Need advice from MOMS...my son has his first cough!

[ShainaT]

Starting yesterday seven-month-old Colin has had a bad cough and been really congested. The poor boy was up several times last night coughing. Now, since he didn't sleep much he is very grumpy and fussy. I don't know what to do! I gave him some Infant Tylenol but that didn't seem to help.

I was going to call the Doctor but since today is Sunday and Easter and this isn't an emergency I will have to wait until tomorrow. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.


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[Mouse7088]

Try some of the Vapor Bath stuff they have out now..I would have LOVED having this stuff when my kiddos were younger. We're a family of allergy sufferers and the coughs are something we always seem to have. Ear infections made my oldest one cough also...he NEVER did the tugging ear or anything to even make me suspect an ear infection...his ear(or ears) were always pretty hot (red) looking tho on the inside.

[kells3]

Do you have an advice nurse you can call? They would be able to tell you over the phone what you can give a seven month old. Even though my youngest is only 6 I can't remember what I did for a cough. I hope someone else can be more helpfull.

Kelly


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[cujo0123]

I am a nurse but with out more info I can't say much. The safest thing to do is stick with the baby tylenol and use the thickest maple syrup you can find. Give him a little bit of that and it will coat his throat and sooth it and he should like the taste. Call the doctor tomorrow and have him looked at. I can't really say much without other info, but that is the safest option with the info that was given. Of course, take him to the ER if he is coughing up blood or has a really high fever.

Another thing you can do is ask your pharmacist. Here, we have 24 hour pharmacies and that might be a better solution. It's not a doctor but the pharmacist will tell you its an emergency if it is. If not, s/he can tell you what would be best until you see the doctor.

Good luck, I hope it helps.

[ShainaT]

Thanks guys. He isn't coughing up blood and he luckily has no temperature. We have some vapor bath Johnson's and Johnson's stuff. We also have a vaporizer. Maybe I will try that. Thanks for the pharmacy info...I am going to try that now.

Shaina

[tlspiegel]

A bit of Vicks VapoRub on his chest will do a world of good. Also, he might have a sore throat so give only temperate foods/drinks. Nothing to warm or cold. Force fluids. The more he inputs the more he'll output and remove bad germs. Give a hug from me!


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[freesurfer]

For sure the fluids! Best thing right now for him. Watch for the temp in the early afternoon too.

Hugs to ya both~

[NaomiMarie]

Called the Pediatrician about this once when Matthew was a baby. He told us to bring him in a steam-filled bathoom for several minutes.
Close the door, run the shower on HOT, get it nice and steamy in there, then let him sit on your lap in there for a few minutes.
THEN, our Dr. told us to go outside for like 5 minutes (try doing this in the middle of winter, LOL)
Something about going from the hot to cold........it'll break up whatever is in his chest.
Feel better lil Colin


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[tlspiegel]

I did hot to cold when I had my last bout with pneumonia. The fever was up to 104.5º and I was not able to breathe through my nose. It made me sweat inside the steam room, and was the only thing that broke my fever. I was so delirious and sick of taking fever reducing meds and nothing was relieving my distress. I was worried I would have a stroke from the heat in my brain.

[stking]

There is a children's Robittusin that worked really well for my daughter when she was congested, but I wouldn't give that to your son unless the doctor okays it first. When she had a cold at around 9 months, she wouldn't sleep at all except on someone's shoulder-I think being straight up and down instead of laying is what she liked-so we finally gave her Robittusin and Tylenol and that helped her sleep. Again, I would only do this if your doc. says it's okay first tho! Good luck!

[billsmrs]

Vaporizers are always good and like Naomi suggested putting them in a steamy bathroom helps. Especially if it is croup.

From my experience working in peds I don't recommend the maple syrup. I don't think it would hurt him but I know the docs I worked for didn't use that. I know in a child that is above age 2 they would recommend a spoonful of honey to help ease any tickle that may be causing some irritation and this causing the cough but like I said that was for one over the age of 2 years.

My son was premature and had RSV so he coughed and wheezed something terrible. We of course were on a nebulizer but when we didn't use that we did the steamy bathroom or cool night air and we always ran a vaproizer. Even to this day when one of my kids get a cough I run a vaporizer and it seems to help.

I hope he gets to feeling better soon.
<<<<hugs>>>>>

[sallyhoffman]

How is Colin doing now? Hopefully he's feeling better.

Look for an over-the-counter cough suppressant called "Delsym" - it's a thick syrupy cough medicine that works for up to 12 hours.
The bottle says to check with your doctor for dosage information on children under 2 years old. This is the only cough suppressant cough medicine we buy anymore. I usually buy 2-3 bottles of Delsym in late fall, to have it on hand when the first bouts with colds/croup hit our family - the stores have a hard time keeping it in stock, so there must be a lot of other families here that know how well this works too.




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[nrages]

It's probably bronchiolitis. A lot of babies get that.

[ShainaT]

Thanks everyone for all the tips. Well Colin is doing a lot better! He slept through the night last night (Yay!). He still has a little cough and is congested. Plus his cry is a little hoarse. Seems better than he was on Saturday though so that is good. I am still nursing him so it is hard to know how much fluids he is getting.

I am not familiar with "Bronchiolitis" at all. Is that like adult bronchitis? I read about croup but don't know what it sounds like but I don't think this is it. I am going to ask my Dr. about Delsym. We have Robutussin here but it isn't the one for babies.


Ahhh...so much to learn about being a mom!

[freesurfer]

It'll get easier......until they are teenagers....oh wait, we were talking about being sick....: -)

Glad to hear he's doing better~~