Toddler Wheezing

[Topsy44]

Just looking for advice really. My 4 year old dd has had a cough for 3 weeks. I took her to the gp at 2 weeks and they said there was nothing on her chest, no temp, just to monitor her.

I'm starting to get a bit worried as last night she couldn't stop coughing and today she has started wheezing. She's absolutely fine in herself (apart from being tired as am I!). She hasn't got a temp, eating and drinking fine but the cough sounds horrendous and the wheezing is freaking me out! She is incredibly active and I can't get her to sit still, rest and watch tv for a bit so I know she's not seriously ill but am clearly panicking about the wheezing.

I'm just wondering if she can't stop coughing again tonight and is still wheezing, would you take her to a & e? She seems to pick up coughs v easily and they do last quite a while but she's never had the wheezing before.

Any advice would be really great.......

[KatyN]

My son wheezes when he has a cough. It is horrid. Provided he's not struggling for breath (either he would tell me or you can watch his lungs to see how much he sucks them in) I wouldn't go to a and e
But I would probably go back to the gp
Hoe she gets better soon,
K

[ODog]

My toddler is very wheezy when he gets a cough too. Especially at night. I use Vicks on his chest and back and a humidifier in his room at night. If they are struggling for breath then get to a&e but unless you feel it's an emergency I would treat at home/see gp again/call 111.

[Topsy44]

Thank you so much for your replies. I had a better night with her last night, still coughing but not wheezing so much and as soon as she started coughing last night I gave her calpol and smothered her with Vicks which seemed to help. I also think she was so exhausted (as was I) that she had a reasonable night's sleep.

I'm going to try and have a quiet (or as quiet as she'll let me!) day with her today and take her back to the gp on Tuesday. My instinct is that she has a chest infection, although I always seem to think this and the gp always says no!!!

Hugs to you guys dealing with the wheezing too, it is very scary.

I often wonder whether she has asthma but gp is vague and always says its up to me whether she has inhaler, think I might take her up on this time.

Thanks again, your replies really reassured me.

[Newlywed56]

I would definitely get the wheezing checked out just to make sure it's not an infection or something . If that's grand we got a calpol vapour plug in thing for a cough and it's actually worked wonders , definitely worth the money!

[NicknameUsed]

I would ring 111 and get an out of hours appointment.

[YankNCock]

DS2 3y9m most likely has asthma and was in hospital overnight in January for something very similar. They called it 'viral induced wheeze' in the end. Basically he is fine most of the time, but he does cough a lot especially at night, and he's very active. The only time I worry is when he goes lethargic and seems to be struggling to breathe (chest going in a lot more than normal).

He's just been put on a brown inhaler as well as the blue one and referred to a specialist paediatric asthma clinic. They've said to me to use the blue one as much as needed, as you can't really overdose on it.

Basically what I was coming on to say was, if your DD gets lethargic, go straight to A&E. Otherwise, let them give you a blue inhaler to try for some relief from the wheeze/cough. I wasn't home when DS first went to hospital, it was DH who rang and got an appointment with out of hours GP, and they took one look at him and said it should have been an A&E job! Can't win can you, trying to be responsible and use the right NHS resource!