Make It Go Away!!!..

It may also be a combination of allergies (along with the cold from new kids at school). Did the doc look up his nose? I guess there are some glands up there that are a good indicator of allergies. When my daughter was about 5 years old, she developed seasonal allergies... but the cough is what through me off. A cough can be a symptom of allergies. She was on Allegra and now Zyrtec (over the counter). Over this past month her allergies worsened and we had to up her to the higher dose (she took a lower dose all summer)... so I know allergies in general have been bad. MAybe chack back in with the doc to see if it might be allergies. Good Luck!

I dealt with this until they after my kids started school. It seemed like they never got sick when they were home with me until they were around other kids. When they started school, they got colds at first, but then seemed to build some kind of immunity to it from being around the other kids.

Sounds more like allergies than a cold. Try Benydril (spelling) and see if that helps.
Past experience with ear infections tells me if he isn't crying and running a fever it probably isn't an ear infection. With those the symptoms clear up and I don't ever remember my children having a cough or runny nose with one, just high fevers and a lot of pain. We did tubes after a 6 month run of ear infections.

Get him checked for allergies.....

maybe he needs another round of meds. has he been to the doc after he finished his first round to see if it was all cleared up? it's always rough when they start school, they bring home everything. how long as he had the cough and runny nose? is his cough dry? barky? it may also be possible you are treating him for a cold and he may be developing an allergy too. this time of year flares up lots of people.

Hi W.! Tell me about it! As soon as they get in school, they're sick! Us too! Anyway, I am a stickler about having my kids wash their hands the minute they walk through the door after school. Also, check with your teacher to see if they are using a hand sanitizer or actually washing their hands before lunch. If not, send in a bottle in for the class to use or send a trial size bottle of sanitizer to school with your son for his personal use. Do you think it might be allergies? I know that my husband is feeling the allergies in the air right now. Try an over the counter non-drowsy allergy medicine and see if that works. I'm sure the ear infection was due to all of the congestion in his head that settled in his ears. Don't be surprised if he is complaining of a sore throat or upset stomach from nasal drainage. If he coughs when he lays down, I'm sure that's due to drainage down the back of his throat. I try and get my kids to lay on their side if they start coughing at night. Sorry I'm rambling... it's the nurse in me! Good luck!!

W.,
While he is only 5 years old, he may be getting his 6 year molars. A lot of the time that will come with a runny nose. Your nose runs enough & you have post-nasal drip causing a cough. It could be something as easy as that. Allergies are also really bad right now. Maybe some Children's Claratin? Try it for a few days & if it goes away you know that was it. If you are worried about it & don't feel like your doc is listenting enough I would see a different doc to be sure. But I would just say keep doing what you're doing & ride it out. Good luck W.!
A.

It might be allergies. This is a super bad year for them, even if your child never had them before. I suggest Benadryl, my 8 yr. old takes it before school and she does great.

ASk your pediatrician what they suggest for allergies at his age.

Good luck!

R.

I would get a referral to an allergist first and find out if he is allergic/intolerant to anything. One of the remedies that worked with me when I was little, were the vapors of chamomile flowers. You can use chamomile tea. Try it in a little bowl. Boil water for 2 or 3 cups. Put 2 or 3 bags of chamomile tea in a bowl and pour the boiling water over the bags. Cover with a towl. Wait for a minute or two and then have your 5 year old inhale the vapors. In through his nose and out through his mouth. You have to watch him very carefully that he doesn't touch the bowl or burn himself. My mom used to have me put my face over the bowl to inhale the vapors. She would also cover my head and the bowl with a towel and pin the towel under my chin so that none of the vapors could escape. It gets very hot under there and sometimes I would have to take a break by "opening" the towl. And when I was very congested it was also hard to breathe under that at first. But it always opened up my nasal passages and calmed my bronchial tubes (?). My mom would have me do that for 10 minutes a night. Usually by the third night the congestion cleared up. Just know that the chamomile will make him sleepy. So try to do it before bedtime. If you don't want to have him put his face over the bowl, just use a bigger bowl, more tea bags and put the bowl in his room or in a smaller bathroom and he can just sit in the room and inhale the vapors.

I have been giving my son Nutriferon (interfuron booster) and Vitalea (natural cough supresent)since he was under a year old. This always got rid of his cough or runny nose in one day. When visiting my cousin in Brazil this past year, I gave some to her 3 year old son who is always sick because he has low white blood cell count and a lowered immune system. HE had been coughing for a month, the day she gave him the nutriferon (That's all I had with me) he was able to sleep throught the night with no coughs and the next day he was fine. It is great because it is completely natural so you don't need to worry about any possible harmful side effects. Let me know if you would like me to tell you how to get some. I have some other suggestions as well you may wish to consider.
K. Hatch I am a work at home mom enjoying my time with my 17 month old son.

