DD2 has a hacking cough and streaming nose

[Thomcat]

She's 8 months old, 1st cold.
Don't wanna take her to a doctors and get prescribed antibiotics, want her to fight it off herself if poss and help build up her immune system.
She has a cough, quite bad, not terrible, not too often but quite loose. Nose is running but is clear.
However her chest is a little rattley and she's slightly breathless, but otherwise happy.
I've raised her cot. Put eucalyptus oil in a bowl of steraming water by her cot, and some drops on a musin tied to the top of her cot.
Anything else I can do?
Or do you think that rattle really needs to be sorted by a doctor?

is the rattle on her chest or raspy breathing in her throat? If it is on her chest then get her seen by gp. However I will say I am overcautious as dd gets very ill quickly when like that.

Message withdrawn

it's a little chesty, but not too bad.

She first started coughing a tiny bit at the weekend, got a bit worse a couple of nights ago.

Thomcat, we've all just had vile cold/sore throat thing and it did seem to last ages with kids and me and dh too (just in time for our holiday )

unless she is coughing up green gunk, has high temp I'd keep doing what you're doing.

cheers dinny.
just massively want to avoid antibiotics but at same time don't want to be negletful.

difficult to know, isn't it? but do think the rule of thumb for chest infection is the yellow/green phlegm and high temperature. hope she's better soon, it's so horrible when they're poorly.

Given her baby nerofen anyway, better that than antibiotics. No temperature and happy in herself and very clear thin snot.

You can always get the rattle checked and if you do get given abs you can ask for them in powder form, to add your own water to if you feel she needs them. That way you get peace of mind and are in control of the abs. Our gp is happy to do this. (Once made up they last 7days.)

O/wise steamy bathrooms, eucalyptus etc. Don't see what more you can do!