My 2 babies 19 months and 8 months have a bad cough. It is getting better I think(looser). They don't have a fever. My mom and MIL think I should take them to the doctor, dh does not. He thinks I should just give them some infant cough and cold med. and use a humidifier(which I have been doing).
Now, here is the thing, we don't have any insurance. Medicade was cancelled. I can go to a walk in clinic and be billed. Would a doctor give them an antibiodic? If so, I have NO $$$ to speak of for it.

Any thoughts? Should I just take them?
TIA-Erin

Yes, Erin, I would take them in and get billed (you could always pay it off in increments, if needed, and due to no insurance, see if they can adjust the bill - they usually try to give uncovered parents a break). If it's bronchitis they will probably give them antibios. But you also want them to check for strep and ear infections - sometimes we parents don't know. Robitussin hasn't been doing it for us, so we use Delsym at night for the cough. But your kids could have allergies or just something nasty hanging around. If it makes you feel any better, DH is always trying to get me to hold out on the Dr. visits, but I let my instinct take over. I think I've only been wrong once, but still felt so much better. EVERY other time, there really was something. Men are just like that - he probably doesn't see the Dr. much, either, huh? But these are growing babies. They need a chance to get better.

__________________
Make someone's heart smile today.

The Really Needy, Special, Networking and Talking Mod

don't hesitate to take them... what I thought was a cold with my Ds ended up being asthma. If you let it go too long it cold become pneumonia or something. A lot of time the doc will give you samples if you tell him you can't buy medicines. Good Luck!!

__________________

I personally would not give either one of them cough and cold meds - maybe the 19 month old, but definitely not the 8 month old. Those meds aren't regulated for children that young and there have been reports out recently that they can actually be dangerous. My pediatrician thinks cough and cold meds in general are useless, but definitely doesn't recommend them for babies under 1 year, and not really even for kids under 2.

If it were me and I thought the cough was improving, I would wait it out a few more days - especially if there is no fever and no other troubling symptoms. Also, how are your kids feeling? Are they acting normally other than the cough? Are they short of breath? Do they seem to be in pain (i.e. tugging at an ear or having trouble swallowing?). Are they eating okay? If the cough is the only symptom and they are doing fine otherwise, I would just take a wait and see approach - but that's just my opinion of course.

As far as treating the cough without meds, you can elevate their heads at night to make it easier to sleep (if they're both still in cribs, you can put a rolled up blanket under the head of the crib mattress) and use a humidifier in their rooms.

A doctor should give out an antibiotic only if there is a suspected/confirmed bacterial infection. A lot of illnesses are viral and cannot be treated with antibiotics. If the cough doesn't continue to improve or gets worse (or one of them starts running a fever), then you might start suspecting a secondary bacterial infection and it would be time to bring them in. (This is just what I've learned over the years, I'm certainly not a doctor).

All that being said, if you are really concerned, then err on the side of caution and take them in to be seen - you can always worry about the money later.

__________________
Stephanie
Mom to: Caleb (8-27-2003), Ian (9-28-2005), & Baby Boy #3 (EDD 11-9-2008)

If your kids are playing like normal I wound wait and see. The new thing about giving cough meds is that it doesn't help young children. I've been in "the no insurance" place before and tried to wait and ended up with a bigger bill in the er. It's much better to take them to the clinic. Also try to see if there happens to be a clinic that charges on the a floating scale based on your families income.

Erin, I am sorry that you are going through this right now.:love: We currently do not have insurance either because Medicare dropped us and in October Kaylin got sick and I was giving her cold medication and she kept getting sick. Well after a month of every other week giving her meds I finally took her in and she ended up having a double ear infection and mild pneumonia! If they have had it for a while then I would take them in. The clinic here billed me but I told them that we were still fighting with Medicare and they put a halt on the payment until it went through. Unfortunately it never went through but they allowed us to pay $5 a month!! That was incredible for them to help us like that. Now that we got our taxes back I paid it off but still see if you can get them to do something like that.

I hope they get better soon and give them big hugs!Hugs

~Sonja

__________________
~~Sonja~~

My 3lynns~ Ashlynn-8, Brooklyn-4 and Kaylin-3

If they seem to be fine otherwise and it is getting better I would just wait and see. I know when my son had a bad cough last month the doctor said it was just a cough and to let it ride. My dd has a bad cough now which seems to be getting better(I think I'm getting it now) and it seems lots of kids are coughing in dd's preschool so I think it is just going around.

Ask for Samples!!!! They will give them to you.

__________________

ITA

Part of me says to wait it out, but I did that with ds and he wound up with an ear infection. I had paid so many copays in the fall for a cough that didn't get better and nothing else was wrong. So this time I started treating him the same as in the fall. Well, it didn't get better again so I took him in and he had the ear infection. Apparantly, loose cough sometimes comes with an ear infection. Who'd have thought that?! Not me!

Trust your instincts. As someone stated earlier a bill from a clinic is cheaper than a bill from the er!

I hope everyone is feeling better soon.:hugs: