My 14 month old has had a cough for about a month. He was at the dr at the end of October and had bronchitis, so we got prescriptions and the breathing machine and he was feeling better within a few days. And they sent us to the hospital for a chest xray to rule out pneumonia, which he did not have. But he is still coughing. It's not as bad as it was and it is not keeping him up at night or anything, and he acts like he feels perfectly fine. I did talk to the dr again a few weeks ago and all he suggested was Delsym, which we gave him that offered temporary relief, but I didn't want to give it to him for very long. But I'm just not sure whether to get him in to the dr again (especially since he acts fine) or what I should do for him. My husband says he think he's fine, but I worry.... any advice?
Thanks everyone for the responses. I went ahead and called the doctor who said to give him just a bit of Mucinex ONLY if he was having a coughing fit and to have him sleep with a humidifier in his room all night. Which we did. And it worked. Now he's barely coughing at all. Thank you all so much.
Could it be allergies? My son has had a cough for several weeks and was in for his 18 month checkup last week - doc mentioned that it sounded like it could be an allergy cough and to make sure we were chaning our air filters etc often enough. She said that esp. now that we have closed up the house because it's cold, these things sometimes manifest. You might ask about it. If he is ACTING like he feels fine, I would not medicate him.
Whenever in doubt, call the doctor. Even if it is nothing you will rest easier and that is worth everything. That is why they are there and if there is something wrong you will have fixed the problem. Remember to trust your instincts...not necessarily your husbands. I used to listen to my husband and my son ended up in the hospital with an I.V. for bronchitis and dehydration. So I say call...I always follow my instincts and they are right every time!
At night try Vicks Vapor Rub on the feet and then socks. It has worked for my 3 girls.
I just recently had an episode with my 2 year old son. He had croup that required an overnight stay in the hospital, then turned into a really bad cold and the cough just wouldn't go away. So i took it to the dr 2 times in 1 week and the first they put him on the nebulizer and the second time he had developed a double ear infection. Ear Infections can cause cold like symptoms to lingere. So a dr. visit might be a good idea.
Hi T.,
My pediatrician said there is a virus going around that settles in the chest area. My son's turned into walking pneumonia.
My son is 17 and had a persistent cough for 3 weeks. He was diagnosed with walking pneumonia. The viral type of pneumonia not bacterial. It doesn't show up in x-rays or blood tests according to my doctor. He has been on an abuterol inhaler and z pack. They told me with pneumonia.. either type, you don't want to suppress the cough as coughing helps clear the lungs. IT was hard as he coughed at night a lot at first. They told me to run a vaporizer/humidifier to help. I read on the internet to push the fluids to keep the mucus thin. Also if your child has allergies maybe he/she could take some claritin? if that clears the cough up then you know it was allergies..just a thought. He may have drainage causing the coughing..
My son plays basketball and has been having trouble breathing so I took him back to the doctor. I'm so glad that I did.. they restricted him playing basketball for a week.. and they put him on prednisone for 4 days and upped the albuterol dose.
I don't know that this is what is going on with your child but it never hurts to go back to the doctor and have them listen to their chest. It seems this virus that is going around can go into just about anything.
take care and good luck!
It depends on the type of cough your son has. My son had a lingering cough. We brought him in and sure enough it was pneumonia. Then my kids both got sick again (like 2 days after feeling better) and he has some major wheezing so we were on the nebulizer for 5 days (or until wheezing gone). And were told next time he gets a cold to watch out for cough because now he may have a predisposition (esp. due to my family history) for these types of issue and may need to go on nebuelizer. I have tried the Vicks on the sock... doesn't really do much. Check for humidity in their room - that could be an issue too. But it might be best to call the doc. Hope his cough goes away really soon!
