6Mo Son Has Had Congested Cough for Months

C.-

My son is 5 months old and has also had almost the same problem. It started out with a stuffy nose. He never really got a bad cough though. He has been on Amoxicillan, nebulizer, and Triaminic. Nothing is breaking the congestion. It's so far up in his head that saline drops and suctioning does nothing. We give him Vapo baths, Vapo rub, and use a cool mist humidifier. So if you find out something that works let me know.
Also, he was tested for RSV and it was negative.

I would agree with your husband and try to find a different doctor. I cant even imagine putting my daughter on all those different medicines. We have never had to do anything like that. Our daugter is ten months old now -vaccination-free and hasnt been ill ~so I really cant relate to what you are going through but we believe in natural remedies and maybe (if you havent all ready) you should try that route with your little one and see if it makes a difference.

Have they tested him for RSV. My daughter in on the pulmicort and the albuterol 2x. day. She had RSV twice when she was about 6 months old and then when she was 8 months old. She is now 20 monhts old and has the wheezing and stuff. she gets it and it last for about a month she gets over it and then about a week later she has got it again. What kind of formula is your son on. He might be lactose intolerent. A friend of mine had to switch her son to lactose free formula because he was always wheezing and congested and had the runny nose and now that he is on the different formula he is no longer congested or coughing. hope that helps. Blessings, J.

C.,

Your situation sounds exactly like mine. My daughter is 6 months old and has had a cough/congestion or some combintation of both since about October. We also go to birth and beyond, but I think we have different doctors. Overall, I am very pleased with the course of treatment we've been down. I definitly understand your frustration. My husband and I both are both very frustrated and are beginning to wonder if she is ever going to clear up. We have had ear infections, sinus infections, an occasional fever and RSV thrown in as well. We've been on antibiotics; a nebulizer with AccuNeb, Xopenex, Pulmicort; Donatussin; Pediacare decongestant; Benadryl; Tylenol; Singulair (in case allergies). We've done 2 chest x-rays; acid reflux upper GI x-ray; throat culture; flu culture. I feel like we need a frequent flyer card for the doctor's office. Doctor wise. I'm very pleased. I feel like we are trying different things one at a time to see what's going on. I'm afraid that in the end it's going to be well she's a daycare baby and she just continues to pick up various things at daycare. Overall, her weight is fine and she is otherwise healthy.

All I can say is be patient and it's nice to know my husband and I aren't the only ones with the same things going on.

I'm 25 and have a son named Aidan too! Definitely check into RSV. But also, my son gets congested from time to time too, and I've had success with Benedryl, Robitussin, and Triaminic depending on what the symptoms are...but you said that OTC meds haven't been working. I would defintely recommend at least getting a second opinion, even if you don't permanently change doctors. And ask about Albuterol. That really helped my Aidan when he would sound "gargly" in his chest. Some people just have chronic sinus infections and allergies and congestions, but are able to find treatments that help. So keep searching and definitely ask some different doctors.

Missy

I just found out on Fri. that my youngest has RSV and bronchitis. I was told that RSV is really going around this year. I have to hook him up to a nebulizer 4x (w/ Albuterol) a day and give him antibiotics for the bronchitis. I agree that you might want to at least get a 2nd opinion, b/c an on-going cough just doesn't seem right. We are going back to see our pediatrician in a few days. I'll see what she says about the cough lasting through the season. My son is still coughing quite a bit and sounds horrible, so I'm curious what she will say we need to do next. It's hard to see your little one going through this, and I know you want to see him feel better ASAP. Good luck, and I hope you get some answers soon.

My daughter is 3.5 months old and she has had a congested cough for about 2 months now. My doc says it will go away and that it's probably related to the reflux she has. I figure that once winter is over, it should be over too or then I can press the doc to really take a look at it.

Hi C.-

Reading your story and the stories of other moms and kids is breaking my heart. All these medications into all the little babies and kids without the relief that you're looking for.

