Constant coughing

**pooks** · 30-06-2012 21:45

Any ideas how I can help Dd stop coughing? She's on predmix as well as two other drugs. It's day two on these drugs and yes it's help lessen the severity of the cough but now it's much dryer but she doesn't seem to be able to go long without coughing. She's asleep but coughing at least every 1-2 mins. This is day 5 of her being unwell. Please any ideas?

**swizzlestick** · 30-06-2012 21:47

How old is your little one? Have you tried to raise the head end of the bed? Or a vaporizer?

**bumMum** · 30-06-2012 21:48

That sounds awful. What is the cough caused from? There is very little you can do. Speak to your doctor again I think or if that's useless try the hospital.

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**OJandMe** · 30-06-2012 21:49

Ok... I have a few ideas I swear by...

put Vicks on her feet, and then socks on.

Cut an onion in half and put it in her room (seriously try it!)

Use a vaporiser.

I generally do all 3

**spunkles** · 30-06-2012 21:53

I swear by the vapouriser as well, it really helps them to get a good nights sleep. I know when I've been really unwell and couldn't sleep for coughing I gave it a whirl, and I got some decent sleep myself!

**pooks** · 30-06-2012 21:56

Lol at the onions! Ive never heard of this til yesterday, now that's the third time so I'm off to cut up an onion! Thank you everyone. I read the croup thread and the bit about not using steam so I think I'll give that a miss. She is almost 2.5years. Thanks again. I'm just so tired I can't think straight..... Thank you

**missie_mack** · 30-06-2012 22:14

I think I have the same virus! I find warm showers/baths help with my 2 and even myself. But sometimes it also helps to remember the cough does good stuff too- it helps move the excess mucus off the lungs- stagnite mucus can be a sign of pneumonia (something I try to remind myself of all the time) I find eucalyptus in the steamer helps thin down the mucus so it comes up easier

**Anjalee** · 30-06-2012 22:18

Originally Posted by OJandMe

Ok... I have a few ideas I swear by...

put Vicks on her feet, and then socks on.

Cut an onion in half and put it in her room (seriously try it!)

Use a vaporiser.

I generally do all 3

I agree with the Vicks on the feet! Always works for my DD

**Misschief** · 30-06-2012 22:25

I was told last year, that the steam is actually an outdated advice.

DS has had croup twice and at the moment he's having a bad cough at night. So I am stuffing him full with fruit, fruit and more fruit to try and keep the croup away this year.
Anyway, the first time he had croup, I was advised by an older nurse at the hospital, to use the vaporizer.
I went out and bought one and prayed it would make a difference. It didn't. His cough went from a dry bark, to a congested wheezy bark.
So I stopped it after the second night as he just sounded even more horrible then before I went to hospital 2 days before.

The second time he had croup, I was advised to keep his room warm but to NOT use a vaporizer as the humid air would only cause more mucus to develop in his airways.
I'm not sure how true this is, but just keeping his room warm and dry at night, did help quite a lot.

Oh and I too swear by the vaporub (I use Euky Bear) on the feet.

One more thing, if the cough clears up at night, but your child continues to have an annoying little cough throughout the day, please get him/her checked out again.
The second time my son's croup seemed to have cleared after 3 weeks. He wasn't coughing at night anymore.
However he kept this annoying little cough, throughout the day, for another few weeks and then suddenly over night it turned into a terrible hacking and wheezy cough and I could see he was struggling to breathe. I took him to the hospital and was told he had post infectious asthma.
This can sometimes turn into chronic asthma.

**missie_mack** · 30-06-2012 22:56

If it is croup we use nurofen as an anti inflammatory and ice blocks to reduce swelling and even after the prednisone we use icy drinks. Often a walk in cold night air can make a difference - hospitals found croup improved on transfer to hospital because of the cold air. If it isnt improving enough we have found dexamethasone (which you get from hospital) makes the difference, there was a great study a couple of years ago from KEMH that found dex was a better drug for treating croup than prednisone. When in doubt transfer to hospital- they can administer other steroids and adrenaline. Croup sadly can go from nothing to life threatening rather quickly, in our experience