6mo baby with hacking cough for 7 weeks. I can't take this anymore, please help

[Zara87]

7 weeks ago ds2 age 6mo got diagnosed with bronchilitis and an ear infection. He had a cough and high temp. Put on antibiotics for ears which all cleared up.
However the cough hasn't gone and is getting worse by the day.
I have been back to the docs at least once a week for 7 weeks now, which may seem ridiculous but everywhere we go everyone is telling me how poorly he sounds. It's relentless, day and night. I see different docs most of the time who all listen and say he doesn't sound infected and put in steamy bathroom and just wait for it to to.
This weekend has been particularly bad. He's now off his milk and food.
I took him to the out of hours docs yday morning who checked everything. Said his throat looked inflamed but his oxygen level was 100% and normal temp, chest still clear but constantly hacking cough while we were there. Doc diagnosed croup and put on steroids for 3 days.
However since yesterday he is so much worse. He can't sleep, he's coughing and coughing and coughing. He won't stop crying, I can't stop crying. He looks in so much pain and so sad. I have a ds1 age 2 who is fed up of us staying in all the time but when ds2 so is this poorly I don't feel we can go anywhere!
I know I have 2 days of steroids left but listening to croup coughs last night on YouTube, this doesn't even sound like what he has.
I should add, his temp often goes up to 40 and he's been quite violently sick 3 times in the last week too. Totally unsure if it's related.
If anyone has any advice as to what the hell I should be doing id be very grateful :(

We also, the week before, went to the GP and demanded a referral to a respiratory peadiatrician and an immunologist. And I didn’t go until they’d done it. So I imagine we’d have got the diagnosis anyway, but it would have been another 3-4 months coming. (The immunologist, when the appt finally cane, actually took another baseline X-ray when he was well which showed marked improvement over the previous ‘clear’ one. So lack of X-ray signs isn’t definitive and you shouldn’t be convinced it is if your DS is still poorly.)

How is he today OP?

Hi. He's such the same. Been back to gp today who has done a paeds referral (6-8 week wait). Thank you for asking.
@HJBeans I wish I saw your post first as I could have asked to be referred to the respiratory paediatrician instead to save time

Thanks so much to everyone for all the helpful advice and experiences on here it's really kept me sane!

Glad you’ve got a referral. The one that came through fastest for us was ‘medical peadeatrics’ and they then worked with the respiratory team to do all the same stuff (eg chest X-ray) so didn’t need the respiratory specialist in the end. Think just getting to a paediatrician should get you the help you need, fingers crossed that it does. 6-8 weeks must feel an eternity, but at least things are rolling now. All good thoughts to you.

OP you poor thing.
I had a winter with DS last year- for him it was mostly tonsillitis that was just not going away but also bronchiolitis, croup, and eat infections variously. In and out of A&E, GP and out of hours clinic for months, I’d say twice a week.

In the end I couldn’t take anymore and paid to see a private ENT who totally understood, made an immediate referral to an NHS paediatrician who we saw the next day, on the NHS, who did full blood screen.

Outcome: unfortunate run of bad luck, chronic tonsillitis, and a battered immune system. I took two weeks off work at Christmas, we stayed home and I ploughed him with (even more) dark green leafy veg, vitamin c and rest. He also had a break from the nursery plague pit which helped immensely.

Post Christmas it seemed his immune system started to fight back, and although we’ve had some illness, nothing at all like that year. But I was reassured that two v senior consultant doctors had agreed that something was not right, and that if it continued, there were treatment options.

It will be alright lovely, but half the battle is feeling supported by the medical staff. If you can afford a private paediatrician, even just once, I’d go for it. It’s not fair that you need to, buy such is life and the NHS in 2018.