Coughing all night

[Khaleesi]

DD1 who is 3 has had a cough for 6 weeks.
At first it was just a normal cough but then it turned into a chest infection 3 weeks ago.
She was put onto Ab's, after her cough got worse she was put onto stronger Ab's & a ventolin to help.
We saw the GP on Monday & he was really happy with how she was doing, her chest infection was gone & her coughing was under control.
He said to keep her on the ventolin for another week & then try dropping the daytime doses.

Tuesday night she woke up coughing a few times & for the last 2 night she has been coughing all night again.
I when i say coughing all night i mean she is up coughing for 3-4hrs straight, sleep for an hour if we are lucky then back up coughing again.
During the day it's not as bad, she'll have random coughing fits on/off all day but at night it's constant.
She often ends up crying because her chest hurts & doesn't understand why she can't stop.

We can't get in to see our GP till Tuesday, so i'm hoping someone will have some ideas to help us get through the next few nights.

[Junglemum]

Can you try another Dr? Or ring yours and explain how bad it is?

[Khaleesi]

They put me on the wait list, So i'm hoping someone will cancel but i doubt it being long weekend.
Other Dr's around here are idiots & the only other good one is fully booked as well.

[Danielle_NZ]

:-( it's so difficult for them being so young. I'm guessing you've tried a warm steamy room when she's having her coughing fits?

I'd try ringing the doctors and see if you can leave a message for your GP letting him know how bad it's getting and can he see her today.

Also start the ventilin during the day again

[Khaleesi]

Thanks Danielle i just did that, hopefully he'll be able to call me back soon.
Yep tried having a steamy room, have the heater on all night to keep house warm.
She is still having the pump during the day & at night.

[Yeddi]

It sounds like it could be croup, it's been going around, both my kids have it at the moment. If it is croup then the heater is actually a bad thing. The best treatment for croup (which may be a good test to see if it is croup and not something else) is to take her outside into the night air, rugged up of course. About 20-30 minutes in the cold air should reduce the inflammation and stop the coughing if it is croup. If it has not effect or makes it worse than you know you need to be investigating other causes like asthma or whooping cough. A steamy shower is the 2nd best option, but not nearly as effective. We have the vapouriser on at night and the window cracked about 3cm to let in the cold air, both kids are sleeping much better.

[Khaleesi]

If it was croup wouldn't she have more of a barking cough?
At the moment it's more dry but i will try your suggestions thanks

[~me~]

Another thing to try is elevating the bed/mattress at the head end so she is not lying flat. That can help.
And yes, a croup cough is like a 'seal' noise.