Daughter has a terrible cough - help/advice needed

[malinki]

Hi,
DD (aged 4) has a very annoying/hacking cough, no cold, no runny nose.
It started on Sunday night, she went to bed at 7.45pm, fast asleep by 8.15pm then for some god forsaken reason 11.30 pm starts coughing like mad, only had Calpol in the house so woke her up, gave her some and this coughing continued for about 1 hour, every 5 minutes at least. Monday night, same routine putting her in bed, same times etc, but this time, put snuffle rub her chest and vest, come 11.30pm same god damn cough, DH got up and gave her double dosage Calpol as she was very warm, her room is not dry, but we ended up putting a bowl of water in her room, putting a wet face cloth over her headboard, and putting more snuffle rub on, (her bedroom window was already open). Last night we did everything we could, bathed her, gave her milk, talked about her cough, and what happens, 11.45 pm cough, cough, cough, cough, cough. She is very tired now, she is in full time nursery and they said she hasn't coughed much at nursery. What more can I do, should I go the the chemist and try and get something for a dry cough.

My DD also has an annoying on-off cough for no apparant reason. There is nothing worse than lying there awake waiting for the next cough to come is there??!

I found that Calpol actually makes her cough more, and have tried bowl of water, olbas oil on bedding, Karvol & pholcodeine (Boots own baby brand) but TBH I don't really think it helps - we just grit out teeth and wait to come out of the other side. Sorry I can't be of more help!

I'd be more inclined to see your GP, Malinki. Night-time coughing can sometimes be a sign of asthma. Is there any asthma or hayfever in the family? I dont mean to worry you. Obviously as it has only been a few days it's more likely to be just a virus. IME cough medicines dont do an awful lot of good.

Also, try putting a pillow under her mattress at the pillow end to raise her chest/head up a bit. That helps lots with my dd when she gets a lingering cough after a cold. I also give her Tixylix.

malinki have you tried giving her a couple of spoonfuls of honey?it's the only thing that works with my children when they have a cough,worth a try
hope she gets better soon

Malinki, there is a hacking cough with no obvious snot doing the rounds at ds' school (and now thanks to dd) at dd's nursery
Like yours, it only seems bad at night. Hope she feels better soon...