I personally like using Vicks Vapor rub on my children. I would put in on them really good at night time from there neck to their chest. Then put on a nightshirt and put them to bed. They might complain of the smell at first. But, it helps open up and get rid of the cough.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

Sounds like there may be some seasonal allergies involved and not just a cold. My oldest son has season allergies bad, and he also develops a cough when his allergies kick in. Not all kids will have a cough with allergies though. I guess it depends on the severity of the allergies. If it is just a cold then it may be viral and not bacterial,in which case it just has to run its course and medicine will not help it. Bacterial stuff can be treated with meds., but viral stuff can't.
D.

I am 31 and have been married for almost 12 yrs. My husband and I have 3 boys ages 10,7, and 4.

My oldest had a month longer "cold" turned out to be asthma. After 48 hrs of asthma meds, it was completely gone. (just a thought)

Before my girls were diagnosed with asthma I used Father Johns cough medicine. It is one of those old school remedies that my grandmother used to live by when I was a child. The cough medice contains cod liver oil which cleans out the system removing the bacteria that causes the cold. It is hard to find but I have always had luck at the CVS.

Hi there! Well I am not sure if this what it is, but my son is almost 2 and he gets allergies really bad. The first year we were in and out of the doctors like a millions times and always had an ear infection. He as antibotics all the time. Until they looked into his allergies. He is on Singular (spelling) and clartin. When he hasn't had his meds then he gets a runny nose that runs so much it's everywhere and then it turns into a cough. So that's what made me think your son might have allergies. Well I hope I helped in some way. Good luck!

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Sounds like when my daughter was younger. She had sinus infections and they were so bad. No matter where I took her, our family doctor was the ONLY one who was able to tell that was what was wrong with her. He probably needs a stronger antibiotic. I know it was so frustrating, if her doctor wasn't in and we saw another one at her office they would say it was a cold, etc. But they were always wrong because I had to keep bringing her back and they were always sinus infections, very bad ones. Try Sudafed for children or Mucinex until you can see if taking him to get a stronger antibiotic may help.

My son 4 yrs. had the same symptoms and it turned out to be an allergy from the winds, etc. that have been blowing different "uckies" in the air. Claritin for children was recommended by my pediatrician and it helped tremendously. You might want to check with your doctor.

Viruses can take a lot longer than we'd like to run their courses, most often around 3 weeks. With a weakened immune system he very well could have just picked something else up. If there was a bacterial infection he'd be running a fever again so please do not run out and put him on more antibiotics, he'll just build a resistance. And if he is just now starting to hang around a bunch of other kids, you'll likely be combating this for awhile on and off.

My suggestions, first, steer clear of dairy as it increases mucus production. Try to get him to drink plenty of clear fluids, even sports drinks- though they do have more sugar than you'd really like, they also have an abundance of electrolytes which will help your son feel better.

I'm not big on OTC cold meds myself; they make me jittery, even dayquill, and sick feeling, so I use a lot of herbals that work really well for me, I knocked my last cold out in a week flat. Vitamin C chewables (for him a Flinstone would be great!) Airborne (which is safe for kids his age, a half a tablet, has Echinachea which is the kung fu master of herbals), and cranberry and oj mixed together.

A couple times a day I drink orange juice and cranberry juice mixed together, and at night I take some Airborne with a handful of vitmins; chewable C, vitmin E, and I take an extra echinachea and golden seal root complex. I do the same for my 6 year old (minus the complex vitamins, he is 6 and a bit small for yet, he can't swallow the capsules, use Airborne instead). I also make sure he takes vitamins at breakfast every morning, sick or not, as a preventative. Plus he is a picky eater.

In short, get some Airborne and daily kids vitamins and start pouring cranberry orange juice cocktails down him a couple times a day. And keep him on the vitamins to help build his immune system up. Other than that, you have to ride out all the illnesses until his immune system builds up more.

Hi W., are you sure it is a cold and not allergy's. I was told several years ago to put vicks vap o rub on the bottom of the childs feet and put socks on them too. Of course I put it on their chest and back. Good Luck I feel sorry for your little one. K.

Get him tested for allergies.

Plenty of liquids, apple juice (warmed up), water, herbal tea with a fresh squeezed lemon (just a dab), with a little honey (unless he's allergic), humidifier, vapor rub mix, tylenol, and lots of love, warmth and patience. Colds can last up to 4 weeks if not longer, depending on the situation and area. He might have allergies, do you have ragweed around your home? That could be another story if so. But try the first stuff and see if anything changes. If not, than I would try benedryl, if that doesn't work, than I'd take him back into the doctors and let him know that you suspect allergies or something else. But be prepared, they do lots of tests. Good Luck!

