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Children's health

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Original poster

Night time cough only in dds own bedroom!

23 replies

Earlyr1serAM · 15/04/2016 06:17

DD is 6. She shares a room with her sister and night time cough keeps her up all night (most of this yr ). As soon as I bring her into my bedroom, she sleeps sound through the night. Same carpet in both rooms and mattress is a natural pure cotton one that is about a yr old....can't think what it might be, I'm confounded! ( also using an air purifier last few days, but to no affect)

OP posts:

Fluffy24 · 15/04/2016 06:24

Could there be a very small damp spot somewhere which is giving off mould spores? Or something strong smelling like fabric softener on her bedding?

Wanderingwondering · 15/04/2016 06:31

Does she come in your bed? Could it be that the pillows are higher or the warmer bed helps the cough?

GruffaloMoggy · 15/04/2016 06:34

Does she have heating on in her room but not in yours?

allergic to her sister

Plug in air freshner in wall?

insancerre · 15/04/2016 06:35

Has she got lots of cuddly toys

Dd had a terrible night cough till I got rid of the cuddly toys

anotherdayanothersquabble · 15/04/2016 07:15

What else is in her room? My son is sensitive to a whole host of things, foam, smelly plastics, plants, rubber, balloons.

In her bedroom, look for toys that smelly plasticky, if you know what I mean and perhaps remove some teddies and Hoover / wash the rest.

WhirlwindHugs · 15/04/2016 07:18

Cuddly toys trapping dust?

Original poster

Earlyr1serAM · 15/04/2016 07:34

Hmmm......thanks for the suggestions, has made me wonder about additional stuff, like she is on the lower bed of the wooden bunk ( top bunk is high). Regarding toys, everything including cuddly are kept in the playroom, no plants. And my bedding goes through the same processes as the girls. And it's changed every 2 weeks. Whole house was refurbished 3 yrs ago, so no leaking or mould thankfully. Door is kept open in the night as is my bedroom.

OP posts:

Original poster

Earlyr1serAM · 15/04/2016 07:39

Also heating is off waaay before bedtime as she is generally hot through the night.
No air freshners
Recent visit to doc suggested possible asthma and she start on brown inhaler (steroid).
Seen as she's not coughing in my bedroom I know it can't be asthma.

OP posts:

MigGril · 15/04/2016 07:44

Could be allergy though, DS has asthma which is trigger mainly by dust mite allergy. Everything needs to be washed at 60c and being on the bottom of a bunk bed can be a problem. Can you try her on the top four a bit?

Original poster

Earlyr1serAM · 15/04/2016 07:56

Thanks MigGril, will convince her to try the top bed tonight. Do you suggest I envelope the mattresses with an anti dustmite zippy cover. The rest of beddings are anti allergy, will double check pillow. Her head side is adjacent to window which is dressed with roller blind.

She usually gets transfered in her sleep to my bed and cough settles shortly.

OP posts:

parissont · 15/04/2016 08:07

Check for mould. Also try a humidifier of you leave the heating on. Hoover all around bed and mattress. Give her your pillows for a night and see if it makes a difference.

MigGril · 15/04/2016 08:30

I'd just hover it to start with. We haven't need to get one for DS but he has a memory foam mattress. But hovering should make a big difference if done regularly. Just try it first and see if it helps.

I felt like you when DS was diagnosed with asthma which was why I pushed to have him allergy tested. Took them a while to do it but they did in the end.

anotherdayanothersquabble · 15/04/2016 09:01

It is tricky and so individual. Many people's reactions are triggered by natural substances, dust, dust mites, mould, pollens, animals etc and some by chemical substances.

DS2 is sensitive to anything petroleum based, polyester, latex, rubber but OK a with wool, cotton and horse hair. Many of the anti allergy fabrics don't work for him and when the futon company started adding natural latex into their mattresses I might have actually cried.

You will find what it is!!

The suggestion of trying the top bunk is a good one, the air flow may be better. DS sleeps better a ground level without a bunk above him and sleeps better on a wooden bed rather than a metal one. I have given up trying to work out why, but simply grateful we get sleep and he is better. I would also consider removing your older daughter, perhaps at the weekend, to see if that makes a difference.

We also use blue tansy essential oil diluted and rubbed in his chest, feet and hands. He reacts really badly to ventolin and salbutamol so will do anything to avoid him coughing and wheezing. (I stop short of chanting and dancing round his bed to clear the chi!)

