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Original poster

DD has temp of 37 and cough - what to do?

26 replies

Flowermum · 03/05/2008 22:26

DD is 23 mos and has had a cough for a week or so. It's a sort of chesty, not mucusy(sp?) one. Apparantly it's going around and I have a tough of it too. She also has a really runny nose and is having a bit of difficulty sleeping with it, but is knackered.

DP just took her temp and it's 37 degrees, and gave her nurofen for kids and stripped her down and she's a lot better now.

So what do I do? This cough is going around, and a friend took her DD to doc with it the other day to be told there's nothing she can get for it. Also, DD always gets a cough and runny nose when she's cutting teeth, so it could be her back molars but I can't get a good look in there. She's in great form, acting normally etc. I'm giving her lots of honey in her milk to try and soothe her throat but the cough isn't subsiding.

Is there anything???

OP posts:
martini82 · 03/05/2008 22:32

37 is normal temp not high could try Tixylix for cough

Original poster
Flowermum · 03/05/2008 22:36

OK, I can never remember if it's 36 or 37 for normal and what's panic temp, run to hospital. Yes, I'm that braindead...

Is there anything chemically in Tixylix? I don't like giving medication in general (hence the honey) but if it calmed her throat then I guess I would.

Thanks for replying!

OP posts:
Twinklemegan · 03/05/2008 22:37

I have to convert our thermometer readings to fahrenheit otherwise I haven't a clue. I work on the basis of 104 degrees being panic temperature, but what that is in celcius I don't know. 39 degrees?

pinkem · 03/05/2008 22:38

My ds has a cough at the min, i'm making sure he has lots to drink, raised the head end of his materess and i have put a bowl of boiling water under his cot so hopefully the steam will help.

Original poster
Flowermum · 03/05/2008 22:40

Oh steam would be good. She's in our bed so possibly won't be able to raise the head but if I can get her into her own I will.

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BigBadMouse · 03/05/2008 22:47

What works well for us is a good airing of the room during the day then (carefully) pouring boiling water over a tea towel and leaving that over the radiator or somewhere near the bed but out of reach - it seems to make a good bit of steam. When we go to bed we just replace the tea towel with another one to keep the steam up. The key is don't let the room get too hot or dry.

We also used to put the steam steriliser on in the room when we had it out for bottles anyway but I guess you are past that point too.

pinkem · 03/05/2008 22:48

If ds ends up in our bed i fold up a couple of soft blankets to raise his head. When his cough was really bad i spent hours in the bathroom with the shower on, it was the only thing that worked. He is so frustrated at the minute as he is soooo tired but he just keeps waking up coughing!

emma1977 · 03/05/2008 22:49

OK, so she has a normal temp and is behaving normally in herself, but has a cough.

I really wouldn't stress about it. If she's well in herself, then she doesn't need anything doing about the cough.

pinkem · 03/05/2008 22:50

Teatowel on radiator good idea!

BigBadMouse · 03/05/2008 22:54

Thankyou - there's an art to getting in soaked in boiling water and up the stairs without burning yourself though. I've perfected it during the course of this winter though .

IME - there is little you can do to stop the cough, the best you can do is relieve it a bit. Most DCs I know seem to cope amazingly well with a cough - my DD2 can cough constantly in her sleep all night (and I mean constantly) and appear not much worse off in the morning .

Flowernat · 03/05/2008 22:54

Hi I've been trying everything i could think of with my lo's cough.She's had one after another from playgroup.Raising head yes.I looked up and it said Lavender oil (on tissue out of reach,but near by).I also used little bit of vicks vapour rub on back and chest.It says over 6 mths and that definately helps.childrens olbas oil helps too again on tissue out of reach...Much better now.

seeker · 03/05/2008 22:57

I find that sips of iced water really help to soothe a cough. Flowermum - your dd doesn't have a fever and she doesn't seem ill - I wouldn't do anything.

And remember that honey is just sugar by another name!

Original poster
Flowermum · 03/05/2008 22:59

yup, she still gets up in the morning, hops out of bed and goes off to find something to do, very busy! So I'm not too concerned about the sleep.

It's just a friend the other day was a little annoyed that I haven't taken her to the doctor yet as it's been going on a while. I should say, the cough is only frequent the past week, but she does generally have either a cough, runny nose or both on the go since Christmas.

Keep forgetting to buy Vicks but will tomorrow.

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seeker · 03/05/2008 23:04

I wouldn't bother with the dr either, what's he going to do? Tell you there's a lot of it about, that's what!

Flowernat · 03/05/2008 23:15

well if you see her looking fine in herself don't worry about the doctor thing.Some people think you should go for that sort of thing but if she's ok in otherways follow your own instincts i guess.I know what you mean though when someone says "haven't you taken them to the dr yet??"you think err perhaps i should have...yeh vicks is good stuff!

Original poster
Flowermum · 03/05/2008 23:17

I know, I'm always loathe to go to the doc. It's so expensive here and so it has to be life or death situation.

