Coughing ONLY at night, persistant sudden cough

mrsfoster0325

Hello, my DD is 18 months. She is a healthy baby, no known allergies or problems. She is not sick or recovering from a cold. I keep her immune system pretty healthy with natural vitamins and immune supporters. For the past couple weeks she has started a random, sudden cough in the middle of the night. It is actually almost like clockwork every single night. If she goes to bed on time, by 8:30, it will start around midnight, 12am. If she goes to bed a little bit later it will start around 1 or 2am. So it is consistantly about 4 hours after she falls asleep. The cough is dry, comes out of nowhere, she will keep coughing so much it sounds like she is going to puke, then it will settle down, then start back up again in a couple of minutes. It never settles enough to where she can just by Browse to Save">go back to sleep. We have to go in there, make her sit up for a little bit, give her some cough syrup and that doesnt even completely help. She is then pretty awake and we have to get her to go back to sleep again. It does not sound like flem at all and again, she is not sick or recovering from a cold. I waited a couple of weeks to see if it would stop but it seems to be an every night thing now.   Has anyone else experienced this? Have any advice? I have her an appointment for tomorrow. She does not cough at all during the day or even when she naps for 1-2 hours. So my thinking is it only happens when she can get into REM, a really deep sleep lasting longer than 3hrs. This makes me think something along the lines of asthma or a problem with her tonsils, sleep apnea? I do have asthma but only exercise induced and I have not had to use an inhaler since I was a pre-teen. Any experience would help!!!???

nkskaggs

DS had a cough like that start around 19 months.  Took him to the dr and nothing wrong with him.  He was only coughing at night and would wake him self up.  It was horrible.  It finally went away around 20.5 months.  He never acted like anything was wrong either.  We tried honey, vaporizor, vicks, and elevating him but nothing work.  It just stopped one day.  I wish I kenw how to help you.

 

Bella61811

It sounds like it could possibly be reflux. I would ask the doctor about it for sure. Reflux causes coughing that's worse when laying down and most normal cough remedies do not help it abate.

SCtoDC

I would ask your doctor if they would be comfortable with any sort of cough suppressant, or, a nebulizer before bed?  Some pediatricians allow small doses of benedryl or even robitussen (very small doses) and either of those could help with the coughing, and also make her a little drowsy/less likely to wake.

I know some people are very anti-meds, but if you're open to all options this could be one.  (especially if you feel like you've already tried everything else)

SCtoDC

Another thought - when was the last time you changed your air filters and/or had your vents cleaned?  Maybe she is reacting to dust/mold or something.

Also, are you running a humidifier?

Huahine

Did you recently buy a new rug or mattress for the room? Something could be offgassing VOCs

Kitten80

I would use a cool mist humidifier - my kids both had sudden dry coughs a few hours after going to bed.  After a couple nights the cough disappeared.  It also could be reflux.  if it is reflux, limiting food and drink before bed and elevating the head of the bed/crib a little can help. 

aglenn

My DD has asthma and the night coughing can definitely be a symptom of asthma.  Even if your DD doesn't get an asthma dx, our allergy/asthma doctor said that in addition to the cool mist humidifier it is important to use allergy-proof covers on pillows and mattresses, use an air purifier, and wash stuffed animals frequently (and limit the number of stuffed things in the sleeping area in the first place).  She said some young kids' airways are more reactive than others to dust and pollen and general stuff in the air, and they generally outgrow it, but it can cause symptoms.

lshelter8

My daughter started with a nighttime cough and then nasal congestion/runny nose about 2 months ago.  The pediatrician said it was allergies but we are in the dead of winter so I took her to an allergist.  Sure enough, my daughter is allergic to dust, mold, trees and grass.  She is now taking Singulair at bedtime and Claritin in the morning.  We were using a humidifier but the allergist said that it increases the population of dust mites.  I would suggest taking her to her pediatrician. Hope this helps! 

AsOctoberFalls

My son had a night time cough starting at about 2 weeks of age.  We ended up seeing a pediatric pulmonologist who did a BUNCH of tests.  In the end, it was reflux causing the cough.  He's been on Zantac for well over a year now and is doing great!  No more cough.

They did think it was asthma at first.  The symptoms can be VERY similar.

Jen0204

The girls do this on occasion and when it's bad we put a blanket under the head of their mattress to elevate it a bit.  I've also started putting a little squirt of honey in their last cup of milk and that seems to have helped.  We use a humidifier every night (if you do, make sure the filters are clean, those things get gross pretty easily) and we had some bath salts made for babies that are supposed to help with colds that we've used a few times. 

SunMoon&Stars

Zarbee's Natural cough syrup is awesome. Her pediatrician normally says "no" to cough syrup but approves wholeheartedly of this one because it's drug-free. It comes in 2 mos- 12 mos or 1 yr - 5 yrs.

AsOctoberFalls

I wanted to add the things the pulmonologist was considering, just in case it would help.

Asthma

Reflux

Swallowing issues / dysphagia

Allergies

Structural abnormalities in the ENT system

Structural abnormalities in the GI system