4 month old with a "wet" cough...how long would you let it go for?

so I took Luce on Monday night to the urgert care facility that his ped's office has every night.

we saw the "on call" doctor who basically said he was fine. lungs are clear. oxygen levels are great. no temperature.

just this cough. unfortunately he didn't cough in the doctors presence, but he is still coughing. it sounds like he has mucous in his chest but he doesn't know how to get it out..he coughs but doesn't spit.

how long do I let this go on before I bring him back to the doctor?

she said he may have a little reflux, but I know he has something in his chest. I can hear it.

not sure how long I should let this "cold" go.

he is otherwise fine. smiley happy boy. just sleeping a bit more than usual.

tia

Message edited 2/24/2010 1:59:04 PM.

Re: 4 month old with a "wet" cough...how long would you let it go for?

I was told by ped that unless it's a dry cough there is nothing to worry about. My ped also said to expect DS to have a cold for most of the rest of the winter (like 3 of every 4 weeks). She said a cold lasts approx 2 weeks in a baby as opposed to a week for us.

Re: 4 month old with a "wet" cough...how long would you let it go for?

ds had a dry cough for awhile and he was congested for about a month.
im not sure if it was related but the dry cough turned into a wet cough.

i did bring him to the ped and his lungs were clear etc - it sounded like it was more in his throat than anything else.

a couple of days later he started wheezing. i was back and forth to the ped almost every day bc i was scared.

if u dont feel comfortable i would bring him back.

Re: 4 month old with a "wet" cough...how long would you let it go for?

I am the wrong person to ask- I take my kids in for everything... so, I'd take him in, to make yourself more comfortable and for the doc to have a listen.

Re: 4 month old with a "wet" cough...how long would you let it go for?

If you're worried, bring him to the ped but honestly, if you can tell his lungs are clear (no wheezing), I wouldn't. There is nothing they can do for him b/c he's so young. It's probably just a simple cold. Both of my little ones have been like this for about 2 weeks now but they were wheezing so I brought them in. I feel so bad every time they cough but there is nothing I can do besides the nebulizer. I just run the humidifier at night and that's all.

Re: 4 month old with a "wet" cough...how long would you let it go for?

I was told by the ped with cough or runny nose keep an eye on the three B's and if they are normal ... breathing, bottle (no change in appetite?) and behavior ...


But I still have probably taken Ann to AM walk-in hours about once every two weeks!

Re: 4 month old with a "wet" cough...how long would you let it go for?

Not long.

I let it go too long with Tommy and come to find out he had RSV - and now 2 weeks later it is still lingering.

Re: 4 month old with a "wet" cough...how long would you let it go for?

My dd has had this for a few days now-definitely before this past monday because presidents day monday she had a well visit and she had a stuffy nose and dry cough(the md thought it was due to the heat in my house and told us to run the humidifier, suction her nose...) and then it progressed to the wet cough...I think it is getting better...it seems to be going to more of a dry cough now...I don't hear the phlegmy cough so much. She hasn't run a fever at all so I haven't called again. Her cough also is pretty sporadic(mostly at night) so if you don't see her all day you wouldn't think she was sick...but I totally get you-it is so hard to decide when they are "sick enough" to call again and you don't know if it is going to progress to something worse or get better.

Re: 4 month old with a "wet" cough...how long would you let it go for?

I always err on the side of caution. Put your ear to his back...do you hear a crackle? Try the front. Are you aspirating and using saline? Humidifier? You can try a tiny bit of warm apple juice to break up the throat congestion(told this by one of my Dr's when my boys were 12 weeks and had rsv) I probably would take him since its RSV season. They can do a test right there to see if he has it

Re: 4 month old with a "wet" cough...how long would you let it go for?

Joshua (I'm an Octomom ) just got over his first cold. He too sounded like he had congestion in his chest when he coughed but the Dr. said that it wasn't in his chest (i of course was convinved it was). She told me that in infants, congestion takes about 7-10 days to clear up. I was worried and took him to the ped a 2nd time but she was right, about 10 days later his cough was gone. We had no fever either but we did have boogies.

Re: 4 month old with a "wet" cough...how long would you let it go for?

DS had this last week, it was on the tail end of an ear infection so I figured it was related and he was clearing out. I called the PED when it seemed the cough was getting worse instead of better (about 3 days) it turned out he has RSV, so now he is on a nebulizer 3 times per day.

Things to be aware of : How is his appetite? Is he nursing well? Does he have to pull off at times to breath? When he breathes is he ever sucking in at the top of the chest or base of the neck? If any of these things seem off I'd call the PED.

The night before I brought DS in he was breathing hard when nursing and had a low grade fever.

I would er on the side of caution, the "worst" that will happen is they tell you again nothing is wrong, but you feel better for knowing

Re: 4 month old with a "wet" cough...how long would you let it go for?

Sean has had a cold for most of the winter, which they told me to expect, especially w/ daycare. - A few weeks ago he was wheezing and coughing so they put him on a nebulizer, now he just has the wet cough - and when I took him back for the recheck the Ped said his lungs were clear, and the wet cough was good b/c he was getting it up and out of his chest -