1 Year Old Coughing and Vomiting

[Pollypocket51]

Hoping to get some advice because I haven’t yet been able to get another GP appointment. My 1 year old dd started nursery in September. We didn’t really have any illnesses before then other than a few sniffles. About 2 days after starting nursery she came down with a chesty cough and she’s had it basically non stop since then. It gets a bit better at times, but I can still hear her breathing is slightly crackly consistently. When it gets bad she coughs so much she vomits. This has probably happened about 10 times since the beginning of September. She’s been on anti biotics 3 times because some GPs have said she had a chest infection, but each time I haven’t noticed a drastic improvement in the symptoms with medication. Other GP’s have not thought she has a chest infection. She has also had hand, foot and mouth during that time which presented in exactly the same way along with the spots. She’s only had a fever once since this begun. I feel like I’m getting fobbed off my GP’s but this is possibly because I’ve lost faith in the surgery after being dismissed by 3 of the GP’s and I actually had a tumour.
Any advice or experience would be welcome.

Sorry to say, my DD has had pretty much a permanent cough since starting nursery and she's been there two years. It's just one of those things.

She is also prone to vomiting when coughing a lot and I think it's partly because they don't know how to spit the phlegm so they just swallow it (you can usually see it in the consistency of the sick 🤢)

If she's well in herself we usually just get on with it.

I'd worry more if she was struggling to breath. Google 'tracheal tug' and belly breathing or rib pulls (I think!) to know what to look out for. For peace of mind you can also get a pulse oximeter to keep in the first aid box, they're fairly cheap on Amazon.

Yes, our DS1 used to do this. It was exactly 12 months of nursery we had a revolving door of coughs, colds, fevers and sickness bugs. All of which would often include vomiting during a coughing fit. The washing was insane!

Wasn't much we could do so I don't have much advice I'm afraid. Other than it pretty much stopped after the first year. Now 5, he still gets snotty now and then, but really very mild.

Thank you @AdmiralCoconut and @Bedtimewoes91 for the replies, that’s really good to know. I wasn’t sure if it could have an underlying cause but hopefully it’s just the mucus which is making it happen. This time she does have a fever and not herself as well as the coughing and vomiting, so it’s another trip the GP…

Coughts really hang around and my dd's have always merged into one another over the winter. She has recently diagnosed with asthma so keep an eye on this with your dd. One thing which always helped was propping one end of the bed up and also using steam and albas oil before bed to help open up her airways. You could also try an air purifyer in the house if you can afford one.

When she vomits is it food or most snot? My DD had the later as she has cough variant asthma.

Thanks @WonderingWanda and @Lifeglowup i have had asthma at the back of my mind with her. It’s not snot that comes up, it’s food or milk - whatever she’s just had. She must coughs loads and everything comes up. I don’t think she’s weezy but chesty all the time.

The other thing you could try is something like bronchostop to loosen what's on her chest so she doesn't cough so hard and throw up.

Thanks for the tip! I’ll give it a go!

Honestly, I wouldn’t be taking a vomiting child to the GP. It’s either triggered by the cough (which is likely viral) or is a GI infection. Both of these, unless she is listless, unable to stay awake or having a febrile seizure, are almost certainly best managed at home with calpol and fluids. You risk passing the infection on to quite vulnerable people at the GP and there’s nothing they can do for you that you aren’t already doing. Just calpol/ibuprofen and fluids and rest. Mine were like this constantly from October to May in nursery.

She’s not vomiting constantly, only after eating - it’s not a sickness bug. She’s got another chest infection that requires antibiotics.

I know this post is old but for anyone else looking, my daughter is 15 months and has been coughing up green phlegm and also vomiting. I called the GP and he said vomiting with a chesty cough is normal on little ones as their stomach muscles aren’t as developed. He was happy for me to bring her in for a check up. He said they like to see babies to be on the safe side. So for anyone else reading this, take your child in if you’re concerned. Don’t take the view that they won’t do anything, or you’re wasting time.