baby coughing and sneezing will doc just say Calpol?

positivenote

Hi all, i know this may not be the place for medical advice but just asking from people who may have had experience. OUr 5 month old has developed a cough over the last few days and is struggling to keep his feeds down. He has also started to sneeze and a fair bit of 'gunk' comes from his nose. We have been giving him calpol and the neurophen baby, but theres no sign of improvement so im thinking of bringing him to the doctor today... however the last time we done this we where told use calpol and thanks for your 75euro Just wondering can a 5 month old get a cough bottle or something to clear up his chest over the counter or does it have to be prescribed by a doctor?
thanks in advance

eamonnq

Better safe than sorry, bring him to the doctor and even if he does say 'Give him Calpol' it is better than not bringing him and it being something more serious.

sesna

positivenote wrote: »

Hi all, i know this may not be the place for medical advice but just asking from people who may have had experience. OUr 5 month old has developed a cough over the last few days and is struggling to keep his feeds down. He has also started to sneeze and a fair bit of 'gunk' comes from his nose. We have been giving him calpol and the neurophen baby, but theres no sign of improvement so im thinking of bringing him to the doctor today... however the last time we done this we where told use calpol and thanks for your 75euro Just wondering can a 5 month old get a cough bottle or something to clear up his chest over the counter or does it have to be prescribed by a doctor?
thanks in advance

no

rylie

You can't get a cough bottle for under 1's.

When baby rylie gets a cold/cough we use karvol, it's a capsule of oils that you open and put on a hanky/bib in their room. I find it great to soothe coughs. Also you could put a bowl of water on the radiator which humidifes the room and can help ease the cough. Finally, although it's gross it's helpful to suck the snots out, we bought a snot sucker thingy off amazon and it works well.

Hope your LO feels better soon

lynski

Try your local pharmacy first, they are usually good for advice and your PHN may even be able to give you advice also.
My ds was terrible for being chesty for a few months from 6mths on, but after 4-5 times of anti-biotics and 'upper respiratory tract infection', I stopped going and found other ways of getting rid of the sniffles.

Das Kitty

I agree with lynski. Go to the pharmacy first and they'll tell you whether to go to the doctor or not.

We waited too long to go to the doctor with James before Christmas and the poor mite had a chest infection and an ear infection. We felt awful.

Dades

+1 with pharmacy.

Our fella (8 months) had a cough & snotty nose for more than a week over Christmas - chemist said there was nothing to give him. We had him on nurofen for his teething anyway, and the cold seems to have gone now.

I suspect a GP visit would be a waste at this early stage.

cynder

I remember calling the out of hours doc because my son was coughing quite bad at midnight he was in fact barking and they said take him for a drive as he has croup, he stopped coughing after an hour and was still miserable the next morning i took him to my own gp and he had an ear infection. My gp was disgusted that the nurse never booked my son in to be seen by the out of hour doc and it was my own gp that was on that night.

Also phone the out of hours doc when my son was lethargic, he was 8 months old and had a cold and cough, any way the out of hours doc was busy and i was told by the nurse he just has a cold and no the doc wont see him. My husband phoned them back got an appointment and it turned out he had 2 nasty ear infections. My husband lodged a complaint with the out of hours service.


If unsure best to see the GP.

positivenote

Brought him to docs this morning and he prescribed an antibiotic as the calpol wasnt working... he seems to have developed a severly runny nose now aswell... but i supose money well spent if he gets better

cbyrd

Saline drops are great for clearing runny noses at night, and karvol should keep them clear for a few hours. Propping the baby can help too if you put a thin pillow under the top of the mattress or some phone books under the legs.. it all helps.
I would rather anything than a snotty baby, when they're so young they don't figure how to breathe through their mouths when they're bunged up.. so very frustrating
Swallowing the mucus can lead to upset tummy and you may even find mucus in the nappies too.. don't panic it's just going through his system..
Snot suckers are a godsend too... you'll get them in the pharmacy...

Dades

I always thought calpol and baby nurofen were really only for pain relief anyway. I don't think either are going to make a cold go away.

rugbug86

No, they won't kill a cold, nothing will. But they will relieve the symptoms associated with a cold - temperature, aches & pains, sore throat etc.

Das Kitty

Dades wrote: »

I always thought calpol and baby nurofen were really only for pain relief anyway. I don't think either are going to make a cold go away.

Well there's nothing short of antivirals that will make a cold go away so if it's not causing a bacterial infection (sinus, ear, chest etc) they usually just say pain relief. It's the same for adults.

dublinlady

I would go with Nasosal nasal drops (normal saline) and a vick or karvol vaporiser for the nose - its a plug in thingy that u can put in the room and it gives off a menthol smell which can clear the nose - ask in a pharmacy,
also as far as i know steam inhalation is excellent for coughs - you can run the shower in ur bathroom on full heat and close the door - let the steam build up and then go in while holding the baby so that it can inhale the steam (unwillingly!) dont go near the hot water obviously - its just the steam that helps! If ya do that for about 20 mins it will help to loosen the mucus on their chest so that the breathing is a bit better and they can cough up mucus easier. esp handy before a sleep!
Hope that helps!