6 yrs old coughing for 3 weeks. no other symptoms

DealDemon wrote: ↑ my 6 yr old has been coughing for 3 weeks now. no fever or any other symptons besides little bit of running nose sometimes. still very active, eats well, usually coughing worse overnight at around 1am, 5am. doesnt effect her sleep.
should i be worry ? when should i take her to see doctor ? none of us in the family are sick
worry dad!

glenn9090 wrote: ↑ i think no doctors are seeing patients now. they are referring to call 811 . I suggest go and see the nearest doctor if you are lucky enough. Else give cough syrup as Stodal or other brands. I think he should be fine.

Phonophoresis wrote: ↑ This is not true. Doctors are simply asking patients for non-essential reasons not to come on. Doctors will usually triage via phone or teleconference if someone does have any concerns, and then potentially schedule an appointment in-person if further investigation is needed. 811 will not be helpful either, as it is a very general advice line (i.e. do you see a doctor, call 911, do nothing, etc.)


To the OP - you said toddler, but you also said 6 years. If you could please clarify the age. 3 weeks is generally long enough to warrant further investigation. Was the child sick prior to this? Any exposures to allergens, irritants (i.e. campfire) before this or on an ongoing basis? Describe the coughs - are they just one or two? Or are they coughing fits? Do they sound wet, high pitched (i.e. wheezing), etc.? Any difficulty breathing at all? Is she running a fever? In the absence of other symptoms, I would say it's not serious, but children are more susceptible to respiratory ailments, so it's best to be safe. If she is having coughing fits and they can't find anything wrong, usually something like an inhaler for 1-2 weeks will work to calm airway spasm/reactivity.

Regardless, call your local doctor's office and see if they can put you in touch with a doctor to at least assess over the phone. Children are treated with high priority in the medical system, so she will be seen if needed.

DealDemon wrote: ↑ Sorry she is 6 yes old. Just turned 6 April 3. No other symptoms besides running nose on a couple of occasions. Everything is fine. Just the coughing. Wet cough
Cause there is phlegm. Is very sparatic. Something she is fine most of the day ie less than 10 coughs and more intense during sleep.
Not sick prior to 3 weeks ago. Last night she no cough at all but this morning since she has been coughing quit alot. Maybe is the air inside my house cause when I took her outside to play in front of our house, she hardly cough.

My wife called telehealth few days ago, waited 1/2 hr so she changed up

Phonophoresis wrote: ↑ Is the phlegm clear? Or is it opaque, coloured, etc.?

Regardless, if she's retaining fluid in her lungs for that long, it's best to have it checked by a doctor. Once again, don't bother with 811, they will just re-direct you to call a doctor anyway. Call your local walk-in clinic, and they will arrange to see her or give more sound advice than us here. Again, most of them are open, but just asking you to call in before coming in to triage essential vs. non-essential.

DealDemon wrote: ↑ K thanks. Phlegm is clear and yellow btw

Phonophoresis wrote: ↑ Yellow phlegm is a potential sign of infection. Make sure you mention this observation to the doctor.

With respect to your earlier statement of, "maybe it's the air inside the house" - unlikely. Logically, air quality doesn't suddenly change inside your house all of a sudden (in the absence of any major event) and affect just one individual. For example, unless you had a fire or got a dog, nothing in your house has presumably changed. Whatever is in the air was there before, and the same cannot be said about her symptoms.

In the interim, make sure she is taking several deep breaths every couple of hours (even if this causes coughing). Do not suppress coughs; in fact, encourage them. Also encourage her to still be active (not to the point of intense exertion). Any extra air-flow through her lungs will help to clear secretions. While she is unlikely to be contagious at this point, do make sure you are taking proper precautions with your family. This doesn't have to be isolation, but just proper hygiene practices at the very minimum. Best of luck - quote any post if you have anything further to add.

Phonophoresis wrote: ↑ Yellow phlegm is a potential sign of infection. Make sure you mention this observation to the doctor.

With respect to your earlier statement of, "maybe it's the air inside the house" - unlikely. Logically, air quality doesn't suddenly change inside your house all of a sudden (in the absence of any major event) and affect just one individual. For example, unless you had a fire or got a dog, nothing in your house has presumably changed. Whatever is in the air was there before, and the same cannot be said about her symptoms.

In the interim, make sure she is taking several deep breaths every couple of hours (even if this causes coughing). Do not suppress coughs; in fact, encourage them. Also encourage her to still be active (not to the point of intense exertion). Any extra air-flow through her lungs will help to clear secretions. While she is unlikely to be contagious at this point, do make sure you are taking proper precautions with your family. This doesn't have to be isolation, but just proper hygiene practices at the very minimum. Best of luck - quote any post if you have anything further to add.

DealDemon wrote: ↑ Yea she is very active. Sometime too much. But we do take walk around the neighborhood and soak up as much vitamin D as possible.
Oh regarding the phlegm, her cough seldom produced phlegm. I only noticed less than 10 times throughout the 3 weeks

Phonophoresis wrote: ↑ Yellow phlegm is not normal, regardless of frequency. Healthy lungs should only be producing clear mucus. Besides, she may have difficulty clearing secretions, making clearance infrequent. Given she is a child, she is also likely just swallowing whatever comes up (nothing wrong with this). This is where a more formal evaluation can benefit. It would be nice to have someone listen to her lungs at the minimum. If they're really concerned or unsure, a simple chest x-ray would see if there's anything serious. The latter is unlikely to be necessary at this stage.

DealDemon wrote: ↑ Starting to think might be something she is allergic to at home. We just spend about 30min outside our front house playing, she hardly cough. After went for a 45 mins walk, only noticed she coughed 3 times

DealDemon wrote: ↑ my 6 yr old has been coughing for 3 weeks now. no fever or any other symptons besides little bit of running nose sometimes. still very active, eats well, usually coughing worse overnight at around 1am, 5am. doesnt effect her sleep.
should i be worry ? when should i take her to see doctor ? none of us in the family are sick
worry dad!

DealDemon wrote: ↑ update: her phlegm is white. more like saliva. call doc this afternoon. no answer. email doc directly . below is his reply:
hi- usually the cough as you describe is more of a post nasal drip.You note the key thins- no fever.otherwise wll.
I think you are ok to wait it out.No need to take her in
unless fever or trouble with spasmodic cough or difficulty playing, etc because of sore chest
Good luck

Didi_beee wrote: ↑ My son is 4 and he hasn’t had any contact with anyone else beside mom, dad and little sister for past 3 weeks due to Covid.

He coughs a little bit through out the day and has the sniffles as well, especially in the morning. His 2 yr old sister has none of those symptoms and hasn’t been sick since school closed.

My son is also severely allergic to eggs, and minor allergy to dogs and feathers. He could be allergic to other things too but we never tested him. We currently have 2 dogs in the house now. One is a foster dog that we just got a week ago and since then, he’s been coughing just slightly more.

I suspect its allergies for him. He is also crazy active as well.