My 17 month old has asthma and has had this problem for months with coughing at bedtime. our first trip was to peds she stated it was allergys. so we made an appointment to see a specialist everything was neg. he did however say give her a breathing treatment"nebulizer" 1 hr before bedtime every night and use a nasal spray along with a cool mist that runs. i also prop her up while she sleeps.she isn't stuffy her nose runs all day long know. we did this for 4 weeks know and still the same outcome. she gets so bad coughing she brings up mucus and gags so bad i have to help get it out her mouth. few nights ago she was so scared during coughing she couldn't breath. I called peds again and she said don't feed her 2 hrs before bedtime it might be acid reflux starting up again and with that it flares up asthma symptoms also. It is so bothersome seeing her like this and so odd it is just when its nighttime. I asked about an ENT doctor and she said she didn't need to see one yet. anyone else going through this.
H.,
I don't have experience with asthma, but my son has allergies and he gets a pretty dry & crusty nose at night. Have you tried running a cool mist humidifier in her room. Maybe put it on an hour or two (with the door closed) before she goes to bed. It helps my son's nose a lot. Just a thought. Good luck!
My daughter is 2 1/2 and has coughed like this off and on since birth. I have also been through an allergist, asthma and gastro doctors. I have tried everything. Hers is not every night just a couple times a week. I know this will sound weird but I got the advice from a friend to try a chiropractor. I have and she doesn't cough anymore. We are going to stop chiropractic treatment next week and see how she is. My daughter coughed up a lot of mucas a day after her first treatment and never coughed yet. Just a suggestion if you get fed up with the doctors.
My son has the exact same thing, he's 11 months. When he gets really bad I give him his inhaler...we also have a nebulizer but I feel he gets more of the medicine from the inhaler. I think it might depend on your insurance whether or not you need to have a referral to see an ENT doctor. Check it out if you don't then get the name and number of one and call for yourself. When it comes to your kids you do your best for them, which you are, your trying to find the answer when it seems your ped it pushing it off. I would continually ask until they send you to someone. Anyway, they're not paying for it you are. Good Luck to you...and believe me I know how scary it is when they wake up coughing like crazy.
C.
We have battled acute asthma with my now 18 year old dd for almost 13 years and 10 of them really bad.
She was a cougher not a wheezer and she would throw up from coughing so badly. Her airways were usually very diminished once she hit this point and if she was scared and could'nt breath we were in trouble.
Did you specialist tell you that at 17 months many allergies will NOT even show up. I had allergy shots done at 2 and again at 5 and the overall grass allergies and fall tree allergeis did not show until she was 5.
Next time please get an assessment of how the lungs are performing at an ER. When my daughter has gotten to the point of being scared she had totally good reason to be scared and ended up in the Hospital for days.
Just as an FYI, while an inhaler can appear to work with more success, it is the nebulizer that distributes the meds 4 times as fast to the restricted airways. It is the same dose of medication but the combined air and moisture from the compressor get it into the lungs much faster. Much of the meds in an inhaler can be lost in the administration.
Good luck
