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Original poster

People who regularly cough - lanyard?

29 replies

NauseousNancy · 27/12/2020 22:54

My daughter has a condition that makes her cough regularly. Is there something she can wear that will show this? I know you can get lanyards for mask exemptions but she is small and doesn’t need a mask anyway. I’m just getting tired of being terrified she coughs if we are our for a walk, or if I take her to Tesco etc. I feel terrible telling her to try not to cough - she asked me today if she was naughty.

Any ideas?

OP posts:
MrsMomoa · 27/12/2020 22:56

If anyone complains to you or your daughter about her cough, just tell them to mind their own business!

Original poster
NauseousNancy · 27/12/2020 23:01

I have - I just wish there was a way to not have to do this as she is 3.5 and already self conscious about it. It’s not even just covid related - I had a really horrible woman scold me for ‘taking her to the supermarket with a vomiting bug’ last Christmas when of course I hadn’t - she just coughed herself sick and I was cleaning her up in the disabled toilet.

OP posts:
Miarara · 27/12/2020 23:04

No advice but I feel your pain, my DD always coughs, currently GP thinks she probably has asthma so she has an inhaler but too young for a proper diagnosis. When she's running around in the park she coughs lots and it feels like people are looking at us like we shouldn't be out.

Gingerkittykat · 27/12/2020 23:06

I've got asthma which flares up as soon as it gets cold (i.e. now!) so I understand the fear of coughing in public right now.

As far as I know there's not any kind of lanyard, and I doubt if people would get close enough to read it anyway.

WeatherwaxOn · 27/12/2020 23:07

My FIL has a permanent although intermittent cough as a side effect of medication for a heart condition. He has had to explain countless times to people, including when he went for his Covid jab.

BananaPop2020 · 27/12/2020 23:08

I get the point but people absolutely should not have to wear lanyards detailing their medical conditions.

Original poster
NauseousNancy · 27/12/2020 23:08

It’s horrible isn’t it. I wondered whether the sunflower lanyard may show something is going on, but I certainly wouldn’t say she has a disability so wouldn’t want to misuse.

OP posts:
BananaPop2020 · 27/12/2020 23:11

People just need to mind their own or get short shrift!

Original poster
NauseousNancy · 27/12/2020 23:12

They absolutely should mind their own business. But they don’t. And it’s horrible. Bad enough being a poorly 3 year old!

OP posts:
IfOnlyOurEyesSawSouls · 27/12/2020 23:13

Dont do it @NauseousNancy .

You or your DD really do not and should not have to explain yourselves.

My DH has severe asthma and coughs a lot ... sometimes he will offer reassurance to people and just say "please dont worry I have a non covid condition ".

But otherwise ( and i say this as a nurse too. ) I really don't think we ought to be setting precedents where people need to justify their behaviour.

amicissimma · 27/12/2020 23:15

It's tricky though because although someone who doesn't have Covid obviously won't pass it on through their usual cough, if they happen to have picked up Covid and be asymptomatic or presymptomatic, they can spread Covid very effectively by the cough that they always have.

The very act of coughing expels droplets, with or without Covid, much further than breathing or talking does.

Original poster
NauseousNancy · 27/12/2020 23:23

@amicissimma - what’s the other option though? People with conditions that cause them to cough just can’t go anywhere?

OP posts:
Viviennemary · 27/12/2020 23:27

No people shouldn't mind their own business. They have every right to be concerned if people cough near them. The government has put the fear of death into people 're this virus.

Lougle · 27/12/2020 23:28

I think this is the time for loud parenting. When DD1 was young, her SN often made her look like a tantrumming spoiled best brat. We'd get looks. I started saying "Now, DD, I know you have special needs, but you need to calm down..' or 'I'm glad we've got your special buggy, DD1, it's so much easier to get around when you're having a hard day'. It did help.

So I'd say "Oh your asthma is really bad today, isn't it DD?" or "The cold weather is really setting off your asthma cough today."

Ultimately, though, you don't have to justify yourself to anyone.

Original poster
NauseousNancy · 27/12/2020 23:32

She doesn’t have asthma - she has GERD, unfortunately doesn’t work quite the same! I have often said, don’t worry, she doesn’t have covid but I just hate that I have to.

OP posts:
helloxhristmas · 27/12/2020 23:35

It's fucking ridiculous. Why should she have to wear a lanyard for having a cough. I have cold induced asthma and am just getting over a bout of bronchitis. There are plenty of other reasons for coughs than just CV.

I wear a hawk before that gets questioned!

AnneShirleysNewDress · 27/12/2020 23:35

I feel your pain OP. I have asthma with a permanent cough. Let your DD cough. It'll keep the idiots away if nothing else.

FindHungrySamurai · 27/12/2020 23:36

Normally I’m onboard with the MN MYOB approach, but the other people in the shop might have very good reason to be worried about sharing a space with someone with a persistent cough.

Heaven knows it’s not impossible that someone might be selfish enough to be out and about with flagrant Covid symptoms so it’s entirely reasonable for a vulnerable person to be worried. It can’t be beyond the wit of humanity to devise a method of reassuring people that the person next to them isn’t as scary as they sound, minimising aggro and anxiety while not requiring people with chronic asthmatic coughs to stay at home for a year.

IfOnlyOurEyesSawSouls · 27/12/2020 23:36

@AnneShirleysNewDress i think thats the only answer!

DontWalkPastTheCastle · 27/12/2020 23:43

No, I wouldn't have a small child walking about with something around their neck. It's nobody's business and if they say anything they're rude.

All these lanyards and wrist bands - I never know what they're for, I'd have to get close up enough to read it for it to be useful.

CuppaZa · 27/12/2020 23:43

What @FindHungrySamurai said.

TruffleHeart · 27/12/2020 23:53

Oh bless her. I have felt similar as I have a constant catarrh cough at the back of my throat which is worse when I speak, so whenever I have zoom meetings at work I start coughing and feel the need to tell everyone I don't have COVID! I'm also paranoid about coughing in public (with mask on!).

I think you just have to brazen it out, teach her sensible and sanitary ways to cough and let her know she's not doing anything wrong x

Chloemol · 27/12/2020 23:55

I cough a lot due to a medical condition. If I cough in a shop I just say why, and move on

greenlynx · 27/12/2020 23:59

It’s a tricky situation. I do understand that we all should mind our own business and people may have conditions when they cough a lot but atm someone coughing next to you feel pretty uncomfortable.
We went for a walk yesterday and popped to a shop. There were a few people, we were looking at pencil cases when a child in a next row started coughing. We went out straight away. We didn’t tell anything and I bet his parents or whoever was with him haven’t seen us. However the problem is that children don’t wear masks, generally have milder symptoms, some parents ignore their symptoms and even don’t isolate when they have to so coughing child does attracts attention in the current situation.
Sorry I don’t have any advice. Hope your DD’s medical issue is not too serious and will be resolved.

Daddyatethemincepies · 28/12/2020 00:01

I cough a lot at this time of year and have linked it to experiencing big changes of temperature- so I'll be fine in my house, but as soon as I leave the house (and if it's very cold outside) I'll start coughing, sometimes so badly that I'm almost sick. I've had this issue for years. No one took any notice to my coughing fits until this year but now I get alarmed looks and people avoiding coming near me. I can't control the cough and I'm not prepared to try, so I keep my distance from people wherever possible, and I just cough as normal. Just let your dd do the same and try and ignore people and their comments.