what to give 9mth old for cough?

[hazlinh]

so, what's safe to give a 9mth old for a phlegmy cough that seems to get worse at night? it started on friday, but is getting worse and worse.
will only be able to see dr on monday or tuesday.

when my 5 year old was that age & had a gunky cough my gp said not to give anything as they need to cough up the gunk & most things you get over the counter suppress the mucus and can make it worse. at the time i wasn't very impressed as he was making himself sick with the coughing but i guess it sort of makes sense. i would still take to GP though just to make sure not settled on chest or anything.

Chicken broth clears mucous - look into homeopathy too......

I have the same question but my baby is only 16 weeks old - I don't know whether it justifies a trip to the doctor or not. Obviously he's too young for chicken soup!

hi KathH, i've heard that too, but thing is, she's coughing up the gunk but seems to be swallowing it back!! as she doesn't seem to know how to cough it OUT!! what shd i do? and she's crying at night, can't sleep for the coughing and runny nose..

H, I asked the same question to the GP and she told me the same as KathH is saying, though she also added that she wouldn't give cough syrups to a child of her specially when he was that young.

I think the only that you can do is to get a humidifier and rise the head of her cot to help her breath better. I have put a capsul of Karvol (not Calpol) in the humidifier and that works wonders, though you can also put them in a handkerchief and if remember right they also sell them in other presentations more effective than the drops.

how long shud i wait til sending her to gp? dh says to wait til it clears. bloody hell

Tomorrow morning? it seems not to be urgent but better safe than sorry.

sorry dinosaur, didn't mean to ignore. dunno really. best to see the gp!! i shud talk

chandra, do u know how long it takes for it to develop into an infection or worse? cos dh insists not to bother sending to dr and having to pay, only for the cough to get better on its own by tomorrow/day after!!

Well it all depends, sometimes it can take weeks some times it can take hours. Where are you located? is there any walk-in center where you can go and don't have to pay? Well, if you are in England you can ring NHS direct and ask them what they think about it, their telephone is 0845 4647

Their website is www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk, there's some useful info there as well.

am not in the uk but thanks for that. FANTASTIC WEBSITE!! love the cool body parts illness finder thing!