5 year old cough every winter

[Stitch230204]

My 5 year old has suffered from a constant cough in the winter since she was 3. I have dreaded winter as i know this cough will appear and not disappear fully until the warmer weather. She has say a 1-2 week break of the cough and then it returns. This time is has come back with a bang and she is really suffering. Mostly when she is in bed but she still does cough alot during the day. Last year u was given an inhaler for her but that isnt touching this and tixylix isnt working. I have been given advice to put a bowl of cold water on the window sill to try and help however i only started doing this yesterday. I haven't taken her to the doctor yet as im always told there is nothing they can do for a cough but the poor love isnt sleeping. Even during the day when she tries to nap she has a coughing fit and has to sit up. I am elevating her mattress but this doesnt really seem to be helping. Any suggestions ? I am exhausted as well as i cannot sleep when she is coughing :(

[Stitch230204]

Thank you. I took her to the doctor last year but they gave me an inhaler to just shut me up i think. But i will make an appointment thank you!

[toomuchpoo]

My GP said (and google agreed!!!) that you cant actually diagnose asthma as such in youngish children - the method of diagnosis is for the GP to decide whether it seems appropriate to do so, then to trial an inhaler and if it causes an improvement then the child is asthmatic, at least to some extent.

Mine suggested I keep a record of when they have a cough, how long it lasts, any possible triggers etc, then if I continue to have concerns to go back with the pattern of repeated coughs and get an inhaler trial

[carbondated]

What you are describing sounds like my dd when she was the same age as yours. Started also when she was around 3. She'd get a cold and would then get a cough that would start within a few mins of laying down in bed at night and go on for hours each night for week after week. She would often be sick, the cough would stop for about an hour afterwards and then off she'd go again. This would happen every time she caught even the tiniest cold. I also used to dread autumn because she was like this all winter.

Was told it WASN'T asthma because she wasn't wheezing. Her chest was always clear when I took her to the GP and until I had a total meltdown in the surgery after the poor kid had been up all night and crying because her chest hurt from all the coughing, all they could suggest was putting a damp towel over the radiator, getting her to inhale steam, propping up the mattress etc etc. Nothing helped. When I said it was totally unfair for her to be in such distress and to be losing so much sleep, they then tried her with a steroid and reliever inhaler (also to shut me up I think) and it did help, though she still coughed and was up a fair bit at night throughout a lot of each winter. It was a heck of a lot better though.

It isn't true about it only being asthma if they wheeze. Often younger children don't wheeze. The main symptom is often just a troublesome night-time cough. I agree that she needs a proper assessment in an asthma clinic. If it were their own child suffering like this, I doubt the GP would be happy to listen to them hacking away all night and do nothing apart from stuffing a bowl of water in the bedroom and propping up the end of the bed.

[brettgirl2]

Remember the preventer inhaler takes a few weeks to properly work. My dd is 3.10 and has now been cough free for a month it's bliss. She has a diagnosis one advantage of which is that she had a flu vaccination....... hopefully avoiding another nasty cough.