Kids’ Health : When Cough and Runny Nose meet Fever
Perhaps it’s due to the often-not-so-good weather these days.
Whatever it is, I know of quite a handful of other kids who are down with cough, runny nose AND fever.
Some fever goes away in a day. But some others stay on for up to four days. Poor kids.
Anya and Vai started having their cough and runny nose (again) two weeks ago. And last Friday, Vai ran a high temperature. It went up to 39.9 degree celsius. He took some Nurofen (Paracetamol) for his fever, and was much better by the next day.
And Anya. She had her share of cough, runny nose and fever just before Good Friday last month.
She had fever for FOUR days, and the temperature was pretty constant, going between 38.5 – 40.8 degree celsius throughout. We stayed home during those four days.
We’re glad and thankful to God that although they are not 100% healthy, they’re their usual self most of the time.
Silly. Sulky. Happy. Whiny.
Their fevers are gone now. Their cough and runny nose still linger though and we hope they’ll be gone very soon too.
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Now, I’d like to hear from you.
Have your kids been experiencing cough, runny nose or fever too lately? Did you take them to the doctor ? What did the doctor say and what did he/she give them? How long did it last? How was the whole experience?
Hope to hear stories from parents out there so that we all can benefit from the useful info too.
Thanks all, and here’s wishing all little ones all the best of health!
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Some useful links:
Symptom Guide : Fever (by Babycenter)
Down with cough, cold and fever, what should I feed my child? (by Babycenter)
Fever & High Temperature in Children (by askbaby.com)
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Hi everyone!
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and experiences with kids’ flu, cough and fever!
I’m sure everyone else who reads your comments will benefit from the info.
We thank God that the kids are a little better now, though not ‘completely’ back to normal. And err, mommy gets the bug now. Went to see the doctor yesterday (finally), and got something to combat the virus.
Here’s wishing you and family all the best of health!
i pray that the kids fully recover asap.
Over here in Switzerland, the doctors don’t see you till u have had a fever for 3 days – otherwise just go to pharmacy & pick up some medication. Tobias has been quite well since our return – now thot Hubby is ill & i’m developing a little sore as well.
Hopefully not be a full-blown cold – too busy for that now – hhehhehe 😉
Hi Leonny, i know how tiring & heart wrenching to be coping with sick kids. Jamie has been on & off running nose, coughing & fever for a good half year. Almost twice every month… I’m still so phobia each time i heard a little coughing from him. Recently, i brought him to see a chinese physician and started him on TCM. We were prescribe mainly cordyceps & fish maw as a booster for the boy. It is not easy to down the bitter powder but i must agree that the medicine does works as it fine tunes the “coldness” in the body. I gave Jamie a teaspoon of the powder mixed with soup every dinner. On top of that, we no longer sleep in air con room and set temp to 25 degree if need to cool down the room. Also, we cut down all processed foods (eg. sausages, fishball) and replace fruits with veges instead. Fruits generally trigger cough easily. Hope enya & vai gets healthier. Take care.
Hi Leonny, my son actually had high fever two weeks ago, I was so afraid that it might be followed by cough then bronchitis (he is very prone to that), luckily he wasn’t and no running nose but a little bit of block nose. It was not the “usual” virus this time as I see b’cos fever came first rather than cough / running nose.
He finallly got through it but I was “down” since then. 🙁
Hope Vai and Anya get well soon!
Hi Leonny,
My daughter had a fever that lasted three days two weekends ago, and I was a bit nervous too cos that was about the time that the swine flu epidemic broke out.
Thankfully, the fever was in the 38+degC region and not too high so after each dose of paracetamol, it went down and after the third day everything seemed ok. We administered paracetamol on an as-needs basis, and let her body fight the infection on its own in the night as I didn’t think it was worth waking her up at 3am to take medicine if her forehead wasn’t really burning.
Her younger brother thankfully has been protected, with God’s grace.
Praying that Anya and Vai’s cough and runny nose go away soon. Typically the doc prescribes expectorant and decongestant that has to be both taken together when our kids have cough/runny nose. The medications seem to be fairly standard whichever doc we go to.
God bless!
Hi,
I agreed with Pearlyn, drinking brew Chinese soups are good for the kids. For myself, I’ll cook Lo Han Guo Soup…ingredients include: Lo Han Guo, Mi Zhao (sweet dates) & pork ribs…my boys love it & my MIL (a Cantonese – Cantonese are known to cook good soup) told me this can help soothe the throat & it’s a neutral soup – neither heaty nor cooling.
Most medical stores like Eu Yan Sang do sell those pre-packet Chinese soup ingredients…just ask the salesperson, he/she will guide you based on your needs.
oh, dear. The kids were sick before swine flu, right?
Same here. I don’t bring myself or JL to see docs cos I’ve already known what the docs would say. It’s only viral infection. Nothing we can do. We can’t give medicine. Just have plenty of rest & drink lots of water. Take panadol if she’s got fever. And that’s basically it. And the doc gets $60 for saying that. So,i don’t bring any of my family to see doc anymore. Damien & I only see doc if we need medical certificate to get sick leave from work.
I remember when I was a child. Every time I came down with runny nose/cough/fever, doc always prescribed some medicine. That, in addition to some injection on my bum. I’m not sure what sort of medicine the doc prescribed but without fail, every time we went to see docs, we always went to pharmacy afterwards to get the medicine.
but after my friend’s experience of losing her 7 month old to meningitis (the symptoms are very similar to flu. It’s just as if you were having flu), now i’m very cautious when JL had fever. My friend’s 7 month old was in normal behaviour that day. She was playing as per usual. Nothing out of ordinary happened. Then around 8pm, she started having fever. Went to GP, said it’s normal for kids to have fever. gave paracetamol. Worked for a while, but as soon as effects wore out, fever soared high again. Then went to another GP. That GP went panicking, called the helicopter ambulance and took the child to the nearest hospital. My friend&her husband drove to hospital. When they reached hosp, doc told them that all the internal organs were already damaged and it’s just the matter of time. they can do nothing to save her and doc wanted both parents to spend their last moments with the child. it’s very heartbreaking. In less than12hours (counting from when the fever started), a disease took a child’s life. My friend blacked out when her bub was finally gone.
So yeah, i think it’a better to keep a close eye to fever. Trust your gut instinct if you think/feel that something is not right. Go to hospital if necessary
Hi Leonny,
Nora has always have cold and cough since she was a baby. Not just for weeks, but MONTHS continuously. Perhaps a downside from putting a child in a daycare, huh? Luckily she doesn’t have fever.
We barely bring her to the doctor because here in the Netherlands it’s uncommon to do so. We did that a few times after she has cold en cough for months and the only thing the doctor did was checking her lungs. No medicine is given. They also said that it’s normal for a child to have cold 4-8 times in a year (especially if they go to a daycare).
Ever since we put her upper-end of her matras slightly higher (she snored at night because of stuffed nose), it seemed better for her and of course you can also rub some Vicks on their chest, neck, n back before going to bed. Where these and/or prayers certainly helped coz she’s not having cold anymore for a few days now.
Hi Leonny
My daughter also just recovered from a month-long cough.
Either it’s the timing (that the cough was going to be gone anyway) or that TCM really works. We brought her to Eu Yan Sang to see a TCM doctor and after a five-day dosage of medicine she was almost well.
I also believe in brewing Chinese soups for her, as regular drinking of such soups will help boost immunity. The recipes are on http://housewifediaries.wordpress.com/ if you are interested.