Toddler cough

[Exhaustedmummy2024]

I'm not really sure what I'm looking for here as I write this sat up after yet another coughing fit with my 21 month old. I'm hoping for a suggestion that I haven't tried that might magically work but at this point I am beyond exhaustion and hope! Basically, my 21 month old girl has had a cough on and off since August (2025) and some spells of it before this but went longer between. The cough does tend to follow a cold virus and then lingers for 3-4 weeks at a time. Affecting her sleep and mine! Things I have tried:
Humidifier in her room.

Hot showers throughout the day and before bed.
Homemade cough syrup with honey, lemon, ginger.
Various herbal teas - she loves them but not sure they do much good.
Vicks, on her chest and feet with socks.
Tried various saline sprays, throughout the day and night.
Chopped up onions in the room!
Radiator switched off in her room.
GP visits.
Ent appointment (was SO bad, he checked her nose and basically said stop worrying she's fine!)
Piriton; this did help but I think it was more it knocked her out so she didn't cough. I don't feel comfortable doing this regularly.
Very little diary in her diet.

I feel like I've exhausted everything and yet here I am, listening to the poor thing coughing and crying for another night. Some nights it's on and off all night, other nights she doesn't start until 4-5am but then is up and is really grumpy throughout the day because she's tired.

If you've read this far - thank you :(

Did your doctor offer an inhaler / nebuliser? My DD had similar and a nebuliser really helped, she had to get it a few times over 2 years and it worked.

Has she been chacked for asthma?

Any chance it's reflux?

I did wonder about asthma but thought could this be the case if it's only mainly following a cold?
Haven't thought about reflux x

I don’t have any further advice but just wanted to say my son has also been coughing since basically October 2025.

Some days he gets better but now again he has a bad cough with runny nose and spikes in temp. We think its back to back viruses since he started nursery in September last year but honestly it seems excessive.

I am also trying the calpol plug in and humidifier in his room. We have an inhaler as his GP thought maybe its asthma but I don’t think it helps too much. Hope your little one feels better soon!

Have you tried an air purifier in the room? We’ve found that’s massively helped with lingering coughs

Thank you. It's just relentless isn't it :(

Not yet but it is something we've been looking in to so maybe sooner rather than later. Thank you.

Just re- checking in on this to see if anyone has any further advice? We've just had 5 nights in hospital with low oxygen and diagnosed pneumonia, caused they said by yet another virus. But the cough, honestly I don't know what to do anymore. Last night up from 1am - 4am coughing. This has been for nearly 4 weeks now! We have an air purifier in her room now too. I am wondering if an inhaler would help? Any experience with this? Please.

Did they run any tests to identify which virus @Exhaustedmummy2024 ? Because that can make a difference to how long LO 'should' be ill afterwards.

Adenovirus this time x

Good old chat gbt suggested:

Viral-induced wheeze / early asthma (VERY likely)

This fits really well:

Noisy chest (wheeze can sound like whistling, rattling, or even just “not right”)
Worse at night
Triggered by viruses
Leads to long, exhausting coughs
Can cause low oxygen (like her admission)

👉 Antibiotics wouldn’t help this—which matches what you saw.

1. Protracted bacterial bronchitis (PBB)

Think will go back to GP, been out of hospital 6 days now and cough still just as bad, if not worse, oxygen also low at times when measuring at home.

My child had protracted bacterial bronchitis after a bad bout of bronchiolitis. Basically residual bacterial infection deep in then lungs which is reactivated each time they have a viral infection and immune system is weakened a bit. It went on for 18 months, including two further hospitalisations when it got bad enough to affect breathing. Constant condescending medical staff telling me to stop being anxious. Usually you will have lungs that sound clear and clear chest X-rays. The diagnosis was finally made by an A&E doc when I went in desperation before the cough got bad enough for hospitalisation but when I could hear it going that way again. She looked at my happily playing toddler and asked if he’d had any entirely cough-free weeks, which he hadn’t. She then explained PBB and said the only way to approach was a long trial of antibiotics - 2 weeks at least and then another 2 weeks if not entirely resolved. That solved it and he was a healthy wee kid after that. In my experience so hard to get any medical staff to listen to / take a view on anything that’s not just a point in time (i.e. this kid is currently not terribly ill) and see the full history (this kid has been coughing for 18 months). In your shoes I’d be asking for a referral to medical pediatrics and would also be asking why they thought DCs presentation was not consistent with PBB. Good luck and solidarity - it’s awful to know they’re not right and not be able to get anyone medical interested in helping them.

Following with interest as my 20 month old is going through the same. I don't think it's asthma or allergies though because my husband and I are now battling with the same persistent cough too now. Have also done everything on your OP list and not sure going to a GP or hospital will actually help- thankfully she hasn't been as poorly as yours, but she is waking multiple times in the night with a horrible hacking mucous cough (ditto DH and I!).

We had a suspicion that we've picked up a new covid variant. Very bored of coughing now!

Could I ask what antibiotics your little one was put on please? She had 2 different types in hospital, but only 5 days for each. She does have some weeks with no cough, but then a cold will come and then a cough straight after. Thank you for your reply x

Sorry to hear your little one (and you) are suffering too. It's absolutely awful!

For us it took until she was 2.5 and repeated GP appointments/A&E presentations (including ambulances for her O2 not responding to a salbutamol nebuliser) for her to be given a brown inhaler after pneumonia. Honestly, the difference for her is night and day. She now has regular appointments with our GP surgery’s asthma nurse and she’s happy for her to stay on the brown because it keeps her safe and well.

Are there any comorbidities like allergies that you could try to leverage? Our DD has anaphylaxis so it’s massively in everyone’s interest to keep potential airway inflammation down. Sounds cynical but I know how hard it is when you have the A&E grab bag for every single cold and you sit up watching night after night

My now 4 year old was bad with her coughs. Every cold would go to her chest and last for ages. She has repeated episodes of bronchiolitis and pneumonia may trips to A&E for low oxygen or concerning Obs. Couple of admissions. I raised my concerns strongly with the GP who referred her to paediatrics. Consultant said likely viral wheeze/early asthma. Prescribed brown and blue inhalers which helped massively. Her chest is a lot better now but I still worry every cold she gets. Hope your little one improves

I’m afraid I don’t remember as it was now 8 years ago, but it was nothing fancy, I don’t think - just a really long course. I think the key with PBB is that a short course isn’t enough to properly wipe out the bugs lurking way down low in the lungs (never thought to ask why!) and shorter than necessary courses will in effect select the hardiest germs to stick around down there.

The angelic A&E doctor who finally took us seriously said a key diagnostic is that the cough never really goes away, so not sure about a match to your situation. I can’t recall it being worse at night - though of course it felt worse then as I’d be watching him sleep and cough and on eggshells waiting for when his breathing became more rapid.