Phlegm equals coughing equals vomiting

[cattmom]

Cold season is back, and with it my 4-year-olds problem.  She can manage phlegm fine during the day, but at night, as she falls asleep, it seems to tickle her throat and trigger her gag reflex. So a child with nothing more than a runny nose is vomiting repeatedly, mostly at the beginning of the night. Right now the poor thing is sleeping on a towel over her bare mattress, while everything else takes a trip through the wash. This hasn't happened for more than a year, so I thought we were done with it, but now, after four days of fever, we've had two nights of it. (Note to anyone concerned - there are no GI symptoms during the day; this is definitely a gag reflex problem.)

Has anyone else had this problem? Any advice?

[LynnS6]

Ds had this problem. What cured it was eliminating milk from his diet, especially from his bedtime routine. He'd have a bottle/cup of milk (he was 2) before bedtime. When we stopped doing that, it went away. Ds can have some dairy, but not a lot, when he's got a cold. He doesn't naturally eat much dairy (except ice cream) so it's not usually an issue.

I have no idea if that will help your dd, but it's worth a try.

Can you bucket train her? Put a bucket next to her or on her bed. Tell her to puke into that. Less mess.

[louoftwo]

My DS had this problem as well, and I found that giving him a warm herbal tea, good for colds, thoughout the day and especially in the evening before bed helps to lossen the phlegm.

[cattmom]

We switched bedtime milk to bedtime tea tonight; so far, so good! Thanks everybody. Oh, we've tried to bucket train. But I think it just happens in a split second with her; one moment she thinks she's just coughing, the next moment, her guts are on her pillow. I hope she isn't stuck with this for life...