Am I being negligent over this? Or sensible?

[FestiveOrganisoid]

About 4 weeks ago ds (just 3)came down with that awful cough and cold that everyone seems to have had. Was really quite poorly with it for a couple of days, high temps etc then got better except for the hacking cough which he still has now.

He has been absolutely fine in himself until a couple of days ago when he seemed to get another cold, temp went up again and cough worsened. Temp is now down again but he still has the cough.

People keep asking me what the doctor has said/if he is on antibiotics etc and I'm starting to feel a bit guilty for not having even taken him to the doctor.

I haven't taken him to the doctor because
a) ds always gets ridiculously high temps even with the slightest cold
b) the temp was going down with calpol/neurofen
c)both times the temp has only lasted a couple of days and then he has seemed better
d)every year ds gets a cough that lasts all winter and the doctor has always been very dismissive when I have taken him over it
e) his snot is clear so don't think he has an infection
f) although the cough sounds awful I'm not actually worried about ds, he is a little more tired than normal but otherwise fine.

But am I being negligent not getting it checked out?

If you are, then so am I! DS has had it for 2 weeks now and I've not taken him to the GP, largely because I feel so crappy myself.

I am about to ring my GP mother and ask her if I am being negligent and whether I should get someone to take a look at him - shall I let you know what she says?

You sound so entirely sensible.

Don't worry.

It's hard to say for sure without hearing the cough for myself, but most likely, I would do the same as you.
We can stand firm in solidarity in the "negligent" corner, together :).

My only reservation is that sometimes a persistent cough is a sign of something else (eg, Asthma). But the treatment for asthma is quite strong with its own negative side effects, I wouldn't go down the road unless I had to. Doesn't sound like you have to, yet.

You could research croup, in case it's that, which is quite successfully treated at home, I believe.

You sound sensible to me, assuming that his chest sounds clear and he's not coughing up anything particularly icky.

Yes please ali

I should add that he is now only really coughing when he has been running around for eg so it's not as bad as it was.

Same here. My MIL has taken to harrassing me daily. I'm not neglecting my child; his younger brother has been back and forth to the GP with real complaints.

Festive - I will report back later, can't get hold of her I had missed your point about the cough that lasts all winter, that isn't great and I think you should raise that again with the GP - can you see someone different in the practice and get a second opinion?

ragged - what an odd thing to say about asthma treatment. It is not strong, and frankly if you suspect a child has asthma then it would irresponsible in the extreme to delay seeking treatment until things became so severe that you end up with a hospital visit.

I would take the child to the doctor. The chances are that your child is fine, but anyone who has coughed for that long needs to see a doctor just in case. Whatever you can see at home, you cannot listen to the child's chest using a stethescope (sp?). Someone posted on here only a couple of days ago - her 4yo had pneumonia and was happily playing with christmas decorations. Now I'm sure your child isn't in that position - but you should check it out in case there is a chest infection that would benefit from antibiotics.

Festive - on the basis of the ongoing cough over previous winters, my DM recommends a GP trip - preferably to a different one than you have seen about it already!

OK will try to get an appointment in the morning, I have never yet been able to get one at my surgery-always end up with a telephone consultation or taking them to a&e but will try!

Thanks everyone.

Have seen the GP, he has a mild chest infection and has been given antibiotics.

GP said the lasting cough itself isn't anything to worry about as it is mostly caused by ds' contant stream of snot and is coming fromm the throat rather than the chest.

Thanks again