Son Has Had a Cold for 8 Days

If a cold goes beyond 10 days then suspect a sinus infection. Is there fever involved? A rash concerns me more than the cold symptoms. Strept throat can cause a rash even when the throat does not hurt, or of course, an allergy can cause a rash. If the rash is flat and slightly raised and kind of spread apart then suspect hives as either an allergic reaction or viral reaction. All over body rash is different. A little google search on rashes may help you here.

Something that really helped at our house is to use the vapor solution that you can buy to put in the humidifier. It really helped both my daughter and I. You can try giving motrin instead of tylenol and see if that helps. The anti-inflammatory action of the motrin may be what he needs, especially if his sinus membranes are swollen (and they probably are). Remember, if his mucus is green or yellow, that is a sign of infection (like a sinus infection for instance) and it is no longer just a cold anymore. Use saline solution to irrigate his little nose 3 times a day it will really help, along with using a nasal aspirator to pull whatever you can from his nose..eventhough he will probably hate it, its best.

You know, that rash scares me a little, I am surprised they didnt say more about that at your doctors visit. If he is getting worse not better in a day or two, you need a second opinion. Look for additional syptoms like fever, struggling to breath, green/yellow mucus etc and take him in asap if any of those happen. Good luck!!

Hi C.,
Hummmm well anything that is viral is contagious. Like the others that have posted if the mucus is green/yellow during the day I would suspect an infection. Sounds like he needs to dry out a bit and take a antihistamine if it's not an infection. They cough maybe due to post nasal drip on the back of his throat. I would really push the issue with the doctor's office since he's so young and it's been going on for a while. Make sure he's drinking ALOT and maybe you and he could take a few long hot showers together to steam out his nose. Maybe a visit to a health/herb store would be helpful too. Also elevating his mattress on one end so he's head is higher might help with the coughing and stuffiness.
Sorry your both sick. Hope you both getting feeling better soon.
Best Regards,
C.

Definitely need to make sure your doc looks him over again. My two year old is still getting over a bad cold where he is coughing and stopped up. I made sure his doc wrote me a prescription for some medicine and he gave us some brometane for when he needs it. Along with that i have been lathering his chest down with baby vicks. Also a little trick that another mom told me the vicks you can put on the bottom of their feet and then put socks on. somehow or other the vicks absorbs real well from the feet.

We use ENT sol when my kids get bad colds. It is like the saline sprays but a higher concentration of saline so it dries them out a little better. We do it before bed and naps. My ent recommended it and we got it at a drugstore, but I'd call to make sure they have it before you go - we got the last bottle at the one we went to.