Original poster

Earlyr1serAM · 16/04/2016 23:56

Goodness! So we hoovered every nook and cranny including mattress, changed the bedding. And she slept just a few hours before the cough came back.
I then have DD my pillow and rubbed vapour rub onto soles of feet and chest. That helped another few hours.

Next day (tonight),soon as being into bed, persistent cough again!
Shifted DD into the top bunk and

OP posts:

Original poster

Earlyr1serAM · 16/04/2016 23:59

Persistent cough turned up a few notches into a suffocating cough!!
20 minutes of the above and shifted her back into my bed. She's now sound asleep.

OP posts:

MrsLettuce · 17/04/2016 00:01

How very strangE! It must be quite worrying.

Have you op DP tried sleeping in there for a night or two to test it?

BitchAdministrator · 17/04/2016 00:13

Dust from the mattress above when that's released when her sister turns round in bed?

I once had a shocking chest infection that I couldn't shift, the doc said is there any mould in your bedroom.i was adamant that there wasn't but behind a massive wardrobe that hadn't been moved. In years the wall was black

Could it be that?

LazyMilk · 17/04/2016 00:31

Does she sleep in a different position as she's sharing a bed? Flat out on her back would make her cough but maybe snuggled up to you wouldn't. Might be worth trying a pillow along side her in her own bed to encourage her to sleep on her side eg.

rstone22 · 11/06/2019 15:01

Hey. I had the same problem. I would couvj3 all night and had a. Clear phlegm come up and stuffy noise. But i have a wood bed frame and the bed is closer to the ground. So .. I thought i havent dusted it for months i should try that. But in my other room i never cough bed frame is metal and the bed sit higher off the ground.

rstone22 · 11/06/2019 15:02

Hey. I had the same problem. I would cough all night and had a clear phlegm come up and stuffy noise. But i have a wood bed frame and the bed is closer to the ground. So .. I thought i havent dusted it for months i should try that. But in my other room i never cough bed frame is metal and the bed sit higher off the ground.

Itchyskin · 22/03/2023 17:14

Hi, I know this has not had any responses in a whole but we just solved this for our child and thought I would share in case it helps anyone else.

Obviously it could be all kinds of things but we kept noticing when we went on holiday or satyed with his grandma it would stop. We moved into another room for a week at home and it stopped, so we decided to bring parts of his room back next to him bit by bit.

The first thing we tried was his matress and matress protector, and within 60 seconds he was blocked and within 2 hours of sleeping he was coughing again.

It turns out he's allergic to something in the matress or matress protector. This stimulate mucus which went down his noes all night and made him constantly cough.

Finally we are gettign sleep again and his body is growing and he's happier and healthier from havign a restful night.

hope it helps.

RGV · 24/10/2023 07:14

Hi. I know is been year of this post and I hope that the kid feels better by now. I’m going through the same with my kid and I’m looking online for a solution after blood test and everything. We live in an attic in Southern Spain and as soon as I put my kid in his bedroom, he starts to cough but not in my bedroom which is next to it. Doctors took blood test and appears allergy to flowers and humidity so I bought a deshumidifier as recommended by the doctors. Previously I bought something to measure the humidity in the room and it appears that it’s ok. We have no carpets, obviously because of the weather so I clean the floor everyday with a mop and detergent. I washed all the soft toys, etc… We just don’t know why . Warm Regards

Itchyskin · 24/10/2023 10:46

@RGV My post was above regarding the mattress topper but since then it came back and we've found other causes. I don't know if they will help but I'll put them here:

He is allergic to dust mites so hoovering more regularly helped
A lower histamine diet has helped, including removing histamine liberator foods
He started taking his sisters 'preventative' asthma pump for around three days and then a week off. We don't want him on it all the time but three days seems long enough to help calm the cough down. This is not the blue one for attacks, but the preventative one which is grey and pink in the UK. I don't want him registered as asthmatic as it may well go when his body matures like his cousin's did, but this all helps and he hasn't coughed for quite a while now.
We also have an air purifier which is good for helping remove dust but doesn't seem to help the cough.
Not giving him dairy before bed also helps as he would get a bit blocked up at bedtime if eating ice cream and cheese late.

Interestingly when we started on the pump, after a few days his lung capacity increased dramatically using a peak flow meter. When it then gets smaller capacity he starts coughing again.

I hope that helps.

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