Baby with a cough

[cazzybabs]

My 6 month year old has a cough and has had it for a week now. It is not cheasty but she does cough quite often...she has a a little cold too, but apart from that is fine. SHall I ignore it and it will get better, buy some cough medicine from the chemist or go to the Doctor? She also sounds like she has a soar throat when she cries, laughs and talks. (I am trying not to laugh writing this because she is soo funny!!!)

Also as aside...did your babies ever play with their ears? Has she started holding her ear because she has ear ache (either realted to her cold or teeth) or has she found something new to play with (like her toes) or does she take after her dad and is strange!!?

Dunno about ears, but coughs are going around I'm afraid. I have a particularly bad one that is keeping me awake at night! Dd developed a cough early October and every time she gets rid of it, it just keeps cropping up again! I did take her to the docs but she just said that there are a lot of bugs going around, nothing they can do, blah, blah, blah. If she has a sore throat, try warm water and honey to soothe it (if she'll take it), you might need to mix it orange juice though, or vimto. Also a couple of drops of eucalyptus oil in a bowl of very hot water near their bed at night helps. If she chokes whilst coughing, raise the head of the bed slightly so that if she does cough anything up, it will not choke her. Air her room plenty during the day, keep her warm and hope it clears up. That advice comes from NHS Direct and I think that's all you can do at this stage.

Hope she gets better soon!

I can sympathise - my 18 month old ds had about 2 hours sleep last night with a horrible (chesty in his case) cough. Didn't know whether to take him to nursery today, but decided to as I was dead on my feet and need a break. Think I made the right decision as he snapped out of his grumps and made a beeline for all the toys when we got there. Of course, I probably won't relax, expecting a call from the nursery to pick him up at any minute!

My ds had a nasty dry cough and cold recently which got particularly bad when she was asleep. At first, bought over the counter cough medicine which was useless. Went to doctors who prescribed some drops for her blocked nose and some medicine for her cough both of which worked. Maybe catarrh is irritating her throut? Personally, never had any joy with over the counter cough medicines either for myself or my children.

dd has just recovered from a cough. The doctor said over the counter medicines were useless. Sorry to disagree Rhubarb but you should not be giving honey to a baby under one year. Lots of fluids wil help teh sore throat. On the ears, my dd has just started to hold on to hers. We had the doctor check for infection just in case but there was no sign of it and he said she has just faound a new thing to play with. dd is currently also fascinated by our ears. Take her to the doctor if you think she is not well in herself, but they will probable just say its a viral infection.

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Tixylix is really good, for either a dry or a chesty cough. And, as robinw says, lots of steam - put them in the bathroom when you are having a shower. If they've got a sore throat, you could put a drop or two of Ribena in their water to soothe it (works for me!)

I feel horribly guilty now (re: sending ds to nursery after all). Apparently he did have fun in the morning and didn't seem to be particularly under the weather, after his afternoon nap he got a very high temperature (over 100) and Calpol didn't seem to do the trick so I got "summoned".

Tried to get him and emergency appointment with the doctor but the receptionists are terrible at that surgery (despite the doctors saying that all babies and young children will be seen same day - obviously didn't tell the reception staff). Wasn't going to be seen before the weekend!

Couldn't cope with another night like last night so took him round to the NHS Direct Drop In place - they were superb. Turns out the poor wee mite has a bad chest infection and is now on antibiotics (which was a real battle to get him to take this evening!)

The whole thing scares me silly as I remember the panic the only other time he had a chest infection - he was 8 months old, first time given penicillin (wasn't sure if he'd be allergic - I am extremely allergic to it) and given warnings to keep him warm and give lots of fluids (was b/feeding at the time). That night the heating broke down (took 2 days to get someone to fix) and he refused all feeds - he never breastfed again even once he was better. My overriding memory is trying to force water, breastmilk or formula down his throat with a syringe in a desperate attempt to keep him out of hospital (we succeeded).

I know he's much older now and will probably be fine, but with dh working away from home in the week now it's all a bit scary.

Hmm, I wrote loads... sorry for hijacking the thread.

My 7 month old DD has a really chesty cough which seems to have developed since we moved house 3 days ago.

DP is convinced there is damp on the house, but I do not think this would cause a cough so quickly - also we have been at my Dad's all weekend so away from any potential damp.

The cough is waking her up at night, I have elevated the end of the cot (head end) and was wondering if I should take her to the doctors as it is really distressing her. Also, any other tips for getting rid if cough?

Well, after my experience, I would say take her to the doctor! You won't be wasting their time - at the very worst they can reassure you that she'll be fine.

I've put some karvol in ds' room to help him breathe more easily while he sleeps and that seems to have helped even though he's still waking from time to time. Keep a close eye on her temperature and give nurofen for children (suitable for over 6 months) or calpol to keep the temperature down. If breathing gets laboured take her into the bathroom and run a hot shower so she breathes in lots of steam (or boil a kettle well out of her reach in her bedroom).

Remember you can always phone NHS Direct at any time of the day or night if you're worried (0845 46 47 or website www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk)

I doubt it's the damp to be honest - so many babies and toddlers I know have this at the moment - more likely that it's just been such a wet dismal month that bugs have propagated rather quickly.

cazzybabs,

I don't want to alarm you unnecessarily but please take her to doctor especially if her voice seems raspy. Last year I took our dd aged 3 months to dr because she coughed so much she was sick, but not because of the cough itself. She was also "meowing" like cat. It turned out she had RSV and Bronchiollitis which can develop into a serious problem if left untreated.

Your dd may well have nothing more than a cold and congestion but given the time of year (winter is the season for RSV) I don't think a good dr would blame you for being concerned. Have you tried raising the head of her cot onto blocks/books (we use the Ikea toilet training steps) as this can help especially at night.

Hope this helps and it turns out to be of no real concern.

LizS

Mine are coughing a lot too. I don't worry because they are still bright in other respects.

The ears thing: could be teething. The nerve that runs along the jaw goes all the way back to the ears, and 6 months is a right age to start teething. When they're teething the immune system is slightly depressed, which could explain the persistence of the cough...