Coughing ?'s

Hello Ladies,

Well, it’s official… we have our first full blown “sickness”. Both boys have had a few sniffles this winter, but not any thing serious. We’ve been extremely lucky in that aspect. We have also received the RSV shots, except for this month, that I truly believe have helped,.

In the past three days, a tiny little cough has turned into full blown dry coughing. No runny noses or fever, but a hack every 5 minutes or so. Neither one of the boys seem to be uncomfortable and they are following our loose schedule as per usual. They have coughed during the night and woke themselves up, but have gone almost immediately back to sleep.

Besides a warm mist humidifier (or do you prefer cool mist) for their room, is there any other suggestions to help alleviate this. I haven’t called the PED yet since there are no signs of drainage, sneezing or fever – should I call? We have an appointment next week so unless it gets worse, I’ll stick with that. Are there any other warning signs, besides the cough, that I should be looking for in case it turns into something more serious? They just turned 6 months old last week and as I said, we’ve been soooo lucky up to now.

Also, we have just started seeing the first pollen since we have a pretty early spring here in NC. Could it be allergies?

Thanks for your insight…

Angela

 

:hug99: I hope they feel better soon. I think the humidifier is a great idea. As long as there is no fever or other concerning symptoms, I think you are right to just monitor it at home. Of course if anything changes call the pedi and let them decide if you should bring them in early. GL!

 

Hope they recover quickly. Hugs all around.

Dianna

 

We put some vick's vapor rub on the feet & then put socks over the feet. I heard it on here & it seems to help all 3 of mine.

Hope they get over it soon.

 

QUOTE(Chase&Parker @ Mar 19 2008, 09:46 AM) [snapback]676790[/snapback]
Hello Ladies,

Well, it’s official… we have our first full blown “sickness”. Both boys have had a few sniffles this winter, but not any thing serious. We’ve been extremely lucky in that aspect. We have also received the RSV shots, except for this month, that I truly believe have helped,.

In the past three days, a tiny little cough has turned into full blown dry coughing. No runny noses or fever, but a hack every 5 minutes or so. Neither one of the boys seem to be uncomfortable and they are following our loose schedule as per usual. They have coughed during the night and woke themselves up, but have gone almost immediately back to sleep.

Besides a warm mist humidifier (or do you prefer cool mist) for their room, is there any other suggestions to help alleviate this. I haven’t called the PED yet since there are no signs of drainage, sneezing or fever – should I call? We have an appointment next week so unless it gets worse, I’ll stick with that. Are there any other warning signs, besides the cough, that I should be looking for in case it turns into something more serious? They just turned 6 months old last week and as I said, we’ve been soooo lucky up to now.

Also, we have just started seeing the first pollen since we have a pretty early spring here in NC. Could it be allergies?

Thanks for your insight…

Angela

Both of mine have reactive airway (basically asthma) so I always watch out for coughs. But if yours are only coughing, don't seem uncomfortable, no fever, no retraction (where they are breathing hard and they are sucking in at their ribs), aren't breathing fast (over 40-50 breathes per minute), are eating fine, aren't turning blue, and no weird wheezing sounds, then I say you should be fine.

If you notice a change in the cough or they have it for more than 7 days, I say go to the ped, which you're doing next week. Watch for a "barky" cough too...could be croup.

I use a cool mist humidifier (supposedly better on prevently mold growth) and if they have any congestion I make sure and use saline drops and suction them out. Otherwise, not much else to do.

From my understanding, hay-fever type allergies don't usually appear until at least one full year of exposure (after they are one...symptoms could show...you have to be exposed to it before you body has an immune response the next time it's exposed...if that makes sense) before symptoms show up and seasonal allergies aren't usually diagnosed until 2-3 years of age. HTHs and I hope they get over their coughs!

 

Are they teething at all? Mine both got little coughs (I'm assuming from the extra saliva that was swirling around in there and draining down their throat). We have the cool mist, but I don't really feel like it helps...the hot one works better for dry coughs IMO, but you also have to make sure it's out of reach so they can't get burned. Hope they feel better soon!

 

Quick update… DH bought a warm mist humidifier so we’ll see if that helps at all tonight.

Poor little Parker is a bit worse, but I know that I usually feel worse at night when I’m sick. He still doesn’t have a fever or any sneezing, so we’ll just keep a close watch over him.

Since this is our first real sickness, I’m a nervous wreck… I don’t know how you wonderful mommies out there deal with all of the things that you discuss on this board. I am truly thankful that this small issue is all that we’ve had to deal with and I applaud each and every one of you who deal with MUCH more than I could ever dream of.

Thank you to each of you who wrote back for the well wishes and advice – keep your fingers crossed that this little “bug” leaves before the Easter Bunny gets here

Take care,
Angela

 

We’re on our way to see the Dr. – Parker is a bit worse and when I called the PED office they said with the upcoming holiday, it would be best to go ahead and see both of them. DH is not thrilled, said that they only want our $40 but I know I’d much rather spend the $40 and know that we’re not looking at something more serious. I just hope this doesn’t interfere with our plans to travel to Tennessee this weekend. We will of course postpone the Easter trip if we need to though.

Wish us luck!!!

Thanks to all,
Angela

 

QUOTE(JessicaD @ Mar 19 2008, 12:35 PM) [snapback]677025[/snapback]
Are they teething at all? Mine both got little coughs (I'm assuming from the extra saliva that was swirling around in there and draining down their throat). We have the cool mist, but I don't really feel like it helps...the hot one works better for dry coughs IMO, but you also have to make sure it's out of reach so they can't get burned. Hope they feel better soon!


Ooo, I'm glad I read this. Early this morning, my DD was coughing with no other symptoms--no excess mucus, no fever, etc. And they have been drooling a lot, I've been suspecting the beginning of teething for a few days now. And she doesn't cough when she's sitting up. So, I'm suspecting that might be her problem...

 

Update: Went to the Dr. and both boys have a small respiratory virus and were tested for RSV – both came back negative (big sigh of relieve). We did a breathing treatment with a nebulizer at the office and the Dr. ordered a home health care service to deliver one to the house. Well, they never called or showed up!!! Of course the Dr’s office is closed today, so I had to call and leave a message to get the number for folks that didn’t even bother to call us. I don’t even know the name of the home health service so I can’t call myself. UGH!!!!

Does anyone have any advice or tricks regarding the nebulizers for infants – it was horrible to see little Parker screaming his head off with that mask on.

 

We don't use the masks. Try the tube one instead. If it makes you feel any better they actually get more medicine in when they are screaming.