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Hyland makes a kid's homeopathic cough syrup that works well. I was skeptical but it makes a big difference for DS.

We use warm honey water, and zarbees.

We've tried zarbees and Hyland and they both seemed to work. For us zarbees nighttime seemed to help her sleep better.

Our pediatrician recommends Chestal, which is honey-based. It works pretty well at calming the cough, and DS loves it (he calls it "honey medicine").

My DS is 3 and is a veteran of three pneumonias and asthma/reactive airway. although we have a big arsenal of rescue inhalers and steroids, I swear by 20+ minute steamy "baths" (put some chest rub on beforehand), warm honey or Zarbees, and a humidifier on high RIGHT next to their bed. also, obviously not natural, but our pediatrician has recommended doing a half-dose of children's Benadryl when a coughing fit lasts for 20 minutes after you've tried everything. it gets them to stop coughing by inducing relaxation/sleep. I've also heated up a bed buddy/rice heat pack and put it on his chest. Good luck, Mama; coughing is so sad and scary!

Bumping this again- gave my LO the hylands night cold and cough tonight and she went to sleep great but now a few hours later she keeps coughing and I know it's disturbing her sleep. Same thing happened last night to the point that Dh had to go in and sleep with her. Any advice for helping her stay asleep? She's only coughing while she sleeps, during the day she's fine.

Humidifier is running but I think it's not very effective even in her small room.

@regberadaisy: yeah cool mist. It's a small cheap one though. I should try the vapor rub on her feet- she's in two piece pjs and likes to take her socks off though. You out the oil right in the water in the humidifier or is there a separate spot for it? Come to think of it ours might have a separate little spot. I tried giving her a real pillow to help drain but she isn't using it.

@Beehive: we use this too. I feel like it actually works. If DS has a cold and wakes up coughing in the middle of the night, I'll give him a dose and he doesn't cough for the rest of the night.

@Foodnerd81: My son's cough is still lingering on for 3 weeks now but it is not effecting his sleep anymore. When he was really in the thick of it with the runny nose and congestion I broke down and gave him the benedryl that the doctor recommended. She said that since hes over 20 lbs he could have whole teaspoon and it really did help him sleep, which is what he needed.
I hate that he is still coughing. I took him to doctor a week ago and his lungs were clear but I'm still nervous because his grandpa, who he spends every day with, just had pneumonia. Doc said she has already seen a lot of this and its going to be a long winter. Great!

@Mrs. Goose: can you really do that once they are mobile? C is almost 2.5 and stands up and readjusts herself before going to sleep. She does usually end up with her head in the same place so it might work. I tried convincing her to sleep with her head on a pillow but no luck.