Ask Our Expert - Nighttime Cough in a Kindergartner

October 14, 2008

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Specializing in pediatric infectious diseases and childhood immunizations.


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Ask Dr. Cates Nighttime Cough in a Kindergartner

QUESTION


Dear Dr. Cates, My son keeps waking up at night with a croupy cough. Could this be due to allergies and if so, is this normal? He is in kindergarten and seems fine during the day. Please advise. Thanks. — Justdee in Amityville, NY

ANSWER	July 22, 2002


Dear Justdee, Your question is an excellent one. Certainly his cough could be due to an allergy, but there are quite a few other possibilities including asthma, an infection (e.g., cold, sinusitis, pneumonia), or a foreign body in his lungs (e.g., if he breathed in a small object like a peanut). Unfortunately, I would need to have more information, and be able to examine him and do some tests before I could really begin to pin it down any better than this. You didn't mention how long this has been going on, but it sounds like it's been bothersome enough that it is time to have him checked to see if he would benefit from some specific treatment. I hope both of you will be able to get a better night's sleep soon! — by Lynn Cates, M.D., F.A.A.P.

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