Son coughing at night, no other cold symptons, any advice?

[Zacsdad]

My son, 3 years old, for the past 4 nights has had a constant cough at night. Does not have any other cold symptons other than a occasional deep cough during the day, when i say occasional i mean maybe 4 times a day! Fine during the day, plays outside with no apparent problems!

Could this be an oncoming cold, sinus infection, allergy related, or asthma! Am going to make an appt. with his doctor was just wondering if any others out there are experiencing or have experienced the same type of problem?

Thanks in advance,
Zacsdad

[National Jewish]

This is a very common problem.  Because it is of short duration, happening for the past 4 nights, it is not so easy to make a chronic diagnosis, such as asthma or even allergy.  Therefore, the best bet is that this is related to an upper respiratory tract infection.

If this persists, the other diagnoses are certainly possibilities and can be pursued by your son

[starion]

There are several possible causes of night time coughing.  The most common ones:  allergies, asthma, GERD (gastroesophogeal reflux disease), infection (viral, bacterial or fungal).  It would help your son's doc if you can keep a symptom diary & try to be a "detective" to figure out what things may be contributing to his cough.  Sometimes several different things may be contributing to his cough & your son's doctor can help sort this out.

Dust and dust mite allergies are very common--washing bedding frequently in water 130+ degrees and drying it in the dryer can help reduce dust and dust mite exposure.

You can read more about these topics at www.NationalJewish.org, particularly their MedFacts and Understanding series.

Best of luck!
Aloha,
Starion