Coughing only at night

[WhoMovedTheCheese]

My DS aged 4 only coughs at night & for a little while in the mornings; Gp says it sounds like an allegy & prescribed a antihistermine which seemed to work, but has now run out; and the coughing has started again. His coughing is very chesty. How can I find out what the allegy is?

[mumonthenet]

What's in his room?
Have you changed your laundry detergent?
Is there something new in there?
Do you have a lot of soft toys/carpets etc in there?

Start by washing his bedding at 60 degrees or more.
Vacuum his mattress before putting the clean linen on his bed.
Use only cotton bedlinen, no feather pillows/duvets, and no blankets.
Take all(or most!) soft toys out or put them in a cupboard.
Clear all the surfaces as far as possible and wipe surfaces with damp cloth rather than a duster.
Close the window on windy days.

Most likely to be a dustmite allergy. See if the above makes a difference.

He could be allergy tested but that's something for further down the road, if necessary.

Just to confuse you even more, it may not even be anything in his bedroom. Could be that the antihistamine just masked it and helped him sleep.

Tis really just trial and error. Good luck!

[gigglewitch]

I've got two dc with asthma, one of them caused mainly by allergies - tree pollen, grass, all sorts. Total minefield trying to guess what. I've been where you are, laminate flooring and wet cloth wiping the room all the time, non-bio washing liquid, no fluffy things, allergy-proof shampoo and the works. oh, and the de-humidifier which cured me but not really her ...
These days we have a reasonable idea some of the time what sets her off but still we're caught by surprise. We just end up treating the symptoms, antihistamine for 99% of the time from April to September, inhalers ditto, but oddly enough we can get her off most of them for the winter. Weird.

As strange as it sounds, and yes follow every bit of the advice Mumonthenet's given you as it's all good (we do all that too) but try not to drive yourself nuts looking for an allergen that you may never figure out - or will make itself known to you at a random time when you're not really searching.

[alypaly]

my DS2 has the same. Had skin tests and found it was dust mites that are in everyones bedclothes ,mattress,carpets etc.
Doc gave cetirizine and nasonex to calm nose down ,to stop mucous. And a salbutamol inhaler for bad times