# Persistent Cough in Toddler?



## attachedmama2one (Aug 8, 2002)

Hi. Ds is 14mos and seems to always catch whatever is going around a tad worse and it stays a bit longer. He is bf'd, eats solid and is a bit low in iron so he takes the Floridix. He has had a cough on and off for 6 wks but no fever and in a good mood so I've put off taking him in. 2 times last week he did not sleep well and we co sleep so I know exactly how much he woke up. I wake up at the slightest noise. Last night he slept horrid again so I did take him in today. He's had croup 2 times before so they are a bit worried about him - they have mentioned he's at risk for asthma, etc so the Dr says he has clear lungs, ears, no pneumonia, whooping cough...so I'm thinking this is great news and we didn't need to come in. Then he says a cough that long is not good (I wish I would have probed that more...sorry) and that he needs a nebulizer w/ Albuteral every 4 hrs or as needed. So we got sent home with the machine, the meds and gave him 1 treatment. Well, I'm already not liking that he had one treatment and I really don't like the attitude everyone had at the office that he'll probably need this every time he gets a cough for a long time, maybe life. The pharmicist told me at first they hate it but now her 1.5 yr old loves his mask and all the kids at daycare like to see who has the best mask. I had to bit my tongue to not say well, I think we'll being to see a naturopath doctor real soon. So, I had a list of hers, etc that I was going to pick up this week and try but I'm thinking an appt w/ a naturpath may be the best. What does everyone think or recommend - ever writing this it seems ridiculous that he is on such a strong medicine and really just has a cough. Now, it is a cough that is interferring w/ him sleeping quite a bit but I'm wondering if the risk of the medication is near the risk of our lack of sleep. Please help...

Thanks....Jenn


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## artsyfartsymama (May 11, 2006)

Well, if it's interferring with his sleep I would say it's more than just a little cough. What htings have you tried outside of the medicine they gave you? Some of the things we do when the kiddos have colds/coughs, run a cool mist vaporizer with some eucalyptus oil. rub eucalyptus with some olive oil on baby's chest. when i am bfing i'll take extra vit c and zinc as well as raw garlic. you can also get a tincture with echinachea for kids. oh and we have also used a cough medicine called chestal that has worked for us, but i can't remember what ages it is for. hth and i hope some more mamas have more ideas for you. hope your baby feels better soon.


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## bri276 (Mar 24, 2005)

I'd try getting a lot more vitamin C into him. will he eat kiwi fruit? it's an excellent source. also, if you take sodium ascorbate, it will increase the vit c levels in your breastmilk. if you haven't already, check out the sodium ascorbate thread in the vaccinations forum, it might be a couple pages back but it's a wealth of info. btw, the C would also increase his iron absorption.


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## attachedmama2one (Aug 8, 2002)

Thanks..I'll check out that thread. I actually run a cool mist vaporizer nightly, and clean it well every other day, to act a white noise machine. He used to eat the vit c tablets but now he won't. I'll be sure to up my quantity of all the good stuff too...I had forgotten all about that until yesterday...duh! The View show, of all places, actually had a homeopathic segment the other day...It had some suggestions for immunity and colds...Of course, now I can't remember it, but I'm sure it will come back to me at the health food store.

Thanks again...

Jenn


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## courtenay_e (Sep 1, 2005)

Okay. This is from the mama of an asthmatic. Dd showed her first signs of asthma at just over a year. First off, an asthmatic doesn't have to wheeze for it to be asthma. I am asthmatic and have only in my life had ONE wheezing episode. The rest of the time I cough. And cough. And cough, and cough, and cough. My daughter has the same MO. The thing with the nebulizer is that if your dc is really having asthmatic episodes and you DON'T treat them, you can be allowing permanent damage to their bronchioles. They can get so inflamed that there is permanent scar tissue formed, and then they'll get other problems that are much worse.

