14 month olds ill since Jan with cold/ virus/ cough. Is this normal? Really starting to worry

[twinmam]

Both my 14 month old DDs have had this cold virus since mid Jan now. They haven't been really ill constantly but have had it in peaks and troughs, always with a runny nose etc and the coughs haven't gone away at any point although have been worse at times. At times they have been OK in themselves but then for other periods they have been miserable and listless and have had fevers at various points. It just feels as if it has been going on forever DD2 has been particularly ill and has coughed so much she has been sick (sometimes projectile) on several occasions now. I'm also worried about the sound she makes in between coughing, a kind of weird high pitched sound on inhalation. I've been backwards and forwards to the Dr's countless times. Individually each DD has been precribed a course of antibiotics and they also had a course of antibiotics at the same time a week ago which I was hoping would stop them re-infecting one another. They were really ill at that stage, high fevers, not eating (very unusual) and limp etc. I was worried they'd need to be hospitalised but the dr said not. In fact they did make quite a recovery with the antibiotics but now the course has finished they have gone downhill again, although not back to how they were. DD2 has had a temperature for 2 days now but it is controllable with paracetamol/ ibuprofen. She was up to 38.8 today but it came back down with some calpol. She has woken in the night the last 2 nights with the fever and is sleeping in the day a lot more than usual. She coughs in the night just about every night, and as I said has been sick with this quite a lot. I took her to the dr's specifically about the weird sound she makes between coughing as I was starting to panic about whooping cough and I filmed her doing it. The dr said it wasnt prolonged enough for whooping cough. I'm starting to feel at the end of my tether with this. I know the first winter is supposed to be bad and they do go to nursery 2 days a week so I know picking up bugs is normal but is it normal to be ill for this long? Has anyone else had a similar experience? Should I be worried? The dr's seem to keep on putting it down to a virus but would a virus last this long? It's been over 3 months now! Any suggestions/ advice would be gratefully received. TBH it is a nightmare getting to the dr's with my twins as our dr's surgery has loads of stairs etc and they're too big for me to carry them both now so if I can avoid going back another 50 times with no result that would be great but equally I want to know if there is something more serious than a virus going on and if there is anything we can do to help my poor LOs. Thanks.

I dont think I can help you but you sound as if you could use some advice so I can at least give you a bump!

For what it is worth my 14 month old son goes to nursery 2.5 days a week and he always has a runny nose, and very often a cough. However, I think I would be concerned about the regular high temperature and the 'weird sound'.

Do they ever get 'wheezy' and does their breathing get rapid?

Thanks HelenMC1 - bless you! The docs have listened tho their chests hundreds of times and always declare them completely clear. I'm pretty sure there is no wheezing (unless the odd sound IS a wheeze but it is on inhalation rather than exhalation). DD2 has had slightly rapid breathing during her fever but otherwise I think they both have pretty normal breathing. She has made the odd sound less frequently this last week (and since the antibiotics) but has done so on some occasions - she prob does it at least every day. I think I'm going to have to go back to the dr's again. I might ask if we can be referred to a paediatrician - one gp did mention this possibility at one stage. Thanks for the reassurance re the constant cough and runny nose though - that at least covers DD1!!

I can second the fact that since ds has been at nursery, he has hardly ever been without a cold, runny nose and/or flemmy cough. But he very rarely gets a temperature. If the temperatures are recurring you need to see the docs again I think.

Yep, even when my ds gets a chest infection (hence the 'wheezy' question) he doesn't really get much of a temperature.

I am afraid you are going to have to lugg them up the stairs to the docs again and perhaps push for that refferal if they try and fob you off with the 'virus' response.

Good luck!

Think you're right. Just feel that I've been doing this for a while now and not getting anywhere plus I find it hard to be 'pushy' with dr's but yes, I think DD2 def needs to be seen again....

Have made emergency appt for this afternoon and it happens to be with the senior partner at our GP surgery who we've not seen yet (have seen 4 other GPs so far!!) Also, DH will be in so can help with stair lugging and also with trying to get this investigated further. Don't want to seem pushy but also really feel this all needs to be looked at in more detail. Any tips on getting the dr to not fob us off with the 'it's just a virus' or with another antibiotics prescription? Of course, might not be fobbing off as that's what it might be but how do I get them to take this seriously?

