Question About Cough!!

R.,

Do you have an aging carpet in your bedroom?

DS would sneeze up a storm when we had him in the bedroom. We have baseboard heating, dry, yes, but we couldn't help anything until we removed the carpet from our room - it was dated 1989 underneath!

Carpets, depending on how they are manufactured, can last 5-12 years. Ours was 19 years old! Ick!

Removal not possible? Use a steam cleaner - when baby is not home. Clean it until the water comes out clean - not cloudy or black.

If you can't clean the entire carpet in less than 24 hours (however many times it takes to get the water clean) then it is time to remove it!

Good luck,
M.

What you are describing is exactly what my daughter started with 2 weeks ago. She was only coughing at night, no other symptoms. I agree that it is a post nasal drip - just be sure to watch for any other symptoms. The nigh time cough eventually turned into a major upper respiratory tract infection, which included fever, cold like symptoms, and a terrible deep cough. You can also try to elevate the head of the bed a bit to try to ease the post nasal drip. Good luck and hopefully your son will feel better soon!

You could try saline spray in the nose for post nasal drip. I use it for my son am and pm and it helps.

I have allergies, both of my son did this and also are being treated for allergies and no longer do it. We started with Claritin (youngest is on claritin - 1/2tsp) My oldest is up to 1.5tsp of Zyrtec. When I have tried to take them off (esp the older one) he coughs at night and also when they were exposed to pet dander on our holiday trip, they both coughed for weeks. So I already had asthma/allergies so our home is allergy proofed, you could also make sure there are no triggers around. I am not sure what your living situation is but you can google allergy triggers and will read about smoke, pet dander, dust, washing sheets and keeping a mattress pad on, etc.. Coughing @ night is not healthy, you all 3 need to be getting good sleep!

This has happened to my daughter and I noticed everytime she put her head down to sleep, within a few minutes she would start coughing and I could not stop her. I remembered she was allergic to dust mites. The next morning, I stripped her bed of everything, washed it in HOT water and waited to see the results that night. She was silent and slept wonderfully! Forced hot air puts a lot of dust into the house. Maybe the dust is bothering the baby. Good luck!

By the way, for what it is worth, I have tried the Vicks on the feet trick, and it worked like a charm!

I'm wondering if he's suffering from a sinus drip being caused by something he's allergic to in his crib/bed.

Same thing happens to me when I sleep flat...the night coughing has stopped when I started elevating my head and chest when I sleep with several pillows and the window opened slightly. I have changed my laundry soap, and no longer use feather pillows or a down blanket which didn't seem to make a difference and still haven't figured out what in my bedroom causes this to happen. My doctor gave me a script for a nose spray that dries out my sinuses but I rather not use it if I don't have to.

Do check with the doctor if it can be a sinus drip..

my daughter is turning 7 in march..when she was about6 months old she started with a cough..sometimes during the day but mostly when laying down..we found out through testing that she asthma and allergys..the allergys were the main problem..we ened up making a frame for the mattress that lifted it up and angled it...it made the bottom of the mattress at the foot area stay put where it belonged but lifted the head area..we only lifted about 7 or 8 inches but it was enough so that what ever ended dripping down the back of the throat made it easier for her to swallow and not make the coughing noise...i dont know it your child will benefit from this but it would be worth a try...our ent dr was the one who suggested raising the head of the bed..it has helped all these years..we just this past weekend laid the bed back down flat to see how things go..so far so good.. well good luck with your little one..R.

It sounds like it could be post nasal drip. I have it and it is so difficult to sleep sometimes I feel like I am gagging. He probably won't like it but saline drops do help thin out the mucus. It won't hurt and you can do it as often as you like though out the day. Some doctors believe that dairy products can create more mucus. Maybe after his night time bottle try the saline it may help.

My son had the same thing....turned out to be mild asthma...do you have a cat or dog? do they sleep in his room? Maybe the detergent you use on his bed clothes> check that out

A nighttime cough is often the hallmark for asthma. I would take him to a pediatric pulmonologist for evaluation. This is not as scary as it sounds--there are all different kinds and degrees of asthma (4 of my kids are virally induced, which means the cough and other asthmatic symptoms are generally only present when they're sick--they don't have acute attacks). The good news is, if it is asthma, is that the earlier the onset, the greater the chance to outgrow it if treated properly and consistently, and boys tend to outgrow it moreso than girls. My son was diagnosed at 4 months (and even with 3 older ones with it, I would not have thought that that was what was going on), and he has almost outgrown it at 5. By the way, the humidifier can be a problem too--if the coughing is due to a mold sensitivity, the humidifier will make it worse--you want to make sure the humidity in his room is no more than about 35%--you can buy an inexpensive monitor for this. Good luck with it--try not to worry, just get to the bottom of it and act. If it's nothing, all you've wasted is some time.

