Hacking cough

[5ThingsUnderTheBed]

Ds3 has had a cough for a few days now. Army hours this morning he woke with a hacking cough which has gotten worse over the day. He is now in bed exhausted but still hacking

What an I give him other than calpol for the temperature. I have cough medicines but they are all for 6+ iirc they've changed all the medicine ages.

Anyone? Have just checked on him and he has coughed that hard he's pooed himself a bit.

Could it be whooping cough? Only medicines didn't help at all with me (or my baby :( ) with whooping cough.

Is the calpol bringing the temperature down? If not it might be worth ringing NHS direct if you're worried?

Oh poor little thing. My dd had bronchiolitis when she was ten weeks old and we now have fortnightly coughs which last for approx two weeks, and usually end up in hospital with croup or pneumonia.....

So, is it dry? If so carry him not the bathroom and put the shower on, or get a humidifier (cheap as Argos) or put a wet flannel on his radiator and turn the heating on. Book doc app for tomorrow and if his chest is sucking in when he breathes or if he is making a barking noise when breathing in call ooh or a and e.
Otherwise, fluids, cough mixture, wine for you to destress and get the flu jab if you can.

Sending you a very strong anti- cough hug.

Into the bathroom not not.

His temp is down. Cough is dry. Can't get cough medicine or under 6 now.

I'm going to take him to walk in centre tomorrow I think.

Poor boy looked terrible when I was changing him.

Do the flannel or wet towel thing, it helps my dd. how old is your DS? Is he far away from being 6? I have asked gps and pharmacists about medised and why it is only for 6 plus and I get varying answers. The worst possible thing seems to be that is wont be effective.... And my gp says ignore the warning! ( he is a bit of a renegade old skool kind of bloke!)

Really hope he feels better tomorrow. Can he swallow a bit of honey on a spoon or mixed in with orange or milk?

This website is all about whooping cough, including a video and sounds of children with whooping cough. You may want to have a look at it to exclude it. Some GPs are good at diagnosing it, many don't, some even think that it no longer exist in the UK .

It is important to get it checked as whooping cough is a notifiable disease.

He is 4 next month, so no good. Have put flannel on radiator now.

Thanks for link, will take a look.

I feel for you immensely. DH and I dread hearing that first cough each time and it immediately puts the fear of god to us both....

Really hope he has a settled ish night and starts to feel better tomorrow.

Does he have high fever? And if so, does it come down with Calpol and Calprofen?

If he has high fever which is hard to control and a bad cough I would take him to A&E for a chest X-ray to exclude pneumonia. It is very unusual to have pneumonia without fever (but it is possible).

This year there has been a lot of whooping cough. However, it could also be croup, bronchiolitis, etc.

It sounds very horrible, stressful, but is often not dangerous. I also think that it helps to let him sleep more upright (lots of firm pillows). Sometimes a warm drink helps, like chamomile tea or normal tea with lots of milk.

It it looks that he struggles to breathe or is low on oxygen (you can do the nailbed test) then obviously seek help straight away.

DD has this too- within 24 hours she went from a bit peaky to Steptoe the elder. The cough is awful; I can only describe it as sounding like an axe chopping wood or a dog barking. she had a raging temp too, although that seems to have gone now.

As bad as it sounds, it isn't whooping cough. There's no 'whoop'. I took her to the GP today, and he said his son had it too and that it is just a very nasty virus

Hope they feel better soon.

Please check the link I posted earlier. If the child has been vaccinated it won't have the whoop but a different type of cough as in the link.

Sorry dikker, missed that.

Tethers, I'm thinking its viral as well, we all have a slight cough, he just seems to have it a lot worse. Will call the gp when it opens and see if i need to take him in.

It's quite common for under 5's to get a dry wheezey cough - especially if he's mainly coughing at night - that can be something that can be relieved by an asthma inhaler (doesn't mean he has asthma). See your GP for advice. It may not be this though as it doesn't usually come with a temperature.

Look at his rib-cage when he breathes and coughs - do the ribs become more visible through his skin as it moves? That's a sign that he's putting more muscular effort into breathing than he should need to which would suggest an inhaler might help.

Went to GP, it's just viral so just keep going. Glad it's nothing else.

Thanks everyone for the advice.

I saw two different GPs at Easter on two occasions each and neither recognised Whooping Cough.

I was eventually diagnosed by blood test so I know it was WC.

Your GP may be wrong so keep a close eye and if he starts getting a completely blocked airway during a coughing fit get him to breath through his nose to calm it down and take him to the GP or Out of Hours Service.

Hello, glad you went, hope he feels a bit better. I was worrying about him at work today!!!!

Aww thanks Goon :)