Have you condsidered taking your child to a pediatric chiropractor? While this is not the "magic bullet" answer, it may be something that can help. I am a pediatric chiropractor in Overland Park, Kansas, and I agree with many of the respondants that there seems to be A LOT of sinus/cough/congestion going around this year. I see it in many of my patients, but we can usually get it under control in a few days to weeks with adjustments and natural remedies. I even had a 3 1/2 week old patient with RSV recently who almost passed away in the hospital... after only one adjustment, they took her off oxygen and no longer needed to do her respiratory treatments. Unfortunately, a few weeks later she was diagnosed with "reflux" and put on more medication. Two more adjustments and she's doing very well. My point being, most people don't know how powerful chiropractic care can be to the immune & respiratory systems. I hope that you will look into it.

I strongly encourage you to find a chiropractor who specializes in pediatric care. You can do this at www.icap4kids.org. Just click on find a doctor. While I am not in your area, please also consider me a resource. I would be happy to answer any questions that you have.

Once you get things under control, I also agree that you may need to look into allergy testing for your little one. I also recommend naturopathy/homeopathy. Doctors who work in these areas tend to use herbal/natural methods that work WITH the body rather than searching for chemical means to counteract what the body is doing.

FYI- a great resource for natural baby care is Natural Baby and Childcare: Practical Medical Advice and Holistic Wisdom for Raising Healthy Children by Lauren Feder, MD. There is a TON of great information. Dr. Feder is a medical pediatrician who practices homeopathy.

I wish you and your family better health and better answers...

Yours in health,
Dr. Alyssa

Hello, I don't know how far you are willing to drive to see a dotcor. But my suggestion for you is to call Childrens Mercy Hospital. They are great with that kind of thing. In my opinion it would be worth the trip....Of course call them and see about getting him a specialist. Here is the main number..... 1-###-###-####. When you call that number all you have to do is to let them know you are looking for a specialist for your son and they should be able to connect you with the department. Good luck!!! A. Bryant

We went through something similar with both of my younger boys and although the pulmacort seemed to help an antihistimine helped more along with a lot more moisture in the house. They still make Claritin in a syrup form via prescription and medicaid pays for it if that helps.

Poor kid, Here's the things we did.
first they never slept flat the 5 year old preferred daddy's chest in the recliner. The baby did better in his car seat. An infant sling became my best friend, I could put Vicks baby rub on my or the hubby's chest at nose level and they would get the affects. We kept them in moisturized environments a lot. And we took time off from all the activities that brought us in contact with people. (yes that means that you go shopping alone once a week and your hubby has to struggle through it or he gets to shop and you need to make detailed lists) Each round of teething made this worse and I suspect that you're experiencing the same.

The older one always got an ear infection but the baby first, only got the upper airway infection before it moved into their chests. Yes it can go all season because we have a need for heat more now. If you can, invest in filters for all your ducts and air intakes, change them every two weeks until spring. Keep the baby away from the vaccuming and dusting too.

I'd say avoid suction. You could actually be hitting the sinus wall and causing irritation. Get the shower going really hot and hang out in the bathroom for about 20 minutes every night. Then add the vick to your chest. Prop your self up in the bed or go to a recliner for the night. Ask for albuterol in the nebulizer and give a treatment to him at any cough in the night, making a little tent around his face to keep all the good fumes in. If you can't hold him all night then I would opt to put him in his carseat/carrier or stroller and roll him as much as possible. You can almost do that in your sleep. Then during the day you can also prop him up in the carseat/carrier/stroller and set him near the dryer as you dry towels. even laying a not completely dry one near him to moisturize his nasal passages.

As for the pediatrician, well sometimes you just have to be frank that things aren't working for you. But I would suggest weekly visits to the doctor until you can get this under control. Be honest, you're exhausted and you need to get this managable before you become hazardous while driving and such. They are there for you just as much as the kids. If the balk about the frequent visits well then you need to switch, or if they start saying "call me back tomorrow if things don't improve and we'll get you some antibiotics" then say that they can't do that over the phone, he needs to be seen but you can't bring him there, take him to the E.R." well it's time to fire that doctor before She fires you as a patient for cussing her staff out. btdt with Dr. Mills, Ludlow and Young People's Clinic's lying staff.

