All Night Cough

You could try a teaspoon of honey before bed. I haven't tried this but just read about it and plan too.

Maybe there's mold in the room. Try another room and try letting him sleep in a car seat at a 45 degree angle.

His sinuses might be draining and that's why he coughs when he lays down. Try mucinex, I think they have it for kids as well. It what my doctor told me when I had same problem and it helped. Here's wishing you a good nights sleep.

Have him examined by your pediatrician. Our son went through the same thing at that age and he was diagnosed with cough-variant asthma. Asthma is different from other coughs and with asthma you do NOT use a humidifier. Asthma also tends to worsen at night. That may not be it, but it's worth an examination and check. Good luck.

I would have him checked out by a doctor. There could be an issue with his tonsils and adnoids causing blockage. My son had similar issues and once the T & A were removed, he ate and slept better.

Is this possibly asthma? There's a variation that just manifests itself as a cough, no wheezing or anything...my daughter had this whenever she got a cold-coughed all night. It was triggered by viruses only, not dust or any other environmental conditions. She outgrew it by 4. It's also called "reactive airways" under the age of 3. Worth talking to your doctor about as you can control it.

M. F , My first question would be, does he do it during nap time too? As maybe it is something in the room that is irratating him to cough? Just a thought. Brneda G

Congratulations with number 2! First of all would like to know how's he eating. Reason for the question would be does he have some reflux going on?

Hi! I dont know if you seen your Dr yet, but I have a 2 1/2 yr old that had the same thing and the Dr finally did an upper GI on him and found out that he did have reflux! Trust me we tried everything from sitting in the bathroom with hot steam and then going into the cold, having humidifiers, putting the vapor rub on his feet, he has been diagnosed with Asthma and has nebs,in and out of the hospital with pnemonia and attacks, he had tubes put in at the age of 6 months and he was still always sick with a "Croupe cough", the Doctors always just said oh its just croupe until I finally found the right Doctor in Edina (Southdale Peds)and said it could be reflux that could be causing the coughing (which I thought was weird I had never heard of reflux causing croupe until I read on the internet about how they can interact with eachother)! So he is now on Prevacid once a day and has been on it now for about 2 months and has had not one episode!! Im hoping he is over it now and its the Prevacid that is helping but so far he has been the healthiest he has been since he had been about 3 months old and he also has not had to use his Nebs either!! Good luck and Congrats! I just had my second one in Feb. 8wks ago!! : ) Super exciting!!!

Sometimes humidifiers aren't quite enough. Try a cool air vaporizer. It might help to have just that extra bit of moisture in the air. Also, does he seen to have congestion? It might be drainage from his sinuses that's happening when he's laying down. Good luck!

HI I would talk to your pediatrician. Our son did the same thing at about the same age. It was asthma. Many times the only symptom of asthma is nighttime cough and its a horrible cough. It very likely is not something as simple as post nasal drip etc. So I would definately have him tested. My son never wheezes or anything but coughing as soon as he goes to bed. Hopefully it's not but many times it is asthma. Good luck
J.

Great grandma used a teaspoon of straight honey on us and it worked. Try this.

I found this remedey in a book for how to cure kids naturally and it seemed to work when my daughter had a croup cough. You buy 3 herbs Burdock, Boneset, and Eucalytus. Then you put them in a cheesecloth (the bag they sale to boil them in) then boil them in that bag for about 20 minutes. You pour that water in your humidifier and run that. The down fall is that it stinks and it makes the humidifier yucky but it got my daughter to sleep peaceful even when she had the croup. Another thing I do is give her a spoon of honey before bed it seems to coat her throat for a while anyway. Good Luck

Sounds like allergies to me....take him in the discuss your concern with a doctor.

i would have it checked it out by a doctor if you havent already did so some times though the humidty maybe to much and he gets a tickle in there and cant get rid of it

Have you tried elevating the head of his bead? Also if he has GERD or acid reflux disease this would cause the coughing and gagging. It would be a good idea to check with his doctor about this. My son had some problems with acid reflux and we changed his diet some. Good luck!!!

My son was about 2 years old when he developed the same troubles! I feel your pain! His twin brother was the one that had allergies, acid reflux, and was sick quite a bit as a baby. So, I was shocked when he started having coughing "spells" that lasted all night, and nothing worked!! I tried everything...from humidifiers, cough syrup, honey, cutting out dairy products (because that creates phlem), propping the mattress...seriously everything!! Our pediatrician sent us on to a specialist and he was diagnosed with asthma. We were told that this is quite common in kids, and very commonly outgrow it. He was given an inhaler and 2 1/2 years later, he hasn't had a spell in over a year.

