What do you do when they are coughing in the night?

[CountessDracula]

DD is coughing. She often coughs at night (maybe a bit of asthma). She wakes up sometimes crying a bit.

I usually leave her for a few mins to see if she will just go back to sleep (she often does). But I wonder if she is in bed wondering why we haven't come in to see her when she is obv. in distress.

I know am being silly as am feeling sad because she is having probs settling at nursery, am determined not to start mollycoddling her as a result and exacerbating the problem.

I think you are doing exactly the right thing. Dd2 has asthma and often coughs in the night but we don't go straight in to her, we wait a few minutes to see if she will stop.
If i rushed in every time she coughed, she'd soon get wise to it and i'd be up there all night.

If the coughing continues, with dd2 we use her inhaler, but if it is dd1 or ds, i get them to blow their nose and then put a generous amount of snufflebabe on their chest and prop them pillows up a bit. Doesn't always work but most times it does the trick. Oh and medised seems to help too, dries up the nose and stops the trickle down the back of their throat we've found.

My sympathies - it's awful, isn't it? Ds2 is coughing and coughing and coughing atm; I hate it. He's nearly 6 and doesn't make a fuss, but I tend to go in to him a couple of times during the night (and several times in the evening when his cough's at its worst) and encourage him to sit up and have a really good cough/clear out, then he will hopefully get a good stretch of sleep afterwards.

I felt at death's door today from listening to him all night for the last week or so. Fortunately ds1 (who's in the bunk above) is completely oblivious and just sleeps through it all

thanks nutty

She had her ventolin earlier, think I will go and put bowl of hot water with olbas oil in under her bed now.

Just wanted some reassurance as am feeling rather neurotic tonight about her

and roisin too xx

CountessDracula...you sound like you are following your intuition by leaving her for a few minutes...by the sounds of things she wakes quite a bit and then gets herself back to sleep...when you are still awake a quick cuddle and stroking of her head to reassure her would have thought would be all that is necessary....how old is your dd?

do you think her coughing is related to her not settling at nursery?

CountessDracula - hope you've had a better night than us. DS2 has had a dreadful night, and we're all feeling pretty bad this morning for lack of sleep.
Except DS1 - I don't know how he does it.

I'm going to keep him off school today and see if a quiet day helps somewhat.
Dh and ds2 think I should take him to the GP, but I'm not convinced there's anything they can do.

Oh no Roisin, sorry to hear that.

I do find that the bowl of steaming water with Olbas Oil does the trick. Not a cough out of her after that

Well I don't care what he does tonight, he's going to school tomorrow, as he's driving me bonkers at home

CountessDracula,

Does your DD have a radiator in her room??? if so as well as the albos oil in the steaming water you could try puttin a soaking wet towel on the radiator. My 2 year old DD has asthma and which is usually triggered when she gets a cold this really helps he as the staem is good as it relaced the moisture in the air which is what often happens in these winter months coz we use the central heating alot more.

Hope this helps hun
Clare
x

Thanks so much, will do tonight xx

sorry to nudge in on the conversation but what you said (megandsoph) was fantastic! (grin) my daughter has been coughing for the past ....... 3 weeks. i know she isn't ill but we've moved to a new house with central heating after having an open fire and found that she has been coughing so much more than she ever did. loved the wet towell thingy! will do that (wink)!

Amesy,
haha Glad to be of help, tis just science of the body or summit like that, thats why even us mummys and daddies get ill during the winter going out in the cold and into a nice hot house I think it's that your when your in a central heated place your nose gets dry and bunged but the steam just gives ur nose the moisture back ... oh I don't know just something I was advised by a doctor ooooh another thing u can try to get a better effect is in a steamy bathroom.

Clare
x

Have you tried raising the head of her bed (we put a couple of pillows under the mattress at the head end). Also you could try a vaporiser (Boots) or humidifier - worth the cost if she has a a tendency to it - and remember to air her room for about 20 minutes each day.

The trouble with the bowl of steamy water thing is that it stops steaming so quickly.
We have a humidifier which I use in dd's room when her coughing gets really bad (which is often, she also has an inhaler but isn't keen on it). You can add olbas so that it is released with the steam into the room.

We had this with dd for bloody ages. She's also asthmatic but I sensed there was something else going on as well. I had a thread on it here

Also give the room a good air (windows all open) once a day.

I must admit I DO tend to go in when dd (2 and a half) coughs - used to be A LOT but now only once or twice a night. I just tuck her up and make comforting noises. Sometimes I give her a cough sweet if I think it's a dry throat making things worse. She is pretty good at settling back down.

If she DOES make it all the way through the night without me going in, she gets a chocolate button for breakfast, so there is incentive both ways.

We tried a humidifier but found it bloody noisy!