My 5 month old coughs every few minutes when lying down. What to do?
14.February, 2010
My 5 month old has developed double ear infection and is right now on medicine. She is right now doing well. However at night when we lay her down she coughs every few minutes. I don’t think it is related to the infection, but I don’t know as I am a new mother. I gave her a sip of water to clear her throat but that has not helped. I’ve tried sitting up slightly but that does not help just a little bit.
Try Vicks Waterless Vaporizer and a cool mist humidifier. The air in your home may not have much humidity causing her to cough.
14.February, 2010 um 6:53 pm
don’t lay her flat. elevate the crib mattress a little to help with the drainage.
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14.February, 2010 um 7:37 pm
Try Vicks Waterless Vaporizer and a cool mist humidifier. The air in your home may not have much humidity causing her to cough.
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14.February, 2010 um 8:14 pm
Elevate her feet. Her cough has to do with her ears and head draining the congestion and she’s developed a post nasal drip (mucous dripping down her throat). Most people think if you elevate the head it helps, but all that does is make the drip worse (gravity). If you elevate her feet it will stop the dripping. You can also try a cool mist humidifier and saline nasal spray and a nasal aspirator to suck out the loose boogies. Hope this helps. Best of luck
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Pediatric Nurse
Mommy
14.February, 2010 um 8:41 pm
Don’t lay her flat. If she sleeps in a crib elevate her crib a few inches on one end.
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14.February, 2010 um 9:28 pm
Call your doctor or nurse if you have one available.
In the meantime, do prop her head and chest up to sleep. Doing this safely might be difficult. You might be able to raise one end of her crib up a little bit.
Other options are to allow her to sleep in a baby swing, bouncy chair, or car seat.
The coughing is likely related to drainage. If she is laying down then that drainage just stays where it is instead of being swallowed. The ears, nose, and throat are all connected.
Is her nose clear? If not use a gentle suction to clear it. A humidifier or some time sitting in the bathroom while the hot shower is running might help loosen mucus.
Before using any medicine like Vicks make sure it is okay for infants.
One more thing to try is laying her down and patting her back. It sometimes can help even without the kid being sick. If you think there might be fluid in her lungs then do call a doctor tomorrow because she is still very young.
Good luck. This may end up just being one of those times when you don’t get much sleep because you have to hold your baby.
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