So, go to see an asthma and allergy specialist and see if that is what the issue really is, but the symptoms sound like it to me. And, by the way, I would stop the vaporizer today! Many people who have asthmatic issues are very allergic to dust mites. Dust mites multiply like little bunnies if the humidity level is higher than 30% in a room. Soooo, as good as it is for other people, I'd say there's a high liklihood that the vaporizer could actually be ADDING to the night time coughing issues. Next, start washing your sheets a MINIMUM of once a week in VERY HOT water, and dry in a hot dryer. The rest of your bedding, too. THis will kill any dust mites in your bedding, but they will climb up from your mattresses, and begin to multiply again, which is why you do it a minimum of once a week...

THEN, start supplementing yourself with cod liver oil, and your dc will get it through your breastmilk. This, along with supplementing with juice plus (my kids love the gummies, but they have chewables, as well--and I break up a purple capsule every day and put it in juice for her) has made a HUGE difference in the amount of inflammation my daughter experiences in her lungs. Yes, she does still seem to hang on to a cold a little longer than my ds (IF she catches it...the supplementation has made a huge difference in what she even catches, let alone holds on to...), but it is significantly shorter than it used to be (I'm talking six weeks in some cases, or even just two and a half weeks as compared to ds's five or six days).

Also, we have found that if we're in a high risk time of year, it's a great idea for dd to take singulair as a preventitive. We are sure that she has it at the very least during the fall and winter months, although this past spring and summer were so wet that she needed it all year round this year. THAT has kept pneumonia at bay for (knock on wood) almost a year and a half, when she had it two or three times a year before that.

Soooo, yes, it is a very valid and effective treatment to use a nebulizer to treat asthmatic symptoms, and can keep long term damage at bay. AND YES, there are OTHER things you can and should be doing to have to keep from using the nebulizer at all.

I'm not just speaking from my own experience, either. If you look up asthma and cod liver oil, you'll see that it has a significant level of success in treatment to keep symptoms from appearing.

I have friends (some IRL who are members here as well), who use the same routine as we do (Singulair, cod liver oil and Juice Plus, with vitamin C), and it has made a huge difference in their lives and those of their children, as well, since they started.

Good luck, and I hope you find the information you need to keep your child healthy!


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## guestmama9916 (Jun 24, 2006)

I agree with the cod liver oil. What seems to be helping us the most with colds is probiotics and raw milk. I'm making my DS and I water kefir from some water kefir grains I got from another MDC member. Probiotics are good bacteria that your body needs as its first line of defense against illness. The raw milk provides even more good bacteria and has numerous immune system boosting components. Let me know if you want more info on the kefir or raw milk. My DS is in daycare too. We had a heck of a time with colds the first year in daycare. Since we've started the raw milk and kefir, his colds are much less severe if he even gets sick. He doesn't even wake a night coughing like he used to. I'm very pleased with the results we've seen thus far. I used to catch all the colds he brought home but I've haven't had any.

Kim


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## artsyfartsymama (May 11, 2006)

I am glad I checked back. My older ds has had a problem with a persistant stuffy nose and here we thought the vaporizer was helping, maybe it is actually doing more harm?

What does the cod liver oil do for the coughing? I take that when I can remember, and I try to give it to my kids, but they think it's nasty so that's tough.

TIA


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## attachedmama2one (Aug 8, 2002)

Thank you for all of the asthma information...Wow! I always get the BEST information from this site..so thanks everyone! I had never even thought about the humidifier making things worse and the sheets...I had let that slack too. I do have cases on everything from when my middle child was having some nasal issues and I suspected allergies...luckily she outgrew it. I have to give a plug for Sambucula...I took one 2tsp dose tonight and my little spastic cough is GONE...not so for my 14 mos old but we did not do the nebulizer tonight and so far so good...gave him echinacea tincture too. I think I will have him go to a asthma specialist..out of curiousity what would they say/recommend? Is is worth going to a naturopathic doctor too if it is asthma? I will have to look into cod liver oil too...never heard that before.

Jenn


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