doctor for stuffy noses, coughing?

KathrynMD

Do you take your LO to the doctor if she/he has had a runny nose/cough for awhile? 

Every time DD has a cough for more than 2 or 3 days, DH thinks we should take DD to the doctor to get it checked.  IMO - if she's eating normally and isn't complaining, there's no need to have her seen.  DH is a much lighter sleeper than me, so he hears her coughing in her sleep and I think it really worries him.  If she was waking up from her coughing, I'd be concerned, but she's sleeping through it so it seems like NBD to me. 

ToBeMrsT

Not unless the cough sounds really serious like croup or something... otherwise a runny nose and cough are pretty low maintenance compared to a lot of other things.  

mavs_girl07

Our pedi tells us if the stuffy nose/cough hasn't run it's course after a week, then bring them in. 

Pesky

If it just seems like a cold -- activity level normal, eating normal, no fever -- no, unless it's been more than a week with zero improvement.  I might run a humidifier at night, use saline spray and elevate the pillow a bit to help with post-nasal drip.  But not run to the doctor typically.

I will say that if my spidey sense is tingling at all and I think something is not quite right, I would take one of my kids in.  But that usually has some other symptom like the activity, eating, sleeping or just general demeanor and look.

FWIW, DS has had a minor cold now for about 5 days and haven't rushed him in.  Just having him take it a little easier though. 

kmhunt11

Nope.  If it didn't show signs of improving at 7-10 days I'd take her in, but I know there isn't anything they can do for a regular cold so it's a waste of a $25 copay and an hour or two.  If her cough is keeping her up I'd take her in, and if she feels warm I'd take her in because chances are she's got an ear infection.  She's been in daycare of school since 15 months so I know her signs of cold vs something really wrong.  Last Monday night she went to bed with a cold she'd had for 2 days and woke up at 11:30 and cried for 3+ hours.  My kid never, ever wakes up at night and never cries at night so I called the pediatrician to make an appt before I even got out of bed the next morning.  Lo and behold- raging ear infection.  Even starting antibiotics that day her ear drum ruptured Tues night/ early Wed morning.  Ick.  

Sawyerplus1

No, definitely not. I generally avoid taking the kids to the doctor if I can avoid it. Haha, that's not as terrible as it sounds. But it's hard to book with their Pedi, and I absolutely loathe walk-in clinics with 3 hour waits to see a dr I don't know.  DH is usually more "dr friendly" than I am. 

I wouldn't take the LOs for a cough unless it sounded like croup, made it hard for them breathe, etc. In other words, sounded really serious. A runny nose would never merit a trip to the dr now that DS is in pre school and brings home lots of germs, and we're in the middle of a long cold winter. If it's just a cold and there's nothing the dr can do (ie. prescribe something) then I wont take them. If i suspect it might be an ear ache, a throat infection, a serious flu, etc, then yes, we'll head to the dr.