I have an unusual problem for a cfer. My son who is 5 does not want to cough. At clinic when he is asked to cough he refuses. At home he does not cough. It is a puzzle to me as he use to cough. I'd hear him when he woke up in the morning coughing but lately his cough has vansished. Any thoughts? My concern is that he is just breathing shallow and not clearing the mucas in his lungs.
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Doesn't want to cough
- Thread starter enaj
- Start date
CFSanDiego
New member
Hi there. Coughing is sooooo important for my daughter (5 1/2). Most the time she does not cough throughout the day, but during treatment some "gunk" will come out periodically. But, she has to proactively cough it out to have that happen (which she does).
Have you tried the huff cough with him? Maybe you could make a game out of it. I bring a handheld mirror to my daughter a lot and have her fog it. The fogging effect in itself is a huff (which helps to bring gunk out of the lungs) and then usually a cough will follow involuntarily
Also, does he do HTS? HTS many times induces at least some cough for my daughter.
What does he do when he is sick? Or hasn't he been sick since he has stopped all coughing for you.
One thing is for certain...he needs to know that coughing during treatment is not optional. It is simply too important.
Edan
Have you tried the huff cough with him? Maybe you could make a game out of it. I bring a handheld mirror to my daughter a lot and have her fog it. The fogging effect in itself is a huff (which helps to bring gunk out of the lungs) and then usually a cough will follow involuntarily
Also, does he do HTS? HTS many times induces at least some cough for my daughter.
What does he do when he is sick? Or hasn't he been sick since he has stopped all coughing for you.
One thing is for certain...he needs to know that coughing during treatment is not optional. It is simply too important.
Edan
My parents always gave me encouragement when coughing, "good job cough it up". He is bound to cough at some point. To this end I would attempt getting him as active and wound up as possible force him to really use what he has. If he has anything in there, its bound to come lose with heavy breathing over an hour or so. At which point just encourage him. You may also want to try sitting down and having a vary basic "your body is a little different" talk. You may be running into the side effect of the social stigma that comes with having a chronic cough, I know to this day I will, with out thinking about it, suppress my cough in public but in my home/hospital room, I go to town. So you may be running into a little of this as well.
Good luck with this one.
Keith.
Good luck with this one.
Keith.
rubyroselee
New member
I have a 4-year-old who sounds just like that! He wants to do the opposite of what he's supposed to. He does not have CF, but hates any attention and does not want anyone to mention things that he should be getting praised for. It's strange to me, but I guess it's his personality. I'm wondering if he's the same way? Maybe try the opposite, by not drawing any attention to his cough and see if he'll just start doing it on his own at home. Just an idea...
B
BikerEd
Guest
You may also want to try sitting down and having a vary basic "your body is a little different" talk. You may be running into the side effect of the social stigma that comes with having a chronic cough, I know to this day I will, with out thinking about it, suppress my cough in public but in my home/hospital room, I go to town. QUOTE]
Yes, I agree in this over “germaphobic” day and age he may be feeling some kind of peer pressure or ostracizing because of his cough. At five he may be getting from friends/classmates “eeewwww gross”; at forty my friends know, but there is always so a##hole that I don’t know that throws in the “have another smoke" comment. Best of Luck.