2yo DS has had cough for 2 wks - any point in going to Dr.?

[lecach]

We haven't taken DS to the dr. because we figured - what are they going to do for a cough? But it's lasted 2 weeks now and seems to be a bit worse. Is there anything they can do for a 2 year old with a cough?

 

[WantToGoNow]

The cough could be from several things -- could just be a cold, could be bronchitis, allergies, asthma, pneumonia, etc. If it's hung on that long, you might want to call your doctor and have him checked.

 

[DJT]

Here's something you might try. I haven't tried it myself but I plan to when my usual winter cough hits this year. Someone sent the following e-mail to me. It's not the first time I've heard of this either. Others have actually tried it and said it really does work.

E-mail I received:

"A believer in Vicks Vaporub! Sorry, no graphic for this one, and don't
laugh, it works 100% of the time although the scientists at the Canada
Research council (who discovered it) aren't sure why.
To stop nighttime coughing in a child (or adult as we found out
personally), put Vicks Vaporub generously on the bottom of the feet at
bedtime, then cover with socks. Even persistent, heavy, deep coughing
will stop in about 5 minutes and stay stopped for many, many hours of
relief.
Works 100% of the time and is more effective in children than even very
strong prescription cough medicines. In addition it is extremely
soothing and comforting and they will sleep soundly.
I heard the head of the Canada Research Council describe these findings
on the part of their scientists when they were investigating the
effectiveness and usage of prescription cough medicines in children as
compared to alternative therapies like acupressure.
Just happened to tune in A.M. Radio and picked up this guy talking
about why cough medicines in kids often do more harm than good due to
the chemical makeup of these strong drugs so, I listened.
It was a surprising finding and found to be more effective than
prescribed medicines for children at bedtime, and in addition, to have
a soothing and calming effect on sick children who then went on to
sleep soundly.
My wife tried it on herself when she had a very deep constant and
persistent cough a few weeks ago and it worked 100%! She said that it
felt like a warm blanket had enveloped her, coughing stopped in a few
minutes and believe me, this was a deep, (incredibly annoying!) every
few seconds uncontrollable cough, and she slept cough free for hours
every night that she used it."

 

[PrincessTigerLily]

DS2 has had a cough for two weeks, and we are going to the pediatrician this afternoon. His cough has been mostly at night (asthma??), but now also during the day. Poor little guy gets these coughing jags and just keeps going and going. I'll let you know later what I hear if you like. Best wishes!

 

[mom2aredhead]

If you just recently put the heat on in your house, (within the last few weeks like we did) and you have that forced hot air heat, it may just be the dry air in the house causing the cough. A humidifier works wonders - they have really cute small animal ones in Target.

 

[earthfaries]

There is a lot of stuff going around right now. My docor always says don't bring the kids in for a regular cough or cold unless it has been over 2 weeks. Then they might need an antibiotic to help get it out of their body. Apparantly a cold or cough should go away on its own within 2 weeks.
The little boy I babysit who is two just went to the doctor last week for his cough which had lasted 2 weeks. They gave him Amoxocillian (sp?) said that his cold was gone, just a lingering cough but he know had an ear infection from it.

 

[mikymouse]

My school age child had whopping cough this fall even though he was fully immunized. We thought is was a cold but the cough got progressively worse, especially at night, so we took him to the doctor. It took several weeks to recover even with antibodics that work to rid his body of the bacteria that was in his lungs. I would definately have a doctor check out a cough that lasts longer than one week. Outside of a cough and a clear runny nose he had no other symptoms.

 

[tinkerbellmamma]

I would bring him in to be looked at. My son (2yr) has had night coughing for about 12-14 days, before that he had croup and was on meds. We have the cool mist humidifier going every night and we tried the Vicks - worked for a few days!! I had his 2 yr checkup anyway on Monday and mentioned that he was still coughing at night and he gave me a script for Tussin to be used as needed (makes them sleepy too) and 2 days so far and it is working.

 

[Gillian]

Outside of a cough and a clear runny nose he had no other symptoms.

This sounds like allergies, so be on the lookout for the same thing next year!

I know lots of kids who are sick right now, and in several cases it has been allegies & asthma. Moldy leaves are a problem for many.

My daughter had a horrible cough for several weeks last year that was helped by antihistamines. She did not need an antibiotic (not to say that other kids don't).

