Discovery Home & Health

hi i normally post on the weightloss forum but need a bit of advice from parenting side.
my lil girls had a cough for about 6 weeks now, and a rotten cold for about a week. the doc initially gave her alupent...apparently its meant to act like an nhaler but its a syrup, took her back for like the 5th time today as shes not sleeping properly and he jut palmed me off with paracetomol. which he knew i had already been giving her because shes been having a temp.
shes also not sleeping and hasnt been eating much of her food but has been eting a bit whch i suppose is something and she has been drinking loads which is a good sign.
a medical student was in the room and she asked if she could examine her which i agreed, i didnt mind because we all have to learn and she told doc her chest was fine and he just accepted it surely with a toddler you would think he would doublecheck?
has anyone any avice of any good over the counter medicines that would help,tried the linctus but that makes her reflux play up and she pukes up on me
any tips and advice greatly accepted

Hi Ems,

My little girl gets the most terrible cough and they take forever to go, you just think it is getting better and might go and she catches another one !! I find that giving her calpol before she goes to bed is better than cough mixture as this helps her sleep better. I also use baby vicks on her chest and the childrens Olbas oil sprinkled on her pillow. Both these things help her breath easier so she coughs less. I also bought a vapouriser that I plug in every now and again when she is bad. I do find the cough makes her sick if she eats or drinks too soon before going to bed so I try to give her a snack earlier if she has a cough.

I hope these tips help and Alicia feels better soon.

Julie x

HI,

I would reccomend tixilix cough and cold, i found with my 3 it works and they get a good nights sleep. you can still use infant calpol at the same time to keep a temop down and i think the idea about childrens olbas oil in the room great too, it all helps to open the airways and helps the cough.
Try and get 'cough and cold' as their other medecines are not so good, i have found anyway!
Both my 7 and 5 year old have had this cough and cold bug, and the olbas oil has helped lots.

Good luck and hope your daughter gets a good night sleep!

Pinky xx

thanks very much for the replies i have been using those karvol drops on her bed at night but im going to pop into my sainsbury's pharmacist on the way home from uni.

Ems xx

hi just wanted to reassure you about the docs as I have taken my dd to the docs three times now over the last 4 months about her cough and each time I've just been told to give her a steam inhalation - ie have her in the bathroom when someone has a shower and, get this, to raise her head when she sleeps! She's one year old and doesn't sleep the same way up all night...DOH!! The only cough mixture I've found to really help is one called Hill's Balsam chesty cough liquid for babies and children - you get it from chemists. I also use a sudafed plug inhaler at night in her room when she's really bad, which really helps.

DD coughs like someone who smokes about 60 a day but I think because she's healthy in every other way, the docs aren't too bothered!!!

hope this helps
Loocy xx