baby with night cough for two months now,please help!

[RattyRoland]

Hi, my dd 13mo has had a night cough for two months now. It started as a normal cough but the daytime cough went after a couple of weeks.

She wakes every hour or two coughing, which makes her panic and bf is the only way to calm her :( I've been to the doctor twice in the past two months, the first time she confirmed no chest infection and suggested it would go of its own accord. The second time, a couple of weeks ago, she said it may be a sign of asthma or it could be silent reflux troubling dd, so she prescribed gaviscon. No improvement though :(

Does anyone have any other ideas for what it may be? I'm confused if it is reflux or asthma as why did it start at eleven months?

Asthma can start at any age. I would ask the gp about trying an inhaler

DS started this at 10 months and is on an inhaler before bed for it. Another GP st a surgery when I was away suggested teething rather than asthma (i cant remember exactly what he said caused the coughing but saliva bugging them and blocking them up) and said ibuprofen and inhaler before bed. X

Thanks for your replies. I've done more reading on asthma and it seems dd has the symptoms :( however gp did say its tricky getting babies to use an inhaler. I've bought a room humidifier, I think I'll try that and if no improvement I'll return to the doctor. Just don't like giving drugs to someone so young...

Thanks again :)

No it's not tricky to get babies to use an inhaler, what rubbish, how does your gp think the hospitals treat the thousands of babies admitted with viral wheeze each winter? Honestly, gps sometimes make me so cross.

You use a spacer device (like a big plastic air chamber), with a mouthpiece for them to breath through. They might not like it to start with, but its better than the long term damage that asthma can do, and the lack of sleep for you all. This is assuming it is asthma/post viral related - it might just be a long running cough of course.

I can understand not wanting to use drugs, I felt the same when we had to start with dd1. But after seeing how effective they are, and reading up on the pros and cons, they really are the good option if they work.

The best thing to do, if the humidifier etc doesn't work, is simply try the inhaler. You'll soon see, after one or two nights, whether it works or not. Then you can decide whether to continue.

DS has used an inhaler since he was 4 months and he has used one daily since he was 10 months. It can be a battle at times but that doesn't mean its not worth trying.

This does sound like a post-viral wheeze type cough. It is possible to get salbutamol into them with a spacer and a lot of patience, especially if their favourite teddy appears to have some first.