3yo with a nasty cough

[bulletwithspookybatwings]

DS has a horrible cough at the moment, I've given him Calpol and hot water with honey, is there anything else you can give at this age?

You could try a lemon and honey glycerine cough bottle but apart from that no. No cough bottles and decongestants until 6 years old.

Damn. Poor little sausage looks like his head's going to explode each time he has a coughing fit

See your GP as it's impossible to diagnose over the internet, but some coughs in the under-5s can be helped with a ventolin inhaler similar to those used by people with asthma (doesn't necessarily mean DS has asthma, just that the medicine might be effective) - we use an inhaler when DS has a cold and it helps a lot, especially if coughing is keeping him awake.

Thanks, I'll get him to the GP if he's as bad tomorrow, I was looking for something I could get him tonight really.

Prop him up as much as possible to sleep. Steam might help a bit, or if you can get some tyxilix type stuff that could help soothe the cough.

If it gets really bad call your OOH GP who may feel ventolin will help.

Agree with the ventolin - ds takes bad asthma attacks everytime he gets a cold so from October till spring we are constantly under the cosh.

I've been given inhalers when the cough won't go and they do help.

Prop him up. Have you used baby Olbas oil or anything like that to help him breathe

Plus a drunk nearby to help sore throats

Other wise could it be croup?

But i would go to gp or out of hours tomorrow if possible.

We have put Karvol on his sheets. I think he's finally gone to sleep, although he was happily playing octonauts instead of sleeping rather than coughing instead of sleeping.

What is croup?

Croup is a childhood condition that affects the windpipe (trachea), the airways to the lungs (the bronchi) and the voice box (larynx).
A child with croup has a distinctive barking cough and will make a harsh sound, known as stridor, when they breathe in.

From nhs website

Bullet - how is your ds today?

He is a bit better thanks, still coughing when he's running around and a bit overtired but he doesn't seem poorly now. :)

That's sounds like improvement

glad he is on the mend.