My oldest daughter coughed at night and we found out she was allergic to the bedding..it would make her nose run and because she was laying down it would run down the back of her throat and make her cough and gag...although she was older, and we got rid of the feather pillow, changed blankets and laundry soap. Is there a stuffed animal at the corner of the bed? a certain blanket that he only uses in bed? It is possible that it is something outside the bedroom too. Could his nose be running durring the day a little here and there ? not enough to think he has a cold but if he were laying down enough to gag him? Just a thought hope you get some answers and a sollution.
Wow I just read the other responses, we almost all seem to agree to some point..

Dear Roxanne:

Try putting Vicks Vaporub on your baby's feet/soles before he goes to bed at night, but be sure that he has either footie pajamas or have some sort of socks on while he is sleeping. You might try putting a little Vicks on his chest too, but I would definitely try the Vicks on the bottom of his feet before he goes to bed. You can probably do this during the day too.

It has worked on several people (even adults)that I know, and I hope it works on your baby.

Long-time Mom

The only other thing I can think of suggesting is to try to elevate the top of his crib mattress, where he lays his head. Most doctors will say he's too young for a pillow, so if you roll up a towel or another blanket and stick it underneath the mattress that should help raise it.

Yup. I went through this when my son was 12 months old. Definitely look into the allergies.

Definitely allergies! Talk to your doc about options, and consider getting rid of rugs and curtains in his room. (Shades are fine, because they are easy to clean.) If you have pets, keep them out of his room too! The humidifier is a good idea, though keep a close eye on it for mildew.

I know you've talked to your doc already, but bring it back up! Make sure he/she knows how worried you are about this! Just saying "he's ok" is not really an answer. Just because he's not super sick doesn't mean that cough is ok!

Hi R.,
I hear you. He could be suffering from allergies. This happens to me frequently in the cold, dry weather. Humidifiers do not help, but air purifiers do. Holmes makes a small room sized one. Thoroughly vacuum his room. Take his bed sheets and wash them in hot water. Throw away any type of bedding like pillows, bumpers, etc. and buy him new. They also have hypoallergenic mattress pads you can put over his mattress. Whenever I clean my room out, the bedding, and run the purifier I am fine. Good Luck!

Possibly post nasal drip?

that same thing happened with my daughter and i was told it was asthma she is on a nebulizer and meds for it

R.

I have 3 children and the coughing at night can be distrubing to you and their sleep. I had found that outting tea tree oil on the soals of their feet to help reduce the coughing. It realluy works. I try to use natural remedies because to many of the products have petroleum, formeldehyde,chemicals and stuff. So I have since converted my home and love my safer and healthier home.

It is probably post nasal drip which occurs more when the child is laying down. He needs to be elevated. If he doesn't squirm a lot during sleep, you can put something under his mattress to elevate. My son squirms a lot so it wasn't a possibility for us. They do sell sleep positioners that are sort of shaped like a baby car seat that may help. Btw, coughing is good for the baby as it clears his breathing passage. When he's a little older, ask your doctor if he can take Zyrtec (antihistamine). This will help him sleep. He may cough more when he wakes up after taking this the night before but it's good because it will get out the mucus build up. Hope this helps.

Several people mentioned allergies, and asthma, but no one said reflux. It could definitely be reflux. Also, reflux and asthma go hand in hand. The son of a friend was diagnosed with asthma for years, but come to find out it was actually reflux. When you lay down reflux is worse, and go into the lungs instead of just the throat and stomach. Take him to the doctor. Even if you think it's just post nasal drip like many suggested. Don't let the doctor poopa you by saying that babies at the age don't have sinuses. They will say that, but I mean babies get colds, so that just doesn't make any sense. Good luck to getting your son some relief, and you and your husband some sleep!

I hear you about the sleep! Just a guess, but it might be, escpecially if he is getting teeth that he has a lot of saliva that he chokes on because he is laying down. My son did the same thing because babies that age don't tend to swallow the saliva, hence the drooling in the day when they are upright. Also, you might try elevating the head of the bed. Sometimes just laying down flat can cause a cough. You can also try another doctor for a second opinion. Vick's makes a great product for children under 2 called Baby Rub. Try it out and see if it works for you- it helped my son a great deal. Good luck.

I've never tried this myself - haven't had the opportunity to... I read in an email that was sent to me that for coughs, you can put Vicks vapor rub at the bottom of feet, then put socks on and go to sleep. It's worth a try - and would love to hear back from you if it works for you if you decide to try this.
Thanks.