My 22 month old has a post-nasal drip issue, causing coughing bouts about 3-4 nights a week. It tends to happen on lower humidity days, but doesn't seem to get better with steaming, humidifier in room, liquids, post-nasal drops, honey, elevated bed, and super healthy diet. I don't want to do meds for fear of drying my babe out too much or it backfiring and leading to something worse. Plus, it will prob just stop it while I use the med, but won't solve it. Once the post-nasal throat tickle starts, then the coughing bouts ensue for long stretches, unless I go in every time and offer some water (won't go for the water unless coaxed, and loses the bottle/cup when it's been left for him) to stop the cough in its tracks before it escalates. Is this just something that my kid just needs to grow out of? This constant interrupted sleep for my babe and me is tiring and taking a toll. I'm even reconsidering having another child because I don't want to keep having sleepless nights. But knowing that I'm not alone could maybe help me in some way :). Thanks for any helpful words, fellow parents!
if it is post nasal drip , then it's allergies. He NEEDS an allergy med like zyrtec or allergra.
If it's not post nasal drip then it could be asthma if it happens more when he lays on his back it's likely asthma.
Take him to the dr and get it dx. it could already be a worse problem.
You may want to see an allergist. My youngest is going through this, and while the allergist just explained it to me, I am at a loss to explain what he described to me. LSS an allergist will be able to give you the best course of action to help your little one.
My first thought is allergies. I've had allergies my whole life and had chronic nightly cough throughout my childhood, as well as frequent bronchitis. I was never diagnosed with asthma technically but got inhalers for the cough. As an adult I finally went to an allergist and found I was very allergic to tree pollen, dust, cats, etc. I'm still very prone to getting a bad cough when my allergies are acting up, especially at night.
Not sure how long this has been going on, but I would consider maybe seeing an allergist. I wouldn't just accept it as how it will be until he/she grows out of it, because that may never happen! I know your child is very young for medicine but maybe there are some options out there that wouldn't be harmful. Honestly I suffered a lot with the coughing and wish my mother had tried to get to the bottom of it. Nowadays I can at least take medicine before the cough gets so bad that I'm up all night.
Hope you can get some sleep soon :-)
Give him 1/4 dose of med. Do not ever give him a full dose. It will either help or not. I think if he has a runny nose that gets worse at dusk it will only get better with meds. But I would always make sure to get a doc's opinion before giving any med to a child.
Have you taken him to your ped? Just to rule things out, make sure it's really just post-nasal drip, get advise about meds, etc. Our 4 year old has had a cough for quite some time. It got really bad on Friday, so I finally took him in. She's pretty sure it's just allergies ... if you say so.
Our son has a drink by his bed, but he is 4 years old. Could you leave a sippy cup of water with him at night? Or do you need to wake him up and have him take a drink. If you could leave a sippy cup of water with him, he will probably get used to it being there and just sip it throughout the night. Might really help!
My sister had a cough from the time she was a child until she moved away from home. She had allergies--back then it wasn't as widely known that post-nasal drip could be a symptom of allergies.
I'd take him to his Ped and ask for allergy testing.
My sister's son is allergic to dust, so they removed the carpeting in their home and just have hardwood floors with throw rugs that they can machine wash.
I feel for you! My two year old and barely slept from November to march. My ped blames everything on low humidity, but we have aero Swiss humidifiers. I was finally convinced it was asthma or allergies, which it still might be, but a pediatric allergist and two ENTs said there was no evidence of such right now. The cough finally went away in the last month. Albuterol will help temporarily, but you are right that you don't want in your baby's system long term. It can weaken immunity, according to our ped. Maybe try elevating his bed or have him sleep on a wedge pillow, if you cosleep. Definitely try to eliminate dust in the room and use good humidifiers, keeping them clean as possible. Good luck! I know how you feel.
My 4 year old daughter has the same thing and has had it since she was 2. She would fall sound asleep and then wake up between 11:00 - 1:00 with a horrible cough. Nothing would really help.
Turns out it was allergies. We have not yet had her tested (dr said to wait until she is 5 or 6 for more reliable test results) but she was put on Claritin when she was 2. If we forgot to give her the Claritin in the morning it would be a bad night of coughing. If she got the Claritin then there were no issues.
Ask your peditrician. They make Claritin for 2 year olds. Although I am not crazy about giving her an allergy medicine every day, she does need it especially this time of year.
Our daughter also had a "non-progressive cough". I could hear every cough every night for years.
It was finally diagnosed as a coughing asthma.. But this took a long while until they would call it this.. So we were like you.. trying everything.
We live in an area with lots of dust and pollens and so we decided to make our home, especially her room a breathing paradise for her.
We pulled out all of the carpets. We got rid of all of the drapes and made sure we washed her bedding more often.. I would purchase 2 sets of bedding so that one comforter could be washed over and over.. and the other was saved for special occasions. .
We also purchased a good filter for our air and heating system .. The best thing we did was purchase a Hunter electric filter for her room. The literature says to change the filters every 6 to 8 weeks, we discovered hers needed to be changed every 4 to 6 weeks.. a few times on the 3rd week.. It was covered in dust.. All of this changed her life and ours.
She did have a nebulizer so we could give her treatments and she then went on an inhaler.. Thank goodness she outgrw all of this by 6th grade..
My guy was having the same problem last fall, I thought it was allergies, it turned out it was asthma brought on by allergies. Water helps because it delivers oxygen to the lungs, I'd have him seen by his pediatrician.
