[greenmansions]

Not sure if this is the best place to post this, mods please move if not...

My 2 1/2 yo DS has a terrible dry cough. We have been to the peds about it b/c he has had a low fever with it all week, and still does (day 6). There is no secondary infection and he is on antibiotics aleady b/c of a badly infected sliver that was removed from his foot recently. They recommeded cold drinks and to wait it out.

My DS is the kind of kid who is happy and pleasant almost all the time - it is very hard to tell when something is up with him. But this cough is wearing the little guy down - at night he cries and says he doesn't want it anymore.

Does anyone know of any remedies I can try to help him? I tried OTC cough medicine one night and it did nothing.

 

[AEZMama]

Do you have a humidifier running for him at night? That might help get stuff loosened up. I do that for my 16mo ds when he is sick (which has been rare, thankfully). I will put some lavender ess. oil in there to relax him, too. Coughing (and correct me if I'm wrong) is to help get stuff out of the lungs, so a humidifier
is the way to go.

Good luck! I hope your little one gets better soon!

 

[3timesamama]

When our littlest guy got sick last winter we took him to a friend of my husband's family who they all go to for natural healing. She told us to help his cough to make a tea by boiling mandarin orange peels and cinnamon sticks for about 5 minutes. You then mix it with honey and after it cools you give it to your little one. I really think it helped and it's really yummy, I drink it too!

 

[greenmansions]

thanks mamas. I forgot about the humidifier/vaporizer - it's been a long time since we needed it. I set that up tonight so we'll see if it helps. And added the tea ingredients to the grocery list for tomorrow's shopping, and will try that too.

There seems to be some "stuff" coming up with the cough finally, so I hope that means it's going to start getting better. And tonight, thank goodness, he kept his dinner down - last night he coughed so hard he threw up the little bit he ate.

 

[akkimmie]

We've used a mustard compress with great results. 2Tbls of dry mustard with 1 cup of flour add water until a paste forms. Use a couple of spoon fulls wraped in cheese cloth and hold on chest for approx. 10 mins. I make it thicker that thin because it can make a mess.
To pass the time we read several books while ds hold the compress on his little chest

You can search it on the web too, it really helps pull out the congestion

 

[aja-belly]

when i was pg last year i used hylands bronchial cough homeopathic tablets. i was really impressed with them. i know they have stuff specifically for kids as well. we have used the cold tablets for my son.

i just thought i would mention homeopathics. hylands has a whole section at our local health food store and they even had different formulas for different kinds of coughs.

hope the little guy is feeling better soon. poor guy.

:

 

[CookieMonsterMommy]

Lots and lots of liquid to loosen up whatever wants to come out.

Sleep with head/chest elevated by extra pillows/folded blankets.

"Chest PT"--basically, kinda burp your dc like you did when he was a baby. Nice firm pats on the upper and mid back with a cupped hand for about a minute on, a minute off for up to 5 cycles. It might make him cough a little, but that's good! Get that stuff outa there. You wouldn't believe what I've seen come up after some cupping and clapping! Works great 1st thing in the am.
(make a game out of it...take turns doing it to eachother...it much feel funny to him cuz it'll make the mucus vibrate, but it shouldn't hurt-if it does STOP!)

Take a nice warm bath and have him hang out in the room while you shower. The warmth and moisture in the air will help.

Best Wishes!
Kelly

 

[wifty]

The vaporizer is a good idea. Plus, when DD has a dry cough we use one of those Vicks vaporub plugs that just plugs into a socket. It realeases the vicks and really seems to help with a dry cough.

Just another thought!

 

[greenmansions]

So we went back to the doctor today and it's pneumonia. Was prescribed a new antibiotic for it that DS refused to take b/c it tastes really bitter. I tried mixing it with yogurt, mayonnaise, and milk - none of these worked.

Not sure what they'll give him next, but we are ready to have this gone.