I have been in a similar situation with my DD, she has been ill constantly for months with various things but always has a cough and a runny nose.

I went to my GP loads and they always told me it was just a cold/virus and I didn't believe them and pushed to see a more senior doctor. Apparently the average pre-schooler gets 12 colds over winter, which considering winter is say six months max, a cold lasting two weeks will mean they have a cold all winter!

We ended up getting an inhaler to ensure chest was clear but made little difference and I do think it is quite normal at this age to be ill this much. Disheartening as it is and trust me I know how it feels (have a thread running about whether or not to take my DD out of nursery because of it, amongst other things) it is very common. I don't know how to make them take you seriously, I kept a symptom diary which I think helped.

Thanks Ewe. She has a temperature for the third day running and is not herself, v sleepy etc. A symptom diary is a v good idea as I must admit I keep forgetting which baby was ill with what and when!! Maybe the fact that there are two of them ill has made it seem twice as bad! It is mostly the repeated fevers and the severity of the cough in DD2 that is worrying me coupled with this bizarre noise when inhaling between coughs so we shall see what the dr says this afternoon and I will start a symptom diary today in case it continues. Know what you mean about nursery although I think our main problem is it passing between both DTs and short of separating them there's nothing I can do about that!

I think you just have to make sure you let him how concerned you are (especially about DD2). Let him know that you realise that nurseries are a hot-bed of pestilence but that you are not sure that that completely explains the fevers and the severe cough.

I meant to ask, do you know if any of the other children at nursery has (or has had) anything similar to your DD2?

They all have snotty noses a lot of the time as do the children at our playgroups etc so it does seem as if there is a lot of it about. One of the dr's said much the same thing in terms of this having been a bad winter for colds etc. However there doesn't seem to be as much coughing from other kids and certainly none of them have been making this strange sound tho I guess even DD1 hasn't been making the sound and nor has she had as many fevers. Likewise it is only DD2 who has been sick coughing and that has happened a fair few times. Thanks for the advice. I will go to the dr's armed with my short film of DD2 making her odd noise and confirm their suspicions that I am a madwoman! I think I will play it in terms of how worried I am about the bigger picture whereas previously I have stressed the individual, recent symptoms be it the fever/ the vomiting/ the cough (whilst still saying they've been ill since Jan). Hopefully he will be able to offer me a miracle cure that the other dr's somehow forgot about....!

Hi

Just reading your posts and sounds the very same as my 3 year old Son, back and forward to the doctor's with bad cough and high temperature for over 3 months. Then after 2 courses of anti-biotics I demanded a chest xray.

Turned out He has pneumonia, he was given strong anti-biotics and steriod inhaler and is now at last on the mend.

So don't be fobbed off by dr's as they told me my Son had a cold for 3 months.

Lisa x

Thanks Lisa. I was well and truly fobbed off and made to feel like an idiotic over-fussy mother when we took DD back to the GP last week. In fact DH also felt the dr was 'smug' and 'rude' in response to our concerns - first time I've felt that way, although I've been sent away with the 'just a virus' diagnosis plenty of times. This is the first time I felt my concerns weren't taken seriously however. I'm going to keep on monitoring. We're off on our hols a week on Fri so am hoping warm weather might help her but if cough is still there when we get back I'm going to go back and ask for a referral. Am wondering if it could be asthma or something. She is q happy in herself at the mo but still the cough is there and has been since mid January - surely over 3 months later it should have cleared up? The drs have always listened to DD's chest and said it's clear. Was this the case with your DS or could they hear the congestion in his chest before they x rayed?

twinmam, just wanted to add something re the high pitched sound on inhalation your dd makes...my dd2 makes exactly that, and its due to a floppy larynx (laryngomalacia). If she's only just developed it, its not likely to be that - but if she's had some degree of it since being a few weeks or months old, it could be.

If it is, its not something to worry about - but would explain a fair bit noise-wise at least. It also pre-disposes LOs to silent reflux, which makes them more likely to be sick with a cough.

