15 Week Old with Cough for Two Weeks Now-request an Dr.appt?

Hi Amy,

Congrats on being a new mom and on the arrival of your baby girl! I hope you are hanging in there. My daughter (our first baby as well) was born at the very end of February and got her first cold after visiting her daycare just before starting regularly (she was about 12 weeks old at that point). She had a bad cold for about 10 days. Then, about a month later, she got another cold with a cough that lasted about 3 weeks. My pediatrician's office said the same thing - elevate her crib, use a humidifier, and bring her into the bathroom whenever anyone is showering and sit her in the steam. It's a really frustrating experience because you can't do anything about it and it has to run its course. We also used saline and a bulb syringe when she was really congested. That said, I don't think you are overracting if you want to take her in to have them listen to her lungs. It's better to be safe than sorry! Every time I brought my little one in to have her lungs listened to, they were clear. She actually then had a cough for all of September and all of October!! Craziness. Her colds have often been exacerbated by an ear infection, and after having 5 ear infections since May, we have been advised by a specialist to have her get ear tubes. Their perspective was that since it is just the beginning of the winter, things will only get worse for her. I'm not thrilled with the idea, but if it helps her stay healthy, then I guess they are a good thing. Hopefully you aren't experiencing ear infections too!

Best of luck! Never hesitate to have your baby checked out by your pediatrician, that is what they are there for, they should be happy to see you, and it is always better to be safe than sorry!

Best,
- L.

My daughter started getting colds all the time when she started daycare. She always gets a cough too that lingers, she has one right now and she only coughs at night. It goes away eventually. Unfortunately there is not much you can do for the cough, under 6 months old there is really no medecine she can safely take. Take her to the doctor just to get some peace of mind, or else you will worry yourself sick. I always take my daughter in when there is something nagging me that I can't stop worrying about, and it is usually nothing. I don't regret it though, that's what they are there for, and its worth the $10 copay.

It's not uncommon to have more coughing at night when you're tired, so that's not surprising. Some of the other things people have suggested (asthma, reflux) are possibilities, and it wouldn't hurt to have someone listen to her chest. If she has fluid in her lungs, that might be a tip off to the start of pneumonia, for example. Given her age, there is not much you can do in the way of drugs, but I would caution you anyway about just blindly going along with prescriptions for albuterol and the use of nebulizers - the stuff they put in there is awful, and it's just treating the symptom rather than the cause. There is a lot you can do nutritionally through totally safe, non-drug supplementation that will get to her through your breast milk. We can talk more if you want to. And dont' beat up on yourself for "overreacting"!! It's not normal to be this sick for this long, and you should trust your instincts. You might try to get an appointment late in the day in the hopes that they will see your child more the way you do.

I know coughs tend to last a long time in my kids but if you ever have a question then definitely bring her in. Especially since she is still so young and it's the season for colds, RSV etc. Listening to her chest is easy, non-invasive and can help put your mind at ease. They may determine that she would benefit from a nebulizer. My 2 kids have occasional wheezing with their colds and the nebulizer comes in handy.

Tank care,
R.

I just read some responses and someone recommended Vaporub. Double check with your Dr. first. I remember reading a report that it isn't good for young infants.

I have a 2 year old with the same problem. I have been to different doctors, including a pulmonary specialist, and they suggested one of three things that it could be. One, X-rays showed that when she was lying down, she had gastric reflux that was irritating her throat. After an allergy test, we found out that she wasn't allergic to anything and ruled that out, though it was thought to be a possibility. The final - correct - answer was that she has asthma, though they don't officially diagnose her until about 3 (stupid, don't ask me why, I'm not the doctor that said it). Unfortunately she has the same symptoms I did when I was a child. The things that work best for her are an albuterol nebulizer (they prescribed this to her even without an asthma diagnosis) about 1 hr before bedtime and more often through the day when she needs it, and removing all carpeting, bagging her mattress and removing her crib bumper (they sell plastic breathe-through ones now, though I never used one) and using high thread count cotton sheets. Your daughter may well be allergic to dust mites, too, if they have carpeting at her daycare. Hope this helps!

I would definately take her to the doctor just to be on the safe side. They will probably tell you to do what you have been ding but you never know. I would bring my daughter in for cough and it was an ear infection. Good luck and go with your gut feeling even if the nurse says you don't need to go in.

Reminds me of something that happened to us last year, with my 3 year old son. He had a lingering cough that didn't improve, just got worse. I'd call the DR office, and get the usual advice you've gotten. Then, one Sunday late morning we tried to take my son out for breakfast and he was coughing so much he couldn't eat. I got out my cell phone, called the office which had Sunday morning hours and when the nurse heard my son in the background, she said "Bring him in right away". We ended up having to get a nebulizer that day to help him breathe. I'd say its worth the peace of mind, to insist that someone listen to your baby's chest before it gets worse!

Hi Amy, congrats on your baby! My son, now 11 months old, also got many colds when he started going to day care. They seemed to blend one into the next. Many of them had lingering coughs. I asked my dr. about them several times and each time it was just post-nasal drip. If she coughs on her back but not on her belly that is one way to tell if it is PND. I have also experienced what one of the other moms wrote-when I took him to the dr. for something else, they discovered an ear infection! So, it can never hurt to bring them in to check. Good luck!

Hi Amy,
I would absolutely take her in. Did your daycare provider comment on her coughing a lot while there? Or is it something to do with an allergy to something in your house (is she sneezing and sniffling). Even if everything is fine with your little angel, it will give you a piece of mind and some times a mom needs that!!!

Best of luck! Cheers and Happy Holidays!
J. W

i've had this with my now 3 year old daughter. the dr. is prob going to say it's a virus and it needs to run it's course-which can feel like a looooong 2 or 3 weeks. if the cough gets worse (my daughter's got worse in the second week and turned out to be a chest infection needing antibiotics)
call your dr and get in for an appt.
good luck. and definitely use saline spray in the nose, vaporub and a humidifier at night-definitely helps over here.

My husband and I were just talking about how everyone we know has had this 3 week long cold that ends witha lingering cough at night. We both had it as well. I think it's from post-nasal drip causing the night time coughing (which can be quite severe) but only mild coughing during the day. She's young so I'd bring her in to see the doctor just to be on the safe side, but you'll probably just have to wait it out.

I say just bring her in and be on the safe side. At 15 weeks, she is still too young for you to know her patterns and sickness trends, for example, parents usually get to a point where they know a child's cold is just a cold and will eventually end, or if it's more serious, usually. I know with my youngest that she was sick most of her first year and a half of life, and it sometimes surprised me, where we'd be at the dr. for what I assumed was the common cold and it was an ear infection, or vice versa! You will never regret going and finding out that she is fine and that you are doing all you can!

Hang in there with the cough, no matter what the outcome. It is common for kids and adults to cough more at night if we are sick - the body's defenses are slightly down and just not as able to fight as during the day. The humidifier has helped my girls this winter, but there is not much else you can do and you can't give babies or young kids anything to help! You're doing all you can, good job!