Good Luck!

It could be reflux. My son used to do this. He sounded ike a chain smoker coughing all night until he'd get sick. He went on Zantac and within a week it was gone.
J.
Mom to 4, soon to be 5 through another adoption

I grew up having this problem but ONLY when I was sick, 37 1/2 years later I still have the problem ONLY when we have a cold (sometimes just a stuffy or runny nose or ear trouble) and so do my 2 youngest. I do agree with other posters it may be asthma or allergies related but it could be as easy a cold triggered symptom. Most colds my kids get bring on "asthma" like symptoms but usually that is a breathing problem-not a draining problem causing irritation/coughing or gagging. Our Doctor has prescribed a very heavy duty cough medicine for them to take before they go to bed when this happens so the coughing doesn't occur but it is not something that happens all the time-only when there is a "cold" involved. Again, sometimes colds are not always noticeable but that could be the problem. Your Doctor should be able to rule out Asthma pretty easily-the allergy thing is whole different story.
Good Luck
Grace and Peace,
T.

I would have him check by an ENT doctor to see if it's his tonsils.

Has this just recently started? Does he seem to have a cold when awake? Have you tried elevating his head? You can put a pillow under the mattress at the head of the bed. If he is having sinus draining,laying flat usually makes it worse and the coughing starts. Staying away from dairy products close to bedtime may help too. If there is a fever, he should see a doctor. May have an infection.

Hope you get some sleep soon.

I am a mother of a 16 yr old and child care provider for the last 15 years.

My oldest use to go through the same thing. We eventually had to have him tested for allergies and asthma. While they did not say he had asthma, they did say asthma like syptoms and put him on an inhaler. He doesn't have very many issues with coughing now. He did have several inhaled allergies, like pet dander, dust mites and pollen. Try over the counter Lortadine (I think that's how you spell it, generic for Claritin), that's the route our pediatritian had us take first. Also, do you run an air purifier in his room? You could also try elevating the head of his matteress slightly to see if that gives relief, could just be when he is flat that he gets an uncontrolleable tickle. Hope these ideas help.

D.

Have you talked to his pediatrician? Does he ever wheeze or have trouble catching his breath? My youngest is classified as a wheezer and his symptoms are usually triggered by a cold. Knowing what I know now, I suspect my oldest had the same problem, only to a much lesser extent. Once he got a cough, it would take 4-6 weeks to go away. He would only have problems at night and would frequently cough so much it would make him vomit. The last time it happened, the Dr. gave him albuterol and it went away.

Could be reflux or asthma. my 3 boys have both. the reflux triggers the asthma. asthma, i was surpised to find out, is not just the emergency kind we see on tv. it can be a chronic cough, like my 3 have. i'd tell the dr., and he'll probably refer you. it's not scarey news, meds at night stopped it. our reflux is now controlled, and that was triggering the chronic cough. we saw a pediatric gi and am asthma specialist.good luck.

I had the same problem myself so I went in and was diagnosed with asthma. Maybe look into that, because as soon as I started medication for it I was sleeping through the night and not coughing!
Good luck and I hope he's better soon!

have you involved a doctor? seems to me that's the first thing to do.

You may be able to keep this cheap before running to the doctors, etc.

Try a new pillow with an anti-allergen pillow (one that does not allow dust mites through). That cover will help keep the new pillow "new" and cheaper in the long run. Just remember to wash it weekly or bi-weekly.

it sounds like he might have asthma. some kids only symptom is a night time cough. check it out with your pediatrian. my son got put on a chewable tablet called singulair. it helps prevent the cough. he also has an inhaler with a spacer that has a face mask because he is too small to use the inhaler by itself. he is seven now and usually only has to use the inhaler when he gets sick. good luck!

A friend of mine was having this same trouble with her son. They ended up taking him to an allergy specialist and found out that running the humidifier in his room was what was making him cough so much. It had something to do with an allergy he has. They have now stopped the humidifier and have one of the allergy covers over his mattress and pillows for him. Since they have done this, his cough is gone most nights. He was allergic to the dust mites in his pillow and bed and the humidifier was some how making it worse for him at night. I can't say that this is what is happening to your son, but it might be worth making a phone call to ask a nurse or to an allergy doctor just for some more insight.

I was going to suggest the vapor rub on the feet but you are on top of it. I hope you can figure out what is causing it and help both you and him get a good nights sleep.

Good Luck!

J.

Have you been to the doctor for this cough? It could be an ear infection that is draining. If you do not want antibiotics, try a chiropractor. I began taking my oldest child to one for his ears at age 1 1/2. Even if your child is not symptomatic otherwise, he may just need an adjustment to let the fluid drain more normally.

