When to worry about a cough?

[sallysinna]

Dd is 2 years 10 months. All week she has had a runny nose and a cough that has gotten progressively worse. Despite that she’s been in fairly good spirits up until today. She’s been so irritable, barely eaten and became totally lethargic and upset at about 5pm. The coughing is almost constant and she was so unhappy. Settled her in bed and read her a story, she managed a bottle and is now fast asleep. She feels hot but I couldn’t manage to take her temperature because she was so unsettled.

Im sure it’s just a common cold but I get so anxious when any of my dc are unwell. Is it best to just let her rest and keep a close eye? Is there anything I need to look out for? Her crying before bed was really distressed and it scared me but I think by that point she was just exhausted.

I think this is one for the doctor. She may have developed a chest infection and its better to be on the safe side.

Thank you for replying. Yes I generally try to give them a bit of time to fight it off providing they are not “unwell” within themselves which she hasn’t been up until today. But it was really awful seeing her so upset this evening. She’s sleeping soundly now, breathing quite fast but not worryingly so.

Will see how she wakes up. I’m always so on edge when they get ill.

I know the feeling. It's hard to gauge if we're overreacting when we know we're anxious. But where small children are concerned doctors always advise erring on the side of caution. Hope she wakes up feeling better.