what do you do for a bad toddler cough at night

[Anonymous]

Whenever 18mp DS gets a cold (very very regularly) he's pretty fine during the day but the snot drainage causes him to cough for hours at night and naptime. I have a humidifier going, give him a steam shower before bed, and prop up his mattress some but the coughing fits start after a couple hours and going to bed and continue all night.

Any other ideas of what else I can do?

[Anonymous]

Reduce dairy consumption.

[Anonymous]

Your DS may have reactive airways. Mine does and is prescribed an albuterol inhaler for night time coughing. He also gets an antihistamine (Zyrtec) to help dry up some of the congestion. It doesn't stop it completely but it does help immensely. Any family history of asthma, eczema, food allergies? I have asthma and allergies myself.

I also agree to reduce dairy consumption as it is very congesting. Also, when the nasal drainage is really bad I use the snot sucker on him along with a saline nasal spray.

[Anonymous]

snot sucker, saline spray, spoon of honey, kids cough medicine (which is basically just honey), humidifier, inclined pillows if you can, and just accepting that it won't be a quiet night.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:snot sucker, saline spray, spoon of honey, kids cough medicine (which is basically just honey), humidifier, inclined pillows if you can, and just accepting that it won't be a quiet night.

He's always fought the snot sucker / saline spray so hard that he ends up in a sobbing / coughing fit so I basically never use it now. Does it just help for a few minutes and then fills up again or does it actually keep them clear for awhile?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your DS may have reactive airways. Mine does and is prescribed an albuterol inhaler for night time coughing. He also gets an antihistamine (Zyrtec) to help dry up some of the congestion. It doesn't stop it completely but it does help immensely. Any family history of asthma, eczema, food allergies? I have asthma and allergies myself.

I also agree to reduce dairy consumption as it is very congesting. Also, when the nasal drainage is really bad I use the snot sucker on him along with a saline nasal spray.

Interesting - I had no idea about the dairy and he has a lot of dairy. For the inhaler - is it for a wheezing cough or a congested cough? My one minute of google made it sound like wheezing (DS's is congested) but i'll discuss with doc

[Anonymous]

Saline spray, chest rub, honey cough "medicine"- our DD has already had 2 persistent coughs this fall.

[Anonymous]

I put a small amount of Vick’s vapor rub on toddlers feet with socks. I put it on the chest when older than 2. Also, cut out milk for a while or you will never get rid of the congestion. Steam shower and humidifier. The snot sucker is great too!

[Anonymous]

I give my kids a dose of kids ibuprofen or Tylenol for a cough at night. For 18 mos., you may want to ask your pediatrician about the dosing. It knocks down the inflamation, and usually knocks down the cough. It's actually how I treat my own coughs, too (with adult ibuprofen, of course). For me, it works much better than cough syrup, which just makes me queasy and groggy.

[Anonymous]

Zarbees Nighttime (has a little melatonin in it). Honey also helps, too. Steam shower, humidifier, vapor rub, and the vick's plug ins are also part of our arsenal.

[Anonymous]

My kid coughed like this, never wheezed, an the inhaler helped immensely. See Dr. Nsouli, who has opened the Cough Institute. He's a top-notch allergist. Burke or D.C.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your DS may have reactive airways. Mine does and is prescribed an albuterol inhaler for night time coughing. He also gets an antihistamine (Zyrtec) to help dry up some of the congestion. It doesn't stop it completely but it does help immensely. Any family history of asthma, eczema, food allergies? I have asthma and allergies myself.

I also agree to reduce dairy consumption as it is very congesting. Also, when the nasal drainage is really bad I use the snot sucker on him along with a saline nasal spray.

Interesting - I had no idea about the dairy and he has a lot of dairy. For the inhaler - is it for a wheezing cough or a congested cough? My one minute of google made it sound like wheezing (DS's is congested) but i'll discuss with doc

Both. Our pediatrician basically has us do it as soon as he gets that bad night time cough (which if he only gets it at night is big indicator of reactive airways) because he has so many risk factors for asthma. I have cough-variant asthma myself and I only rarely get wheezing. Part of why it took a while to get diagnosed plus the fact that it was adult onset.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:snot sucker, saline spray, spoon of honey, kids cough medicine (which is basically just honey), humidifier, inclined pillows if you can, and just accepting that it won't be a quiet night.

He's always fought the snot sucker / saline spray so hard that he ends up in a sobbing / coughing fit so I basically never use it now. Does it just help for a few minutes and then fills up again or does it actually keep them clear for awhile?

First inhaler poster again - mine screams and fights the snot sucker as well but it really helps. He gets so backed up sometimes that he will literally choke on it and vomit. I've gotten about tablespoon out of his nose before at one time. For use it is well worth the fight. He'll even say that he feels better as if he wasn't screaming bloody murder 2 seconds before.

Oh, also, if you do end up with an inhaler makes sure they give you the toddler spacer (looks like a face mask with a tube attached).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your DS may have reactive airways. Mine does and is prescribed an albuterol inhaler for night time coughing. He also gets an antihistamine (Zyrtec) to help dry up some of the congestion. It doesn't stop it completely but it does help immensely. Any family history of asthma, eczema, food allergies? I have asthma and allergies myself.

I also agree to reduce dairy consumption as it is very congesting. Also, when the nasal drainage is really bad I use the snot sucker on him along with a saline nasal spray.

Interesting - I had no idea about the dairy and he has a lot of dairy. For the inhaler - is it for a wheezing cough or a congested cough? My one minute of google made it sound like wheezing (DS's is congested) but i'll discuss with doc

The dairy is a huge problem for lots of kids. You could actually eliminate dairy for a couple of days and watch him get better. Also, don't give him cold stuff to eat or drink, just warm things.

[Anonymous]

Sometimes I used to put a blob of Vicks on a washcloth and lay it on the floor of the shower, right underneath the scalding-hot spray. I always just sat with them in the bathroom and read books or listened to music, because you can do that for longer than actually putting them in the shower.

I was always hesitant to rub Vicks directly on a little kid's chest, but indirect uses like the steam shower, or the pads with the fan or humidifier, still seemed to help.

A warm compress when they're lying in bed sometimes helps, too. I have a microwave heat pack that's large enough to cover a little kid's chest (mine is grain-filled, from Grampa's Garden), and I find that sometimes the gentle warmth and the extra weight can relax the spasms and help them settle down long enough to doze off. You can even spritz it lightly with water before you microwave to create a little extra humidity.