You may want to consult your doctor just for peace of mind but what has helped my son when he has nights like that are the vapor plug or the triaminic vapor fan. Most of the time my son will sleep through most of the coughing but it keeps me up all night. Hang in there.

I would check to see if he has allergies. My daughter was the same way, never coughed during the day at all and then at night she coughes like crazy. I took her in and she has allegies, so she takes medication every night beore she goes to bed. I was able to do over the counter.
I hope that this helps.

Have you considered asthma? It took me some research to find that a cough at night with no other symptoms could be asthma, as it turned out with my five year old son. He was prescribed an inhaler for at night only and it worked like a charm. He has since outgrown his problems, but the inhaler at night was an absolute fix.

Poor little guy, and mom too. You may want to take him to the doctor, he may have croup. My girlfriends daughter had it 3 times this year. Try cooler air, if that helps, he probably has it. Colder air tends to help better than warm. Croup affects kids at night, not usually during the day. So if he's isn't coughing during naps, that is another sign.

We have this with both my 4 and 5 year old. Just went through it two nights ago. I doubt it's allergies if it only happens at night. After months of meds not working and being tested for allergies we did what the Dr.'s office suggested. Take him in to the bathroom (yes even in the middle of the night.)Turn the shower on and let the room fill up with steam. If it during the day I take toys in. The elevate his head while he sleeps. We use a warm humidifier in his room too. Meds are useless for us, but sips of warm apple juice and a spoonful of honey work. Their cough either goes away or at least is more productive and not keeping them awake.

I have found this works really well.

Good luck!

Hi-
I am having the same issue with my 16 mo old - I tried propping him up on a low pillow and that has been helping a bit.

Has he seen a doctor? Maybe he has allergies? My 2 yr old had the cold virus going around and coughed all the time. Dimetapp Elixir worked well...Good Luck
K.

Hi J!
Your poor son. If this has been going on for quite some time, some colds can last forever, but if it has gone on for a few months, maybe ask your doctor to see an ear, nose and throat doctor. Your son may have a reflux problem...sinus gunk going into his throat. Does he cough up phleghm? Try not giving him milk before bed, as I have this condition and have found that it is worse when I drink milk at night...actually at all. Even when I eat icecream, the phleghm is horrid. Gross I know! But I would never suggest not giving a child milk until you know for sure this could be contributing. Children NEED calcium...as do we all. I take supplements. The ENT/Respirologist would be a good start I think. You may even want to see a naturopath...could allergies be a concern. Good luck to you. I hope you and your son get some restful sleeps soon, K. (mother of three boys)

Try giving him tsp of corn syrup this will coat the throat and also try and vaporizor with a small amount of apple cider vineger (stinky but works)

J.

My son (who is now 9 years old) went through this. After many different things, the Dr. prescribed an inhaler. It would work temporarily at least to get through the night. I believe my son had an allergy of some sort since I had allergies most of my life. Since we started using Reliv, our allergies symptoms have been eliminated. My son doesn't have the inhaler any longer and I no longer suffer from allergies either. From my experience I would suggest checking him for allergies :) Hope this helps.
L. O
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my son struggles with a nighttime cough too. One thing that helps is I got out the big body pillow i used while pregnant and put it at the head of his bed. He sleeps with his regular baby pillow on that - so most of his little body is at a real incline that way and the body pillow is big enough he doesn't roll off etc. that helped.

My daughter has been doing this also, I had tried what you did also. My husband went and talked the the pharmasist at our local drug store and she recommended Delsym Cough Syrup. It said 12 hour relief and it works, she can take it at 7:00pm at night and get a good night sleep wake up about 7:30am. My daughter is 4 years old but only weighs 32lbs so she is small for her age. I think for a two year old you might have to consult the doc on this one...but just wanted to let you know it has worked great for us.

Hi-this exact thing happened with my daughter and it started when she was 2. She would be fine all day and then cough to the point of gagging and throwing up. We tried EVERYTHING. At the beginning of this year she was missing a lot of preschool and we were going through bottles of cough syrup just trying to help her sleep. Out of pure desperation we took her to see a pediatric chiropractor. I do not see one myself and was extremely nervous taking my "baby" to one but our chiro. explained everything to me and showed me everything she was going to do before she actually did it. I am happy to say that our daughter has stopped her coughing jags. If I wasn't experiencing this myself I would not believe it. We now take our other two daughters as well and we have hardly been sick this winter (just a couple of colds but nothing serious and they were short-lived) It is really amazing how your body is very connected and dependent on your spine and the condition it is in. I would definitely recommend doing some research and trying it. Like I said my daughter started the coughing/gagging at two and we suffered two years of trying everything before we finally tried this at age 4. Hope this helps. If you have any ?'s about her experience, just let me know.

