Two year old coughing all night

[Alicia870]

My 2 yr old started coughing about a month ago. We took her to doctor and had her tested for covid which was negative. GP gave us a cough bottle but very impractical at night time when she's trying to sleep and isn't effective anyway.
We went back again as the cough isn't improving and gp prescribed an inhaler and gave us the spacer. But she won't allow us to give her the medicine she just screams when we approach with it. We've tried doing it on teddy first, without spacer etc.
We can manage to do it when she's asleep but as it's a treatment inhaler it would be best used to relieve the cough while it's happening but in the middle of the night this is impossible as she just loses it and ends up awake crying instead of coughing!

Sleep deprived and just want to know how to help her at this point!

[icebubbles]

Could she have a chest infection? My toddler had a cough, mainly at night, for five months and it took two different antibiotics to get rid of it

[Alicia870]

@icebubbles I'm not sure as she has no temp, no cold or any other symptoms. The cough doesn't sound wet or chesty more like an irritated dry sound

[MoreHairyThanScary]

Hi OP

I have a child who has had a lung condition and treatments since birth.

When she was a toddler she needed 2x antibiotic nebs a day. The easiest way to get the treatment into her was to sit her on my lap and hold the mask on her face yes she fought and cried and screamed ( but actually she took good lungful of the meds when she did).

If the GP has prescribed meds I would work really hard to get them into her, even if she doesn't like it, over time it does become more normalised and eventually it's just what has to be done. ( distraction on tv etc also helps!)

An asthma related cough is not unusual but without using the treatments as prescribed ( some have a cumulative effect) you won't know if it is helping.