Anybody’s toddler got this hideous cough that’s not Covid and won’t bloody go?

[Notnowbarnaby]

Was convinced it must be Covid again, DS 2.5 years had it earlier this year but got a fever and a cough nearly two weeks ago. Kept testing negative despite his preschool having lots of cases of Covid.

fever has gone but the cough continues to linger, sometimes causing him to be sick. Doctor says as it’s viral nothing they can do, and we’ve tried all the usual tricks.

guess I’m just looking for a moan and groan, as he had a cough for ages earlier in the year as well (weirdly not with Covid when he had it before) and I feel like we are just constantly dealing with broken sleep due to coughing.

if anyone has a magic cure, do send it our way won’t you!

Yes, or rather our baby has. She's not getting decent sleep at night so struggling to shake it. The thing that seems to be helping is to tuck her up warm and going out for long pram walks. She is sleeping and sleeping and wakes up a little better each time.

Sorry to hear you’re struggling with it too, it must be even worse with a baby. Hope she’s better soon. We’ve found taking DS out in the pushchair helps as well, as long as we don’t let him run about outside for long as then he starts coughing loads again.

i always forget how truly hideous coughs are.

Not a toddler, but my teenager has it. It sounds like she’s bringing up a furball.

My dd has this. Coughing negative for covid. Slightly warm on occasion. Is generally fine. Very odd. Some people have suggested hay fever or possibly Asthma.

Yes we’ve been prescribed inhalers because this is the third or fourth cough he’s had this year that’s lasted a while. Not sure they’re making much difference though. He just sounds like he has a lot of mucus in his throat (boak) and obviously doesn’t know how to actually cough it up and out poor thing.

and poor us. We are knackered!

hope everyone’s children feel better soon, it’s really grim. DH and I Feel like we are coming down with it now too

My 4 year old is onto week 6 of his cough. Second long last cough of the year. Was given inhalers last time but don't hear any wheezing or struggling to breath this time, just the annoying repetitive cough. Dr advised trying piriton 2/3 times a day to see if it helps, it doesn't. He's sometimes coughing so much he ends up being sick 😫

Same @ifoundthebread he has a coughing fit, retches then doesn’t seem to be able to stop until he’s sick it’s horrid.
we are using antihistamines as well but I don’t think they make any difference either. Hope you’re little boy feels better soon, it’s so hard when they’re unwell like this and it seems to go on forever.

coukd It be pneumonia? Does he need antibiotics?

I was in A&E last night at the respiratory bit and there was a lot of children in, . I heard a Dr saying he'd never seen so many that needed admitted and how much older children there were with it, none had Covid.

@Tiepose hes been back and forth to the doctor and his chest has been clear every time and they’ve just said it’s viral

@Cocolapew that doesn’t surprise me!

I've had it. It lasted weeks and totally clear for Covid. I was far more ill than with Covid. I'm still pretty wiped out from it six weeks on. It's a viscous virus. So sorry you have a DC with it. It's miserable.

Yeah, we keep being given antihistamines but it’s not really making a difference. It’s terrible DD barely getting any sleep and coughing so much she vomits.

Yes there certainly is a demonic chesty cough going around. It lingers for ages, my 3.5is just coming to the tail end of it (I think) but yeah it’s certainly been a shitfest. It’s a virus rather than an infection so just have to wait until it passes. I have been keeping his calpol light on at night which helps him breathe.

I did wonder if some of it might be associated with hay fever as there seems to be a lot of that this year too

Yes! And now we’ve all got it too.

My 4 month old has this! I've tested her and negative- not sure if she's just realised how to cough so doing it all the time for attention or if it's something to worry about! No temp or anything in this case just the cough- only reason I don't think it's just for attention is that's it waking her at night! She's my first so don't want to be 'omg she has a cough let's go a&e' but at the same time I'm a bit scared!

Yeah we've had that "viral" cough that won't bloody go away. He's had about 75% absence from nursery this year so far. He had it last year too.
Antibiotics sorted it out, then inhalers and piriton going forward. I wish they wouldn't assume it's a virus.

@Milliesmmy92 four month old babies don't do anything for attention.

@PeekabooAtTheZoo it lasts for ages doesnt it. He only started nursery this year and has barely been there and has had three nasty infections that needed antibiotics already so I was almost relieved when they said it was viral. Now I am not. I can’t deal with this lasting weeks and weeks like the other one!

We had a talk at dc’s school about looking for symptoms of sepsis, where the message was about making clear to GPS the history of the illness, and knowing the signs of sepsis in small children.

The case being referred to was a long term cough becoming sepsis: www.google.com/amp/s/info.isabelhealthcare.com/blog/im-a-doctor-but-please-dont-trust-me-100-sepsis-william-mead%3Fhs_amp%3Dtrue

@Tiepose thank you for this. That story is horrifying. Thankfully at the moment the cough is worse at night, and when he vomits (which isn’t frequently) it’s clear not dark green. But thanks for sharing that as I know what to look out for more now.

if his inhalers don’t make any difference at all after another week I’ll take him back to the GP and request a chest X-ray or further investigation as although we had a small break in between, he’s had a cough on and off for months. They do keep saying his chest is completely clear and have checked his breathing patterns but that story has put the wind up me.

Our household has had it for probably 3 weeks now, 1 year old is better but me and 3 year old still sound like we smoke 80 a day and my sense of smell has gone, all COVID tests have been negative.

It’s so weird isn’t it

im a bit worried just because this isn’t a new cough exactly, he had it for ages before then we had a tiny respite for a week where it didn’t go but it was nearly gone then he got this viral thing and it came back with a vengeance.

DD has and it's hayfever, unfortunately getting medicine into her is never fun, she's willing, if unhappy to have clarityn medicine because it tastes OK but it's not as effective as Benadryl which she will not take. The clarityn has reduced her itching and the cough is a bit better and she can now sleep through the night.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/hay-fever/

I thought it might be hayfever initially but Benadryl hasn’t made any difference whatsoever