My grandson had that problem,the doctor said it was a type of asthma.He takes singular at bedtime and there's no more coughing spells. Or another thing it could be is his sinus's draining. I would be checking with your doctor very soon in case it happens to be asthma.

Sounds like acid refulx. My son had the same issue. Try an extra pillow to keep his head elevated. Also, OTC acid reflux med like pepcid or start with a Tums and see if that helps. Ask your Dr. what he/she may recommend.

As others have said, check with your doctor. Our daughter had the same thing and after her first treatment with a nebulizer for cough variant asthma she slept straight through the night.

I feel for you & understand. Have you seen your doctor about this? Have you tried tp elevate his bed so his head is up a bit? Good luck & let us know what helps! LOVE this site!!! =o)

My daughter was also coughing all night, keeping the whole family up. We found out that she has allergies and it was the post nasal drip that was irritating her and making her cough. She takes the childrens Benadryl Allergy before bed when her allergies act up and it seems to help.

Have you brought this up with his pediatrician? My son did the same thing--it turned out he had asthma. I would get it checked out.

Best of luck.

Is it one of those dry cough type things?? Put vicks on the bottom of his feet and put socks on him. Works for adults too.

Call your doctor. This is not something I would "try" to fix.
He may have asthma or something. He may need a nebulizer. There is just too many things that it could be, so contact your doctor.

My daughter, niece and nephew had similar problems. We found, for all three, that it was a combination of things that did the trick. Make sure the room air is has a good humidity level (a cool mist humidifier or vaporizer on low); use plain saline drops/spray before bedtime; and most importantly, put a pillow or cushion under the head of the child's mattress to prop them up just a bit - avoiding laying flat is really key to better breathing and also drainage of saliva and/or sinus stuff that collects in the back of the throat. Experiment with the degree you prop the mattress up until you find the best for your child.

If this has been going on for awhile you may want to see a doctor as coughing is often times a symptom of asthma. Watch him when he plays hard, does he cough? does he seem to gasp for air? does he whistle?

First, have you talked to your doctor about this? Coughing spasms could be caused by spittle pooling into the back of the throat until the natural swallow reflex makes it go down the wrong pipe. Have you tried elevating the mattress a little bit? We used to put rolled towels under one side of the mattress to help keep the kids transitioning from crib to bed from rolling out...it should work the same if you put it under the headboard side of the mattress, it shouldn't take a large incline.
It could also be allergies. We changed carpeting at our first house and found they previous owner had used a wonderful wool rug as a pad for the carpet we were replacing--well we had already ordered new padding and it was a perfectly good rug so we put it in the nursery. Suddenly our son was getting all sorts of upper respitory infections--turned out he was allergic to the wool in the rug...got rid of the rug, infections went away.
Our doctor also says that slight heart murmurs could cause coughing fits in kids (I have no idea how that works) and most kids will grow out of the murmur.
It could be a bit of acid reflux too. Little ones don't know enough to spit that stuff out and so it triggers coughing fits...my son used to cough to gagging. We simply starte cutting back on when he last ate...nothing 2 hours before bedtime, no tomato based foods, etc.
Or it could simply be that your child has gotten wise to the way of life and if he coughs enough mommy gets him out of bed.

First I'd look into acid reflux as a cause. If the doc thinks he has that, you can go the medication route and/or use a wedge pillow (check out ARPillow.com to see what they're like, then buy one on Ebay or something). I've heard there are good diet changes that can be made to help reduce acid reflux problems too.

Beyond that, if he only spends time in his room at night, I'd look for allergens in his room. Or maybe he is having less severe symptoms during the day and they just seem amplified at night.

If you are putting the vapor rub on his feet because you are worried he will eat it off his chest, try putting the vapor rub on a ratty pajama t-shirt that he can wear to bed. I used a rather tight-fitting one so my son couldn't get to the vapor rub without really trying. I also put some on his chest sometimes after he had already gone to sleep. and when he was really stuffed up, I'd sneak a tiny dab of it right under his nose.

But I'd bet on it being reflux or allergies. I have no experience with asthma so I can't comment either way on that.

What does his doctor say?

Your son has post-nasal drip. Cut out dairy products and most sugars (including and especially fruit juice) and wheat for a few days and watch it go away. Alternatives to wheat include Spelt - which looks and tastes just like wheat without the high gluten content. Sugars can be replaced with fresh fruit, and dairy products are just easy to pull out... you can replace the protein with mean sources.