A 'floppy' laryngeal structure also makes for more infections, and dd2 did have endless viruses/colds at that age, and a fair amount this winter too - but she has an older sister who brings bugs home so that accounts for a lot. I think non-stop colds is fairly normal, for toddlers, unless they are isolated - from September to April, IIRCC - but I would worry about the chesty stuff, and want it checked out again, same as you.

Another thought - enlarged tonsils and/or adenoids can account for non-clearing infections, and night coughs. We thought dd had asthma, then we thought she had hayfever (when summer arrived and the cough continued) but no....she had huge tonsils and adenoids. Now out.

Thanks for that Eli, really useful. Each time the drs have bothered to look in her throat (the last one didn't) they have said her tonsils are inflamed. I suffered a lot from tonsillitis as a child so could be something she's inherited from me maybe? Of course the difficulty is me going back to the dr and saying 'I think she's got X,Y and Z' because then they will be even more pissed off with me!! When I offered to show the last GP my little video of her coughing (thought that was much more sensible than trying to describe the sound) he actually laughed and just said it was 'just' croup. When we then looked puzzled (thought croup was a Bad Thing) he said it was basically a cough in response to the mucus etc. Actually she is making the noise far less frequently at the mo but it comes and goes and the cough has never disappeared.

I had this with my daughter when she was 2. Coughing for about 3 months and was worse at night time.She was still couhing after 2 doses of antibiotics. So my doctor then prescribed her with an inhaler, to see if that helped, he also suggested that we took her off cows milk for 2 weeks as she may be lactose intolerant. We did this and within 2 weeks the coughing had stopped completely, so we kept her off cows milk and put her on goats milk for 18 months just to make sure. She is now 10 and has been back on cows milk for 6 years with no problems what so ever. Some children just cannot digest cows milk.

Lol, I would go back and say 'someone said maybe we should get her tonsils looked at...' and blame me (anonymously, please )!

There are so many factors that could be playing a part, with non-stop coughs, at that age, its hard to get a diagnosis even with good, and patient, GPs. Very frustrating, and worrying, but hang in there - the explanation will either come with time (and summer, which can make a big difference with several conditions) or the cough will go and she will get better. Good luck, and I really hope she's better soon either way

My dd (3) has been the same since starting nursery she will be fine for a few days then wake up with bright red cheeks ,snotty nose and a cough .

It is wearing me (and her) out .

She was diagnosed with a chest infection about three weeks ago and I thought the ab's had cleared it all up but she has been miserable and coughing all day today .

Hope your dds get better soon I know its not nice knowing other lo are ill but in a strange way I think it helps knowing we are all going through the same sort of thing .

Oh poor you and poor DD Comewhinewithme It is so rotten and exhausting for everyone when they're ill isn't it.

Thanks 2little - I did have at the back of my mind the cows milk thing as we switched to cows milk as soon as they turned one in Feb so it does almost tie in with dates.... I might have to really start thinking about cutting it out tho I admit I've been avoiding that as it seems like it could be a lot of work so am considering other solutions first IYSWIM! Obviously if that IS what it turns out to be then I won't hesitate (am not that bad a mother !) but like Eli says, there are so many possibilities at this age!

Eli, I'm heading back to the dr's if the cough is still there when we get back from our hols in May (I bloody hope not) and I'm going to say 'ELibean on Mumsnet said...' That should sort it! Seriously tho, thank you, and def will try the 'someone suggested...' tack which hopefully the GP will find non-threatening as opposed to the manic woman clutching a video of her coughing child!

We have had to cut back on milk too she used to have a cup in the morning and a cup of hot chocolate at night and we did notice she coughed more with the milk.

NHS direct told us to give her some warm ribena and it does seem to make a difference .

Hi Twinmam

Everytime dr listened To Kieran's chest it was clear, think that's prob why He kept fobbing us off as there was no congestion. He is going for follow up xray on Tuesday so hope its clear.

xx

Lisa
Mum to Eirean 12yrs
Twins Sadie & Kieran 3yrs
Kieran has aspergers, syringomylia and sdd