Maybe if you're not comfortable leaving your current pediatrician altogether I would at least recommend getting a 2nd opinion from another doctor on your son's cough. Try visiting a pediatrician who specializes in respiratory stuff. Sometimes two heads can be better than one when figuring out a problem. I agree that it can be hard to leave a good doctor, we recently had to find a new doctor for our kids b/c our health insurance plan changed and she's not on the new one. It was difficult b/c we loved her and so did the kids! But thankfully she's not the only good one in the city :)

Hopefully you guys can figure out what's wrong with the little guy. It's not fun to have a cough for even a week, but I couldn't imagine for several months!

Hi C.!

Sorry to hear your son is not doing much better. Has your son had a chest x-ray? I've been in a similar situation with my daughter. She has been on a nebullizer since she was about 3 months. Her treatment consists of pulmicort/albuterol twice a day. After about 2 months of consistent coughing her pediatrician ordered a chest x-ray. She was about 5 months when this happened and we learned she had bronchiolitis. There was one weekend night where my daughter was coughing so bad and crying and couldn't sleep so I called the after hours hotline. The nurse told me it didn't sound like my daughter had RSV. Well once we had the x-ray results she did have RSV. That's what causes bronchiolitis and pneumonia. I would definitely get aggressive with your pediatrician as to finding out what's going on. Sure they have to go through the process of elimination but the doc needs to take a better interest in this instead of blowing it off on the time of year. Have a heart to heart with him/her and then make a decision whether to switch docs. My husband was pressuring me to do the same thing. But I have stuck with our pediatrician. Unfortunately I do think my daughter has asthma and allergies. She gets it from her daddy. Good luck!

Chrystal,
My youngest daughter was diagnosed with RSV when she was 2 months old after several trips to the doctor, different antibiotics and cough medicines. She sounded horrible when she breathed and was misdiagnosed as bronchiolitis, etc. One night while watching her breath we realized her retractions were getting deeper and deeper. A trip to the emergency room and a couple of days in the Children's hospital with constant use of a little vaccuum machine after putting saline in her nose and mouth brought her breathing under control.
They explained that the congestion was NOT in her lungs, but higher and in adults we can cough/hack (sorry) it out and get rid of it - little babies (children under age 2, etc) can't usually do that.
A second trip to the hospital a month later put me over the edge and I told our doctor that either he fix it or we're going to a pediatric pulmonary specialist. He agreed, gave her a 3- 5 day dosage of prendnison, along with either pulmicort for 10 days and albuterol. She was completely cleared up by the 5th day. I was amazed.
We have also been asked about asthma as my older daughter and her dad ALWAYS get chest colds - but no one has been diagnosed. Yes, unfortunately October through March/February are horrible for us as well. We have both girls on Zyrtec and Singular every day to help fight the constant stuffiness. Especially in the wintertime. I keep albuterol on hand in case either of them start wheezing and I can start up the nebulizer.
Good luck. It's the scariest thing in the world, but you guys are on the right track.
Take care.

My own personal opinion he doesn't need to be on that many medications, but I am not a doctor. I would get a whole house humidifier with a wicking filter, I would also put him on soy formula since a milk allergy will cause congestion. I would also talk to another doctor. My daughter used to spit up and projectile vomit and instead of putting her on acid reflux medicine because her little body was trying to get rid of what she was allergic to we put her on soy formula and amazingly without medication she did just fine and quit spitting up all together. Doctors are way to quick to put kids on medication and forcing dependency.
Good luck. Go with your gut when all else fails.

C.:

Is it possible that your little guy might have Whopping cough? My son had the same thing happen to him, when he was about 6 months old. It went undiagnosed for about three weeks. Have they done chest X-rays? I like my Ped. too however, if you feel you need a second opinion, don't hesitate!

