Any suggestions for 13 month old coughing ALL NIGHT? Aaaggghhh!

[weightwatchingwaterwitch]

We are all knackered. She slept from 7.30 - midnight (had had Medised, she has a cold) and then coughed and couldn't sleep more or less the rest of the night. Poor love was coughing her heart out. We gave her water and more Medised but she didn't really sleep that much. I know there's a school of thought that says if they're coughing they need to but sod that, should we try some cough mixture? And if so, which one? Any suggestions extremely welcome. TIA.

Don't want to be doom-laden but we had exactly the same when DS was 12/13 months - coughing LITERALLY all night. In the end I took him to the doctor (I'm a bit from the school of "there, there I'll kiss it better and have a spoon of Medised", so its quite unusual for me to take him to the doctor). DS had had a cold and I thought possibly it had settled into a chest infection. In fact the doctor said it was an asthmatic cough - he ended up with a liquid broncho-dilator and when that didn't work we had to nebulise him. I'm only mentioning this because the doctor said: 1. It was very common at that age; 2. It was very common when there was cold dry air; 3. It was typically exacerbated at night and 4. If it is this, then Medised or Tixylix etc won't shift it at all (and I am the self-proclaimed Queen of Medised!) No one in the family has asthma and this was 2 years ago and DS hasn't had anything similar since (Dr told me that they would have to have several instances of this before they gave a diagnosis of asthma and it was very likely a one-off)

HTH - suspect it doesn't but you might like to know!

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this is going to sound very daft but.......

when she starts coughing, wrap her in a blanket and open the window, let her breath the cold air. my doc told me to do this for my ds. the cold air helps them to breath again and stops the coughing, you might have to do it three or four times every night, but it will work...

My 2 youngest had this recently. Hate to tell you but my dd had it for about three weeks! When it got really bad and we couldn't tolerate it any longer, we gave her Tyxilyx (or however you spell it) and that actually did seem to work this time. It allowed her a breathing space in which to go to sleep so that when the coughing started again, she didn't wake up fully straightaway IYSWIM.

Is your dd's cough a dry one or a phlegmy one? They do different tyxilyxs for different types of cough. Our dd's was dry and the cough mixture seemed affective, but a phlegmy cough doesn't seem to respond as well to cough mixture and anyway shouldn't really be suppressed.

Thank you so much for all these, I'm really grateful. Oh no anchovy, I REALLY hope it's not that! It's a dry cough so I think I'll get Tixylix today and try it. I so hope it doesn't go on for 3 weeks. Will also try the window thing if I get desperate at 3am. Thanks all of you!

I am not poo-pooing the window idea (in fact I agree that hot atmospheres can make a dry cough worse) but I just wanted to warn you that when my dd went outside to walk to school etc, the cough got much worse, so go carefully with the cold air idea.

Just went through the same thing. Son had the beginning of croup. Took him out in the cold air and he was happy as larry. Came back to a warm house and it started again. All depends i suppose on the kind of cough is it wet or dry. Mines was in between. Upper respiratory tract got a bit constricted and the blast of air really helped. Linctus helped too just to soothe. Read the chemists book on linctus and it said, basically they are a placebo but they do help to coat the throat. I bought one with no additives.

I agree with mamadada - cold air perfect for upper respiratory tract infection. Used it for my dd with some success when she had croup after reading that it was a recommended course of action....Also found that humidyfing her room by boiling a kettle for 5-10 minutes without the lid on helped.....(although the latter may have been psychological for me - because I felt I was doing something)

ds2 has had this recently- lasted for weeks- everyone at his nursery had it and it seemed to go on and on for everyone. medised may make it worse as it'll surpress it and then make it harder to get up- and can make it more likely to become infected.

I put damp towels on the radiator each night and when he was really bad took him into bed with me- so I din't have to keep getting up to sit with him and give sips of water. Also found homeopathy worked immediiately one night when he'd been coughing for 40 minutes.

Sorry but I think that coughs can go on for ages- when we saw a paed witth ds1 at 8 months (referred by GP because of wheeziness) he said that in young children they can go on for months as they get one cold after another and their air passages are small and so just get continually clogged up with mucus.

I've also found osteopathy really good at clearing ds2's chest (of stuff I didn't know he had in there).

BTW -the thing that works with the cold air is the dampness- so if the cold bit makes your child cough then take them into the bathroom and turn on all the hot taps- steam should have the same effect.

Jimjams - what homeopathic treatment did you use out of interest?

We used Tixylix last night and she only woke up twice and wasn't coughing so I lay her down again and she went straight back to sleep until 6,30am from 7.30pm last night. So I think we might have escaped with only one bad night and she might be over the worst of it, her nose seems better today too. Thanks all.

Have you tried putting a bowl of water on the heater, my HV suggested this as my dd was the same, it dampens the air in her bed rooms, really works??

DD has been to the doctors countless times with coughs as they always seem to end up in chest infections. Anyway, the last doctor we saw gave me some very interesting advice/information. He basically said that he's generally NOT worried about babies with coughs that are very fruity/phlegmy (sp?) or that last for many weeks. He said he would only become concerned if any of the following occurs:

• the baby/child is very unwell at the same time, i.e. temparature, not taking fluids, listless, etc.
• there is a significant wheeze with the breathing, particularly on an outward breath
• they are having to work really hard to breathe, i.e. the rib cage is moving/heaving significantly for each breath.

Now I know each GP will have a different view on things - but this advice has certainly allowed me to get some perspective on dd's frequent coughs.

WWW - hope your dd is feeling better soon.

handbagaddiction,

very sound advice from your GP. Mine had advised similarly and it really helps get things in perspective doesn't it....

Hey there,
I always use a vaporizer/humidifier in my baby's room when she's got a cough, with some vicks vap-o-steam in the water. Mind you, I'm writing from the States, and maybe they don't have them in England, but they might. Ask the chemist. They're basically a bucket of water with a thingy in it that heats it up and spits out a flow of warm steam. The steam moistens the lungs and softens the mucous so they can cough it up more easily. It also seems to soothe her throat. Over here they tell you to do the sitting-in-the-bathroom-with-the-shower-running-full-blast thing, too, but I never liked that because all you end up with is a damp baby who you then have to wrap up and carry out into the cold(er) hallway. Not to mention that your hair gets all frizzy and drips in your eyes, and that just sucks. Good luck!

Anyone know how long (ie. days) you can give Medised or Tixylix for? btw, I don't use it in the daytime, just one or two doses at night to help dd sleep with this horrible cough???