Worried my baby is in pain - is it right he should be left to suffer just because of his age?

[Writerwannabe83]

DS is8 weeks old and for the last few days he has had the most horrendous cough - I have no idea where it has come from.

It is a really dry, hoarse, barking cough with little squeaky noises when he breathes in, and DS goes so red in the face when it happens and sometimes struggles to catch his breath again. It typically happened after a feed but now it seems to happen at random times in the day and is becoming more frequent. I won't lie, it scares me sometimes when it happens and it sounds so awful

We saw the O.O.H GP yesterday who told us it was nothing to worry about and sent us on our way

I know that if I had a cough like that my throat would be in agony and I'd be downing the cough medicine, paracetamol and ibuprofen.

Is it right babies are just left to suffer because of their age and the fact they aren't old enough to have any medication?

I'm quite upset over it actually

Im glad your baby's cough is improving! I so understand how you feel. My DD (12wks) has had a blocked nose and recurrent eye infections for a long time. Saw the GP and the paediatrician and was told that the tubing system in young babies is immature and quite narrow making it susceptible to blockages and it will all go away as they the baby grows up. Like you we have been worried that our baby has been suffering. I get so scared when she cant breath in the middle of the night and wakes herself up. We tried to take some measures to make her life easier and wanted to share these in case it can help you as well. Got DP to steam clean the windows in our bedroom as there was a bit of mould due to humidity and was worried it would make her breathing even more difficult. Hoovered our mattress to get rid of any dust mites. We bought an air-purifier which we turn on for a couple of hours in the bedroom before she goes to bed. Every night we place a bowl with boiling water and a few drops of nasal drops for babies with blocked noses (bought from sainsburies and say can be used from birth) in our bedroom. We also use saline drops to ease her blocked little nose before bedtime. Also as mentioned before we placed her mattress in an incline. I found that taking all these steps helped her be more comfortable, hope these may help you as well!