A. L

Hi C., I know how frustrating the doctors can be when it comes to things like this. Your baby is still young to have a cough that long. My 3 yr old (will be 3 tomorrow) has been sick since November 10th, Not only has he had a cough but he is having bad breathing problems, At any given time he will just turn blue and quit breathing. and almost is always wheezing or struggling to breathe. He has basically gotten used to it and plays as usual but I still want answers. He started on Albuterol which I hate then got put to Xopenex and now is doing Xopenex and Pulmicort, At one point he was on liquid steroids also. We have a home nebulizer and a handheld portable one to keep with us in case of a attack. I think it is asthma but the doctors wont diagnose that cause they say he dont have enough history, They are calling it RAD ( Reactive airway disease) right now.
But it is very frustrating to see our babies look and feel horrible and we cant do anything.

However in regards to cough.I started giving my son a half a teaspoon of Elderberry,Zinc and Echinacea syrup at night time before he went to sleep and he hasnt coughed anymore at night time, It is helping him in the day also. It hasnt improved the breathing but has helped the cough so much. You can get it almost any natural health food store and it would be perfectly safe to give your baby since its all natural unless of course he has elderberry allergy.

This is what prompted me to take my son to a herbal doctor , who very quickly figured out some things wrong I never imagined and we are now treating him. She gave us some syrup called ALJ that helps support the respiratory system so time will tell I guess but if it works I think our new doctor will be here and she is licensed in natural care with natural products.
Anyways I hope that was somewhat helpful. If you have any questios or just want to chat feel free to e-mail me at ____@____.com

Allergies! My daughter has had a cough and congestion and runny nose since she was about 8 months old. I first thought it was because we lived in a house that was smoked in, I'm sure that is a lot of it, cause smoke will make any kid to be constantly sick, but she is still sick and we moved. I started putting a vaporizer in her room with vics in it, it is better. I also put vics on her chest at night. I have a theory after all the drs couldn't figure anything out, that she is sensitive to the cold air. And then in the summer she is sensitive to the central air and allergic to the outdoors.

hi cristal,

a few questions then i will give you a few facts

questions
have you asked the dr if your child havr RSV?

have you tried saline drops? if that does not work there quickly enouge you can they ENT its a saline solution in an aresol can go clean out easier it goes deeper it sinus passages ane its still cleans them out however with the aresol can it may make your child gag just a bit but not make your baby sick

another question to think about? how old is your house when we lived in an old house we were always sick we moved and all oue problems were automatically serch your home for various molds in dark damp areas

have you had the baby allergy tested? i know they like to wait till they are older so you have to push the issue

have you tried a steamy bathroom from the shower? helps loosen that congestion

and also RAD is a begining to asthma (acutally asthma just a mild case of it)

if ya have more questions send me a personal message

hope it clears soon let us know

S.

Hi C.,
There is a bad virrus that has hit alot of people this year. I know because I have had it for almost 2 months now! I am afraid that my husband and son are now coming down with it to. It is like a cold with a bad cough and lots of sinus dranage(Lots!). I know many other people who have had also it. My own doctor is not sure how to treat it and keeps giving me med after med. So far what has helped me is taking lots and lots of antihistamens. I have also seen if you dont treat the virrus in some way it does go into phenomena. I hope this will help in some way and good luck!
J. H

P.S. David Letterman has even been complaining about having this virrus to.

I don't have time to post my own experiences, but here is what I recommend.

Have your son go to a Pediatric Pulmonologist.

Also, asked for his immune system to be tested. Could be a low immune system, and it has trouble fighting off things.

Follow YOUR instinct. You have a natural mother instinct.

Good luck!

Keep talking to the pediatrician until he listens to you and get a second opinion! I had hives for a long long time and after a ton of allergy tests they still couldn't figure out what was wrong with me. It took years and several doctors to figure out that it was nerves and not allergies.
You are your child's champion, he can't speak for himself so you have to! And be honest with your pediatrician, tell him you feel he isn't doing enough or isn't listening to you, or whatever. You know your son better than anyone, you know when something isn't right. Doctors aren't perfect, they do get lazy. Your son might have really bad sinuses or it could be something worse. Are you sure it isn't asthma or allergies? Asthma can present itself in a lot of ways people don't know about.
I checked out your myspace page. Your kids are very cute! You can add me to your friends list if you'd like. Us mom's need to stick together.