the blue inhaler 'reliever', if he's been running around. The consultant said he is curious of the affect of the blue inhaler as he may not need that one.

I noticed a positive effect the first night, it was almost amazing and hand on heart, and I hope I don't jinx things here, he hasn't had a night time coughing fit since. Do you have any pets? We are farmers so DS has had contact with many animals but I remember the consultant saying he was pleased we didn't have cats as pets as they are the most allergenic animal you can have in your home, didn't give two hoots about the dog but did say it was good that the dog was in the house before the baby was born.

Stick with the inhalers, it's made a real difference for us and the change in our son is unbelievable, probably due to getting undisturbed sleep aswell. The consultant seems confidant that it will be something he will grow out of. I hope this helps, and hope things work out for you.

[Idoitforthelove]

That's so brilliant to hear. Thank you so much for posting.
I'll stick with the inhalers and see where it takes us.
Thank you so much for your help! X

[captaincake]

If you aren't giving the brown inhaler regularly then it won't be able to work you need to use it twice a day every day. My son had an awful cough every single time he slept it was a nightmare. It has decreased about 90% (he also has reflux which causes coughing) since he's been on the brown inhaler. The change to all our lives from him being able to sleep has been enormous.

[Shootingstar2289]

My 4 year old son used to suffer from persistent coughs. They were often the aftermath of colds (which he got a lot!) but went on for weeks & weeks. But he never seemed overly poorly.

I have visited the GP time and time again. Usually to be told that there is nothing they could do.. Although when it got really bad once they give my son steroid tablets you dissolve in a drink.. it cleared up nicely until the following winter.. where he was given an inhaler to try. Which didn't seem to help.

Do you have central heating? I find central heating makes my sons cough a lot worse.. So I turn it off an hour or so before my sons bedtime.

Also. a hot steamy bathroom before bed seemed to help my son a little. I would fill his evening bath with the shower while we are in the bathroom with the door shut..

Cough medicines are rubbish..

Every year my sons coughs have become less frequent!