Help.. my 4yr old can’t stop coughing at night!

[lilbooboo1]

Hi! My DD has a dry tickling cough, very since starting school she is ill pretty much all the time. Seemingly picking up coughs all the time which she never usually got at nursery. This leads to sleepless nights for us all. I’ve tried calpol, nurofen. Honey, menthol plug in, humidifier. Just wondering if anyone else has any other tips or suggestions I could try. I know it’s a case of riding it out but I feel awful sending her to school tired but she can’t be off too much. Thank you in advance x

It's a symptom of childhood asthma, please see your GP.

The GP prescribed an asthma puffer for a persistent night time cough, and it helped DS a lot. Ten years later he was officially diagnosed with asthma.

As above, this is what my son gets (he's 4.5). He gets a viral wheeze after colds and has a blue inhaler (as well as a brown one, but it's the blue one we use for symptoms like coughing).

Sorry to be the one who says this because it sounds stupid when the cough is there a lot and worrying - but have you tried rubbing Vicks into DD’s feet (soles) and then putting socks on? It is the only thing we find that works for most of us in the family. As a bit of relief anyway. I hope it stops soon. So tiring. Also is the humidifier a hot one? Cold ones are rubbish.

I think asthma too.

Had this with both my DDs. One was found to have huge tonsils. I can’t quite remember why that was a problem but anyway they were removed and the coughing stopped. Other was asthmatic. No other symptoms, no wheezing with sports etc. but two puffs on a white inhaler at night and the cough keeps at bay. She needs to see a GP.

Asthma.
my DD now takes a steroid medication (as still young) and has a blue inhaler.
Go see the GP

I’d be thinking asthma or enlarged tonisils too. Definitely worth a GP appointment.

This is what I would do to. My son had it and now his daughter does in the winter. I'm suffering at the moment because of the weather and the fluey bug I have.

Aw that’s so tough. DS2 coughed all night from October to March for a couple of years straight. Poor sausage. Ended up being ‘reactive airways’ which was described to me as ‘pre-asthma’ but luckily it never went full-blown. As his tubes got larger he grew out of it I guess.
He had a brown inhaler (I think? Maybe it was blue..) and we also found a humidifier worked (but then ran dehumidifier in the day for a bit as didn’t want damp either!! 🙃) Also felt things like menthol/olbas/vicks exacerbated it.

We were given a steroid inhaler to use before bed and it cleared up on its own a few days after.

She is too young to be diagnosed with asthma. Doctors are reluctant to diagnose before the age of 7 (I think) because some children simply have narrower airways and this can be fairly common. However doctors will treat a persistent cough with an inhaler. My son was on inhalers between the ages of 3 and 5 for a persistent cough, set off by a cold or the change in temperatures from warm to cold, he was always bad over winter but never needed them in the summer He is nearly 7 now as has grown out of it.

Thanks guys! We did get given a blue inhaler one time a good while ago. That helped some times and other times not. I’ll look at getting a GP appointment booked. May as well see what they say, I think I held off as I knew they don’t diagnose before a certain age. Weren’t sure if it was just down to constantly catching bugs being her first year in school x

I’ve heard this off a few people, they say it can help a lot. I’ll give it ago 😀 x

They give a blue inhaler without a confirmed diagnosis at our surgery to little ones. Also a spacer. Do see your GP it's exhausting for a child.

Parents try removing carpets, replacing bedding, banning animals, keeping windows shut. Putting heaters in the bedroom in cold weather. Damp dusting. Avoiding open fires, log burners. Avoiding dairy.