 

[cruizie]

I took my dd5 in a few weeks ago for the same thing, cough lasting more than 2 weeks. The only other symptom was a running nose, no fever. They finally diagnosed her with allergies. Prescribed a nasal spray and a liquid allergy medication. Cough went away after a few days but is back so I will give her the allergy medication again.

Oh and here is a budget hint whenever you go to the dr - make sure that you ask for samples. They often have samples but don't think of offering them. Our health insurance is so bad that I have started asking and it saves me money!! The last prescription I paid for (ear drops for swimmers ear for dd) was $100!!!!!

 

[mcqueengroupie]

I would definately go to the Dr. Last year DS coughed for a few weeks, but kept saying he felt fine. I figured that since he takes Singular and Zyertec for allergies, that he would be OK. However, I ended up taking him cause he was driving himself and us nuts with the coughing, and he had walking pnemonia!!! The Dr. told us he might "feel" fine, but he was very sick and very contagious. So he got 4 days off from school, and was banned to the play room with his video games and big TV. He was the happiest "sick" kid ever!!!

 

[mikymouse]

This sounds like allergies, so be on the lookout for the same thing next year!

In his case, it was confirmed case of whopping cough which . The big difference to me is that the whopping cough produced coughing fits (where you cannot stop coughing for several minutes) which is way different than coughs associated with other things. Worth getting it check out by a professional.

 

[DisneyPoohBear]

We have had the same problem with my 3 year old son. It would mostly hit him at night and he would throw up since he was coughing so hard. We took him to a pediatrician that specializes in asthma and since he has been using his inhaler we have had no more night coughs. We also have to use it when he plays too hard. They also think he has some allergy problems too but that will be the next check up later this month to determine how bad his asthma/allergies really are. I was told that night coughs are a symptom of having asthma.

 

[lecach]

We went to the Dr. this morning. Dr. said it was a wet cough - kindof like pneumonia but not. She didn't think it was that bad - but enough that he needed Zithromax. She said it was going around and since he's had it for 2 weeks and since he's borderline asthmatic that he needed to be treated.

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

DD has had the same thing and so do a TON of people around here (I had it for almost all of October myself). DD has had the cough for two weeks...sounds like she smokes. She was also throwing up from coughing to hard. But, I didn't take her because I didn't think there was anything that the dr could do about it...and I was right. She coincidently had her 4 year check up on Friday so we asked the dr about the cough. His advice is that she's okay and we just need to wait it out. This was last Friday. She still is coughing a little this week (mostly at night) but it's definately going away.

 

[Gillian]

In his case, it was confirmed case of whopping cough which . The big difference to me is that the whopping cough produced coughing fits (where you cannot stop coughing for several minutes) which is way different than coughs associated with other things. Worth getting it check out by a professional.

Of course. But there are conditions that are aggravated by allergies, and it's worth watching for patterns.

 

[Gillian]

DD has had the same thing and so do a TON of people around here (I had it for almost all of October myself). DD has had the cough for two weeks...sounds like she smokes. She was also throwing up from coughing to hard. But, I didn't take her because I didn't think there was anything that the dr could do about it...and I was right. She coincidently had her 4 year check up on Friday so we asked the dr about the cough. His advice is that she's okay and we just need to wait it out. This was last Friday. She still is coughing a little this week (mostly at night) but it's definately going away.

Could be mold on leaves. It's the season.

Benadryl works well to calm night coughs. Your pharmacist or Dr can look up the dose for younger kids.

 

[Texasmomof3]

I would definetly take him in to the Dr. My 2 year old had a cough for several weeks and I took her in last Friday because we are leaving Sat. for DW and I wanted to make sure that it was going to get better. Turns out she has pnuemonia. She is still running around like crazy so besides the cough you wouldn't have known she was sick. Always better to be safe than sorry.

 

[holden]

My DD has had a cough for 5 weeks. It is getting much better and she coughs maybe 10x a day (mostly at night in bed). We took her to the doc. after the first week and he said she has a cold. Then we had her aunt & uncle examine her (both docs.) after about 3 weeks and they said she has a cold (lungs are clear). She has no allergies because we just had her tested this summer. So I guess it's just a lingering cold. Odd but annoying!

 

[mom2alix]

We had the same thing with DD5. She actually coughed so hard she threw up on the playground and had to come home and miss her class Halloween party. I didn't think the doctor could do anything either, but I finally took her. He diagnosed viral bronchitis. She's been on breathing treatments for a little more than a week now and the cough is finally starting to go away.

I would go ahead and take your little ones in and let the doctor listen to their lungs, there may be something he can do to help them get relief.