Night Coughing

[triton]

My ds aged 5 has had a night cough for a couple of weeks. He is absolutely fine during the day, no coughing or respiratory symptoms at all. Then as soon as he falls asleep until we go to bed he coughs in his sleep. What could be causing this? Might take him to doctors

My kids do this, their coughs far outlast their actual colds. I hate the hacking away at night - DD coughs until she chokes sometimes

Things we do to alleviate it: raise the head of the bed on blocks, or give an extra pillow, provide a sippy cup of water, olbas oil on a tissue, vicks rub on the chest, wet cloth on the radiator (though less useful now no heating)

It is horrid to hear them isn't it

go to GP- night coughing is a sign of asthma- just rule it out.xx

I know

I am listening to him now although it doesn't seem to wake him up or distress him. Might try him with an extra pillow or some olbas oil tomorrow night

His didn't start with a cold though. Just the night cough

yes I thought that jjazz. Will phone in the morning and get an appt. Won't do any harm. He does seem prone to chesty things. He has had a couple of chest infections and croup in the past and umpteen coughs

my DD does that as well and i have been really worrying about asthma. she normally starts with a cold and then the night cough carries on and on. she has had them quite often. We went to the GP and she suggested a way to rule out asthma - to put her on a steroid inhaler for six weeks!! she said if the cough gets better then it is likely asthma. but the last episode of the cough resolved by itself and i am not to keen on the steroid trial as the GP said "if it is only for six week, it is not likely to affect her growth" (??!!! ). DD has had croup as well. i hope you get to the bottom of your DSs cough and i hope it is nothing alarming.

Most of the steroid from an inhaler goes straight to the lungs, very little gets into the blood supply. I wouldn't worry about any effects on growth in 6 weeks! People take them for life with no effect.

However, most gps tend to start with ventolin rather than steroid inhalers as the ventolin gives immediate relief and the steroids need time to build up.

This time of year my dd1 does this, she has asthma and hayfever... then it just goes. She just has ventolin inhaler and sometimes sometimes some piriton.

we still have had nothing since the last episode, been a couple of weeks with no night cough. DD has never had hayfever. most of her cough starts off as chesty/phlegmy, there is never any wheezing and so i am at a loss whether to go get a second opinion. we don't need relief at the mo so i am inclined not to get the steroid inhaler but as it was suggest as a sort of diagnostic tool, obviously wondering what i should do next. how else can asthma be confirmed or ruled out? i have been to the asthma thread but it didnt seem to cover much regarding initial diagnosis. OP, dont mean to hijack your thread, sorry - hope your DS is better.

ladies .... my DS had this ages ago and at the time we were seeing a consultant for his febrile seizures. anyway, the consultant then asked us to monitor him because he thought it could be fluid at the back of his throat that happens when he relaxes (sleeps). we had some medicine but it didnt make any difference.

hope your DS is better and what did your GP say