Congested chest in small child

[oldmegan]

My little grandson, aged nearly 3, has had a dreadful cough for several months. Has been to the doctors a couple of times, but of course never coughs when he is in the surgery. He coughsa lot during the night but also sometimes in the day and the last sound is a whoop, like whooping cough. But now he is coughing so much he is vomiting at the end. I was just wondering if anyone knows of a product like Mucron for adults that kids of his age can take. It is really worrying for his parents. Thanks in advance for any advice. xx

[daffy654]

It sounds like the child may be asthmatic if he coughs mainly at night.His parents need to take him back to the GP and get him checked over again.If they are not happy with the GP who he has seen previously they can ask tosee a different one in the same surgery.I wouldn't be buying over the counter cough medicines for such a young child until asthma has been ruled out.

[oldmegan]

OK, thank you, daffy 654, I did wonder about that as his mother and half brother are both asthmatic. Will look into that.

[tamborine]

my son had same. Lay the child's stomach on lap with head below feet. Gently pat his back to loosen phlegm to cough up.

He will need antibiotics to clear the infection.

[oldmegan]

tambourine - how did you convince your GP that he needed treatment??

[stonekicker]

keep going back and nag them until they give in. also, see one of the gp's in the practice that you are most comfortable with and explain your concerns. the little lad probably coughs at night because as he settles to sleep, the phlegm in his chest sinks to the back, causing a cough. its not rocket science and a decent gp will pick up on this. persevere x

[oldmegan]

Thanks, everyone, for your wise advice. Will pass it on to my son and his wife and hopefully we can get him better.

[ganesh]

My daughter had a similar cough at a similar age and it went on for 13 weeks (that's how long whooping cough lasts) It was all day and night and quite embarrasing in public at times.
The doctors told me it couldn't be whooping cough because she had had the vaccination,but it must have been as it stopped at the right time completely. She was tested for cystic fibrosis and they tried asthma remedies which didn't help at all. I have no faith in doctors,they think they know it all and clearly they don't and very often mis-diagnose!