2 yr old always coughing

My 2 year old has a cough that won't go away--the doctor prescribed cough syrup which makes him fall asleep so I try to give only at nite before bed-- I have also tried Delsym(not on same day as cough syrup)which does not help--any suggestions on how I can help relieve these coughing spells? We are nonsmokers so I know it is not smoke that is bothering him.

[heather_danielle87]

my daughter (15months) was doing the same thing . We tried every med. and nothing seemed to work. We later discovered that it was aggravated by mold. You may want to check your house for any mold . Or even call a mold inspector over to check things out . Some molds can go unseen . Hope your little one gets better soon !

[RockRose]

Bean,  how long has this been going on?  Is it days,  or months,  or a year?

If it's months,  you probably need to have more extensive testing done.  If it's a week or two,  I'd wait a little while and see if it resolves itself.

Best wishes.

[myproblem]

My nephew had a constant cough, and it turned out to be allergies. He takes Zyrtec syrup, and it clears it up completely. It could also be an allergy to milk or something, causing extra mucus. Reflux can also cause coughing.

[tam2girls]

if it is elated to an alergen then a good antihistamine like clartyne may haly. It worked for my niece she had a bad cough after a cold and had claratyne every night before bad for a week and then the cough was gone. Good Luck

[Jamie12269]

He should be tested for whooping cough. Does the coughing fit have a particular spasmodic sound? does he vomit after coughing alot?  whooping cough is very common in young children.

[jennifer1977]

All three of my sons had the same thing when they were young (well 3rd had it when he was real little) and 4 out of the 5 kids were on allergy medicine.  Then we cut out most dairy.  We drink no cows milk, and limit cheese and ice cream etc.  Now no more coughing, no more claritin, and no more croup!  I am serious, we were in the dr office every week with 1 or two of the kids especially in the winter, and this past winter I went a total of 2 times and not for coughing!  We saw dramatic results when we switched to soy milk for cereal.  Even now when they get ice cream, or eat ALOT of cheese, they cough asll night, but now I know the remedy.!!!!  (vegetables and fruits provide all the nutrition you need and protein too for that matter, but we like meat so we havent cut that out yet, but the big change came from the dairy)

[LisaLuke]

When i was younger i developed a cough that turned out to be a dairy allergy, i would always cough at night.  Also have you tried a nebuliser (sp?) they put moisture back in to the air thats lost through heating. Just a thought :)

[pixijal]

This sounds just like what happened to us, prior to finding out that my son had allergy induced asthma.  Is there any wheezing, or is it just dry?

[r34498]

All of the above comments are possibilitites. Also consider reflux. GERD can be so subtle, but it can damage the esophagus, so it's important to rule out. My poor son wasn't dx'd until he was 5. Meanwhile, he developed severe food aversions. Is your child a picky eater? Since a child usually has the condition since birth, they are completely unaware how to describe what they feel. Coughing, was a persistent symtom in my son, but since he had known allergies, we didn't realize it was GERD. Now, he take a daily does of Prevacid and he's much better!

Good Luck

[BEANIBEAR1967]

it has been going on for about two weeks--I am going to try the claritan tonite and see if that helps--it is a dry cough accompied by a clear runny nose--it doesn't seem to bother him at all just me and dh.  thanks all for your comments

[anxiousmomtobe?]

Another commons allergan is scented household cleaning products.  We switched to unscented everything and my asthma disappeared as did my son's baby acne.

Now we cannot STAND anything scented at all.  I learned that if I wanted my laundry to smell nice, hanging it on the line was the perfect trick.  (not recommended for jeans, makes them too crunchy.)