Need help clearing up a chesty cough in 13mo DS

It seems DS has had a constant cold since starting childcare just over a month ago. We've been to see the GP more times than I can count in the last month so thought maybe you girls might be able to give me some pointers before I head back there again.

About a week ago he started to develop a chesty cough (with that flemmy sound iykwim). On Saturday we went to the GP because he was miserable and ended up having an ear infection. He's been on AB's since then which have cleared up the ear and also his runny nose is now clear (it was green). But he still has the chesty cough and a runny nose.

The problem is that when he coughs stuff up he just swallows it again which I think it making it really hard to clear. Otherwise he coughs so much and has a vomit because he gags on the flem (sorry if you're eating brekky).

At the moment I have the vaporiser going in his room, but that is all I can think of to do. I'm wondering if I should go back to the GP, but then what more can they do, he's already on AB's. But they'll run out in the next day or so and I wonder if he needs to keep taking them until cough clears up...

Any thoughts/ideas/experience you have would be very much appreciated.

hi hon
firstly i think these things sound worse than they are often and the poor little things dont know how to clear their throats or get rid of the phlegm. both my boys often vomit when they have a cold/cough as they swallow the phlegm too.
i would suggest the vaporiser as you are doing, also taking him in when you have a shower and steaming up the bathroom and letting him breathe it in can help. have you raised the end of the cot a bit (stops it running down the back of his throat/causes more coughs) - we have telephone books under one end of the cot permanently!
hugs hon, so awful when they are sick... and the first winter in care is AWFUL - but it does get better, i promise.

Thanks MamaPan. It's so worrying, I am petrified of him ending up pneumonia, but figure while he is on AB's it's pretty unlikely. I did have his cot raised for awhile, but found that a lot of the time he was sleeping the other way round in the cot so it was having the opposite effect.

That's the thing, he's meant to go to CC tomorrow, but I'm not sure whether to keep him home. Other than the cough and runny nose he is fine... I'm only working one day a week at the moment and I missed last week because I kept him home so kind of feel like I have to go to work tomorrow. Also, I kind of think it would be better for DS too, otherwise it will be nearly 3 weeks without a day there and I'm worried that will make it harder on him emotionally... Oh it's so hard to know what to do...

It's so hard deciding whether to take them or not... how is his demeanour? if he is happy etc, then maybe take him in the morning and just see how they go with him and get them to call you if he is upset and needs to be picked up? o rcan dh stay at home with him?

If it makes you feel better, my DS nearly has a permanent cough (although we seem to be having a break atm) since last Oct when he started CC. My CC is okay with him going with a slightly snotty (or clear runny) nose and a slight cough. There's not much we seem to be able to do re his cough - been checked at the GPs so many times now and his chest is clear, so apparently it's all in his nose/sinuses. You could try some Little Fess or saline solution to clear out the nose (we can squirt the stuff up but can't use the aspirator to pull the stuff out) which might help the cough.