If it is a clear drainage from his nose, and a dry cough, he very well may have allergies. This is the time of year when my family's allergies really kick into high gear. Maybe try some OTC Children's Claritin. It does wonders for my girls ages 7 & 4.

Have you tried Claritin for Kids or even Zyrtec (make sure it's the 5mg dose and give at night!!) Maybe there's something in the school he's allergic too. This will help some! We also take a multivitimin year round with extra vitimin C to help build the immune system. My son is an extremely healthy eater and I feel this helps (keeps it at a runny nose vs. major health issues).
My son is starting with the runny nose. He's five and has been in a daycare setting 2-3 days a week for 4 years now. It's COMPLETELY normally for it to start in Sept/Oct and go through May with him. I thought about buying stock in tissues b/c we go through about three box a week at home. I even sent two extra boxes to school for the classroom feeling bad for how much he uses!
Best wishes...WELCOME to school! ;)

Couple things, First it's going to be a LONG year probally next one too. All the germs at school are new and your son has no resistance, over time he'll adjust and he won't be sick as often or for as long. I give my kids vitamins from the day school starts till the day it ends, and i really noticed a difference.

now as for the cough this is CRAZY and you'll only even try it if you are desperate or curious, but someone once told me to put vicks on their feet to cure a cough. it's that easy a nice amount of vicks then a pair of comfy socks before they go to bed at night and the cough is gone the next day. strange but i was desperate and curious and it worked for us.

He might be having a hard time fighting off the cold if you kept him super germ free growing up.

It also sounds almost like allergies. Do you have pets? If you don't and one of the other children do, he could be allergic. Do they have a class pet? Anything new in his environment other then school?

Just a few ideas.

Unfortunately, you'll probably find that he's going to be sick a lot this year. When kids aren't around kids too much before they start school, they tend to be susceptible to everything! The best you can do is explain to him how important it is for him to wash his hands frequently and also to try and pay attention to things like rubbing his eyes or something while he's at school so he can help by not spreading the germs. That's a LOT to ask from a 5 year old boy though!! It seems like every year it gets better with my kids, a little less colds.

Are you sure it's a cold and not allergies? Most experts are now saying to NOT give cold medicines to kids because they usually do more harm than good. For instance, suppressing a cough is very dangerous -- it's the body's way to getting rid of bad stuff in the lungs. My 3 year old will have a runny nose/cough for months at a time if we don't give her allergy medicine. Becuase of the weather we've had this year (all that flooding) all the allergy counts are high this year and this is prime time for hay fever. Try allergy medicine (note that it usually takes 3-5 days to become real effective) and see if that helps.

Since he wasn't around kids before starting school, he'll probably be sick alot, though. :-( I know many people around here put their kids in preschool for at least one year simply to get them exposed so they'll be sick less once they start school and won't have to miss as much. The first year our children have been in preschool they got sick constantly with only a few healthy days before the next cold/stomach bug/illness set in. :-(

W., my son has had the same nose and cough for about 3 months now, gotten worse since about aug. Our Dr. says it is allergies. Even kids that don't normally have them are getting them this year. Try claritan 5mg - for kids for a week, I would bet it helps at least some. Good luck with that nose!

Sounds to me like maybe it's allergies and not just a cold. My son takes Claritin when he starts getting that way. I have also been told that OJ is a BIG no no when you have a cough especially if it's a phlemy one. They say that the acid in it makes it worse. I found that out when I was singing in a choir. Instead, try giving him a chewable vitamin C each day and see if that helps any. My kids take those along with their vitamins and the Dr. said its good for their immune system as well and helping the body heal from any scrathes, bumps and bruises they may get. My son had 48+ stitches in his lip a couple of years ago and the plastic surgeon told me to give him those to help the wound heal and eliminate the appearance of the scar. I hope that you get things figured out and your poor little boy starts getting some relief.

My daughter had this. She would get "colds" and have them for months at a time, and get them frequently throughout the year. Finally, a doctor put her on Singular for allergies and asthma both...it worked like a charm!!! She didn't have the wheezing type of asthma....it was more of the cough and activity induced asthma. She hasn't had a cold/cough that lasted longer than the normal time (7-10 days) ever since being on Singular. Also, she doesn't get them as often. She was probably around 5-6 yrs old when we started the Singular. You might want to ask your doctor about it.

BTW, the doctor tried putting her on allergy meds only to start with...Zyrtec...but it never worked. She needed the Singular because it takes care of both allergies and asthma.

Hi W., have you looked into allergies? My daughter had the same symptoms and the doc said it was allergies. Good luck!