Post nasal drip is common in young children as their diets rely heavily on dairy, wheat and sugar. A varied diet centered around whole foods will be vastly healthier and more effective than any drug or vapor rub. Plus - it's easy!

Are you propping him up with pillows at night?
K., mom of 4 boys

My 2 yr old coughs a lot at night when he has a cold. To help, I give him Benadryl 1/2 hr before bed and I put a pillow under his mattress on one end so he's lying at an incline. Those two together seem to help quite a bit.

Hello, I would have him checked for Asthma or some other bronchial infection. I have been told by my son's pediatrician and pulmonologist not to use a dehumidifier because it can harbor A LOT of bacteria, even if their cleaned out every night. hope he feels better soon.

My now 2 year old was doing that all night and I would give him a nebulizer treatment about 30 minutes before bed and just a little Tylenol cough medicine and he would sleep right through the night.

One thing that has worked for my boys is apple cider vinigar in the humidifier. It cleanses out the mucas and body. It may be asthma or an allergy. Does he have a feather pillow? You may want to use an air purifier too.

Check with the doctor. I had a similar cough that just went on and on. The doctor said it was asthma. I was surprised because there was no wheezing and no coughing during the day, but he said that nighttime coughing was also a symptom. Who knew?

Good luck!

You might try to elevate the head of his bed so that he is at a slight angle. It could be that he's not able to swallow the saliva and other drainage that naturally occurs while laying flat. You can do this simply by getting a couple of 2x4 pieces of wood and sticking them under the feet at the head of the bed.

Two of my boys did this. They were healthy all day, but as soon as they went to bed the coughing started. They also had bags under their eyes. It turned out to be allergies. First we put them on meds, but later we replaced that with an air purifier. If it doesn't go away like a normal cold, you may want to check out the possibility that it's allergies.

Have you had your son tested for asthma? We have twin daughters that are now 7 but around 2-2 1/2 one of our girls started having coughing fits at night that seemed to occur for no particular reason. I took her to a pediatric allergist for unrelated reasons and one of the first questions she asked is if she does alot of coughing at night. I of course responded yes and that along with other symptoms such as occasional wheezing, shortness of breath etc. led to a diagnosis of asthma. Her asthma is very mild but with proper treatment the coughing fits came to an end. It is worth looking into and may regain you and your son alot of lost sleeping time! Good luck!

He may be having problems with mucus drainage down the back of his throat. Avoid feeding him within 2 hours of bedtime. If he's thirsty, give him water. If he HAS to have a snack, feed him carrots, cucumber, or other veggies that aren't known to increase mucus production. (Citrus, DAIRY, wheat/grains, and SUGARS of all kinds are known for this.) You may also want to try teaching him to use a Netti pot (it's a nasal irrigation method and works quite well when used on a regular basis)... kinda wierd to get used to at first, but worth it in the long run (Netti solution: 1 cup 97F degree filtered water, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon sea salt or non-iodized salt, dissolve solids completely before use).

If he has a cold, take him to the doctor. You may need to prop him up on a pillow for him to sleep on if this is just a temporary illness. (This is not good for the long term for his spine.) If he has allergies, he may need allergy shots.

You may want to see a sleep specialist if you can't find relief for him in other manners.

Best wishes!

My son had a nighttime cough for months. The doctor had us try EVERYTHING including an inhaler (which worked temporarily). After much frustration on my part, I took my son into an allergist (we knew he had allergies) and found out immediately that he had a bad sinus infection. Little kids often show very little symptoms of this because they don't complain too much about being stuffy and may not have head pain like adults. But when they lay down at night, the mucus from their sinsues starts draining down their throat, causing them to sometimes gag and often to cough. If your son has a tough time breathing only through his mouth, you should check out that route. Good luck!

He might have some type of allergy. My daughter did the same thing and nothing worked. At 2 it is hard for them to find out exactly what they have an allergy too but it might be what is going on. I would take him to the doctor and have them check it out.

My son had issues like this when he was young. He was given albuterol and a nebulizer, which we had to do several times a day. We went through years of that sort of thing, along with "potential asthma" labeling. I decided after some research to cut dairy out of his diet for awhile - nothing too drastic but he was a big milk drinker so we cut that out (tried soy milk but he didn't really like it). After cutting that out he got a clean bill of health with our allergist (they tested his lung capacity at each appointment and it was really good after being dairy-free - I told the doctor what we did - and didn't even ask for a follow up visit) Since then we haven't had any asthma issues with him at all and he has gone back to eating/drinking dairy. Give it a try!

are you using anything with feathers? such as pillow, comforter, mattress