I got so annoyed when DD was eight months. She got a tummy bug that was going around. I was perfectly happy giving her dioralyte, keeping her fluids up and watering down her bottles as the formula was too hard on her tummy. Till MIL walked in, panicked DP, shoved us in the car and drove us to hospital where they gave her Calpol, made us wait a few hours and sent us home. I usually feel pretty confident in myself, I know her pretty well, but when other people go on at me I do get a bit doubtful of my abilities and waiver. I'm a total plonker!

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Flowernat · 03/05/2008 23:34

yes we rarely go to the doctors unless emergency or really worried.BUT often the stuff you'd like a doc to have the answers for they just don't have them!!Here is prob a good place for quite a few questions because for general stuff you need another mum who's found out what works from their own experience.I just checked your profile to see where you were because you said it was expensive and I've got to say we've started make muffins by the double batch...haha...so i understand the cake thing.

Original poster
Flowermum · 03/05/2008 23:43

I haven't actually baked in a few weeks and am getting ridiculous cravings for carrot cake... It's getting out of hand actually. Am going to my parents on Monday but might make something tomorrow and leave them here for DP while we're away... Just to get it out of my system!!! Why can't I crave granola or something healthy when pregnant?!?

My doc is €55 a visit, which is £43, and that could be for a quick peek in her throat or a referall to hospital or anything. Whatever the problem, it's €55! And I just am not made of money!!!

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Original poster
Flowermum · 03/05/2008 23:46

that's 55 EURO, not 55 weird codes!!!

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susiecutiebananas · 03/05/2008 23:56

I was going to add that temp of 37 is perfectly normal. Anything over 39 is to be watched. No need for paracetamol or ibroprofen until its above 39 persistently. In fact, the latest guidelines say no calpol at all, but personally, i'd not feel right not giving it if she had a temp of 39+. `Best thing to do, is to keep them cool, strip off clothing, and put a sheet over them in bed, if anything.

I do give calpol or ibroprofen, simply because, I know how horrible you feel when you have a raised temp. I also know how much better you feel half an hour or so after taking it, so stands to reason they must feel the same...

Just keep up the fluids, honey is a great thing for soothing, and manuka honey has antibacterial properties.

If she starts to get lethargic, goes off her food and not taking fluids then perhaps consider the GP, but even then I woudlnt' straight away. Its quite usual for them to go off their food when feeling below par - much like an adult would really Or if the cough begins to sound more chesty, is productive with anything other than clear phlegm, (i.e. green / yellow ) then again, she might need to see the Gp. green phlegm is a sign of infection.

hope that helps at all? Of course i'm sure you're all sorted now.

Flowernat · 03/05/2008 23:57

i know i'm digressing from the thread but I went to a naming ceremony today for my best friends lo AND had a piece of someones homemade carrot cake.When I was pregnant i drank a huge mug of hot chocolate everynight and ate ice cream quite often.What a combo and what a fatty...haha...don't worry works out in the end and anyway carrots ARE a VEGETABLE and help you see in the dark which maybe useful (or inaccurate!)GOd money,i see what you mean.

Original poster
Flowermum · 04/05/2008 00:10

I always wondered what the hooha was about Manuka honey! Thanks susie! Will look out for phlegm too (ugh). My mother sent me three pots of honey produced by some guy down the road from her. She believes that you should eat the honey made most locally to you as it contains elements found in your immediate enviornment. But we don't have a local producer in Dublin so she sent me hers. She lives in the countryside though and we live in the suburbs... Hmmm...

Flowernat HOT CHOCOLATE!!! That's another thing I keep forgetting to buy!!! (though not as pressing as the Vicks, or is it???) I get a NEED for Hot Chocolate late at night, like now... I really should go to bed, not that that will stop the cravings. LAst week I lay in bed for ages wondering if it would be unreasonable to get up and make myself a baked potato and tuna with mayo. I decided it was as I would get indigestion and also it was 3am. Had two for lunch next day though!

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Flowernat · 04/05/2008 00:41

go with the flow.Its only fair,your pregnant after all...whatever you thinks best (god i sound like my mum).Yes manuka supposed to have extra anti bacterial properties an enzymes apparently.My partner hated the taste but the oldest loved it.Its expensive but i was working in a health food shop so we were always trying new stuff.Yes we were always getting in local honey.They say especially for hay fever you wanted to take the honey local to your area.Your mum sounds smart! Sorry to make food things worse...always felt better for hot choc...

susiecutiebananas · 04/05/2008 01:40

I've got really confused with you two posting! Your names are far too similar. I've only just realised there are two of you... wondered why i was getting confused about what flowermum posted then said something totally different...

Original poster
Flowermum · 04/05/2008 11:23

Yeah, it is weird that our names are so similar. Have asked DP to get that new lynx deoderant, you know the one where the guy is made of chocolate in the ad, just in case it actually works. He declined.

I think my mum is just a hippie at heart, though she'd never admit it! My baby wearing, extended breastfeeding, attachment parenting friend has handed over her hippie crown to me based on my general outlook on life compared to hers, even though I would never call myself an attachment parent apparently I'm exactly that.

It's not that I'm against conventional medecine, I just think our bodies weren't made to have loads of chemicals in them so I just like to try alternatives first.

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