babys chesty cough

axel rose

My son woke up this morning with quite a chesty cough. Hes 9 months old and this is the first time he has been sick in any way.
His temperature is fine and his appitite is normal, so apart from the cough he is not sick sick (IYKWIM).
Im reluctant to bring him to the Dr to be told that he is fine or to be handed antibiotics that arent really necessary. Obviously if he gets worse or sickly I will.

Im giving him Calpol and Neurofen throughout the day but Im wondering if anyone out there can offer me the benefit of their experience. Is there anything else I can do I can do for the little man?

Latchy

Dont think there is much else you can do for the little man OP that your not already doing .Babies in general need to fight these infections to build up their immune systems .It's only if his tempreture goes up you need to worry . You could make an appointment to see doctor to ease any worry's, otherwise you might just let it runs it's course .Some vicks on his chest and back might ease any discomfort .

Big_Mac

Had the same with a 7 month old. So long as temperature, appetite and disposition are ok, then I'd just let it run its course. It cleared itself up for our wee one

Worst thing is, since they've never had it before they don't know what to do with the phlegm when they cough it up:(

Nevyn

Monitor him and if you get worried then take him to the dr asap.

But is it a real cough ?
Some kids go through a stage of coughing to get notice.
But better safe then sorry.

LorraineL

If he is finding it hard to cough, you could fill the bath with hot water and fill the bathroom with steam. If you sit with him a while in the steam, it will help break the phlem on his chest and he might have a little bit of comfort from it.

axel rose

Thanks guys for the responses. Its given me a bit of confidence.

Thaedydal, its definately a chesty cough, think of a 40 a day smoker first thing in the morning and you have the picture.

big mac and Lorraine, thanks for the warning and advice with the phlegm. I forgot all about that!

Quality

If his chest feels rattlely, I would definitely bring him to the doctor. Its terrible when they ca nt tell you what is wrong with them

the glass woman

Is he teething? Babies often get very chesty if they are teething, I have often mistaken my son for having a chest infection when it would pass in a couple of days.

I wouldn't have thought there was need for the calpol and neurofen combination if his temp was normal..

Just a note in general, I'm prone to chest infections and seem to have passed that onto my son. He is 18mts old and has had 4 antibiotics already which i'm not happy about, so just after christmas he was chesty and i decided to hold out from bringing him to the doc as long as i could, since his nose was running clear i deemed him ok, but at the first sign of green mucus/phlegm i would have brought him as there would have been an infection. I gave him some prescription Alupent cough bottle that i had from the last doctor visit and within about a week it had cleared up. I'll be doing that in future as i know he would've been prescribed yet another antibiotic had i brought him imediately.

Hope thats not deemed as medical advice as i'm just giving you my experience, obviously if your child gets worse bring him to your GP if even to be prescribed a cough bottle.

axel rose

Thanks folks, this is why I love the internet!

Like all of you here I dont want to be throwing antibiotics into him unnecessarily.
Quality, his chest rattles only when he coughs.
Glass woman it would be great if it was just his teeth! fingers crossed.

lostinnappies

thought this thread might help
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055211515