[aypa]

I was wondering if any other parents had any advice on treating a persistent night cough. My 4 year old DD will often have coughing fits at night that go on for an hour or so each (she can have up to 3 or 4 of these a night). There is nothing wrong with her during the day.

I do not think it is Asthma (either does the doctor) as my DS has asthma so I am aware of what this presents like. Her cough is just like she has a tickle in the back of her throat that will just not go away.

She has a similar thing this time last year and the doctor said it could be a post nasal drip from allergies. I have tried Antihistamines but it doesn't seem to help. I am considering asking the doctor for a full allergy screening test to see if there is anything in particular that she is allergic to.

If anyone has any suggestions I would be very grateful as she is keeping the whole house awake - she sleeps through her coughing fits but no-one else does!

I have heard of vicks on the bottom of the feet with socks works??? - as anyone had any success with this - seems a little strange and I don't understand how it would actually work!

Thanks in advance!

[Carmen02]

my DD gets like that when her allergies are playing up! Shes allergic to alot of environmental things like grass, dust, pollen and so on. my DDs cough improves when shes not flat on her back, we stick a couple of big couch coushins and that helps.

[Alacritous~Andy]

My DS had a period of a couple of months where he was like this. Raising the bed head is the only thing that has helped.

[*Tess*]

My daughter presented like that when she had whooping cough. The doctor didn't want to test for it because he didn't believe it could possibly be that. Tests were done at my insistence and came back positive.

[Kay1]

Id be asking for tests for whooping cough and mycoplasma. Also I'd pull out her bed and clean and vaccuum very carefully all around. I was coughing each time I fed DS3 overnight and eventually realised the blind behind where I fed him was all mouldy and dirty (even though I cleaned it a few weeks ago) from the damp weather. I cleaned it up and the cough went away.

[jill1972]

First thing I thought when I read the topic was asthma, my symptoms was a persistent cough & nothing else it was just mild asthma. Why doesn't the doctor think it's asthma? Did he give her a breath test? Coughing at night is a red flag for it too.



____________

[aggyw72]

Hi
Our DS did this for almost a year , only at night from about 3.5 onwards. He was trialled on Ventolin with no result.
Then we had some rain leak into his room, pulled up the carpet and found mould in the underlay. We had not long moved into the house, already pulled down the old curtains due to dust, but clearly the room had leaked before and not been fixed!
As soon as the mould was gone the coughing stopped.
We now have no carpet at all and just a bare concrete slab till we get our cork floor later this year - we've all felt better since!

[cinnabubble]

My older daughter was prescribed Singulair for a cough like that.

[Kenzi_Bubble]

My 4 year old DD has cough variant asthma, and it presents with a cough that sounds like a tickle would be causing it. No wheezeing, ever.

Other than asthma, I agree with the previos PPs, get her tested for WC, and double check there is no mould/dust/severe dampness etc.

Does it only happen in her bed? If she were to sleep in the lounge room or at someone elses house does it still happen then?

[melajoe]

I'll be watching this thread for ideas too. My 2.5 year old daughter also has a persistent cough at night. We first noticed it when she was around 12 months old. We were living in Sydney, it was over winter and the house we were in was pretty cold at night (even though we had a heater in her room, there always seemed to be a chill in the air). At first we put it down to cold night air, after a month or so we had her tested for whooping cough and found it wasn't that. The doctor said he didn't think it was asthma either. Hers was just like you've described, like she has a tickle in her throat. In the morning when she wakes she will always have a big cough, it is almost like a "smokers cough" where it sounds like she is trying to cough something up but nothing comes. Sometimes you can hear stuff rattling around in her chest, but when we take her to the doctor they say her chest is clear. We've since moved houses, twice, and are now living in far north QLD where I thought the humid air would help but it hasn't. She still coughs most nights. We've tried antihistamines and cough suppressants, humidifiers, vicks on her chest and feet, but nothing seems to give her any long-term relief. She does snore at night, sometimes, and DH and I have wondered if we should pursue it further through an ENT specialist, but so many doctors have said there is nothing wrong with her.

Sorry I don't have any advice for you. I know it can be so frustrating and the sleepless nights are so draining. I'll be watching to see if anybody has any suggestions.