My son has asthma. The coughing and gagging he experiences with his asthma episodes often occur WITHOUT a cold and does NOT go away without treatment. Also-without treatment the coughing progresses to wheezing and it becomes very difficult for him to breathe. If your child does not progress to this stage she probably does not have asthma (luckily).

Post nasal drip does cause coughing after a cold is over. I do not have any suggestions or solutions, but I can tell you than my son's asthma follows a very different pattern that the one you describe for your daughter.

I hope she feels better.

Mommabear

This is one of those things that you are probably going to have to put up with. The doctor can usually see by looking in the back of the throat if there is post nasal drip.

The gunk that is up there in the head from the cold has to drain out. If the nose doesn't run, or the person doesn't blow his nose, then there will be a post nasal drip. It happens to a lot of people of all ages.

There is some thought that the use of decongestants and nose drops are not always a good idea in children as they makes the mucous thicker and therefore harder to get rid of. It makes the whole situation last longer. Of course, it gives some short time relief, but may not be so good for the overall course.

My son is only 18mo, but he gets it, too. We try to be sure to keep a humidifier or vaporizer going, so he doesn't dry up, give him liquids to keep his mucous membranes healthy, and get him through it, but it's not fun for any of us.

My dd had a history of ear infections and sinus inf. After tubes were put in the ears and subsequently removed, she's had only 1 ear inf. Last fall after battling coughs and colds etc since July, I finally took her to the same dr who did her tubes. He's an ears, eyes, nose throat guy. He said her problem was enlarged adenoids not sinus problems. You may want to check this possibility. I took my dd in when she was in the midst of it all and he found it quickly. We had them removed and at the risk of jinxing her, she's gotten to this point with only mild sniffles. A far cry from other winters and even last summer.

Good Luck
MaryF

I get this and so does my 7 mo. To treat: sleep with head elevated, I always use 2 pillows and during episodes I often sleep on the couch. Also use humidifier and hot showers. When DD has drip she sits in her little chair in the bathroom every time someone takes a shower.

Decongestants, lots of liquids, milk sometimes makes it worse, and elevation in bed. For little ones, I would put a folded blanket and/or pillows under the mattress if they were too little to stay on a bed pillow.

Dee, sounds like "postnasal drip syndrome." Decongestants are the answer. You say they make her sleepy. I've never heard of that side effect. Could it be she's just tired from coughing? At least, could you give her the decongestants after school and before bed??

You also say they work some, but in my experience they work as well as anything, since there really is no other treatment for PNDS.

Hi - Original poster here. I was digging around the net about post nasal drip and noticed that some people had some success with nasal irrigation. Basically you stand with your head over the sink and gently pour or spray a weak salt water solution in your nose. The water and all the gunk that's making you cough come out your nose into the sink.

I tried it on myself using the infant nose aspirator to see how it worked. Not exactly pleasant but not horrible either. After much prodding, I persuaded my daughter to try it. We were amazed at the difference it made. (We were also amazed by all the stuff that came out of her head.) Her coughing and gagging have decreased by 75%. If you have post nasal drip, I suggest you try it.

That's interesting Deee. Have any of you tried Zicam? It's a homeopathic nasal spray. You can buy it practically anywhere that sells cold remedies. DD and I started using this last year when we get colds. We always ended up with the nasty cough at the end of a cold. Since using the Zicam, the length of our colds has decreased and neither of us get the "end of cold" coughing bouts we used to get.

My pediatrician told me to use saline for my daughter's when they have this, but neither of them will do it. I find elevating their head when they sleep and giving them water helps a lot.

I have had post nasal drip (PND) for 6 years. Recently i was informed about the benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar for PND and a whole host of other ailments. Found this under a Google search:

The link reveals the story of how one person totally eliminated PND by using Apple Cider Vinegar and taking dairy products out of his/her diet.

The person recommends using "unrefined Apple Cidar Vinegar" - two Tablespoons of this in water every morning or night, which will eventually kill the virus causing PND!

As well, eliminating dairy products and replacing them with with vegetarian style foods will take care of PND.

Here is a link that might be useful: Post Nasal Drip

I've had PND my whole life and nothing the doctorsuggested helped. A friend suggested I cut out dairy for a month to see if it helped. Guess what?? it stopped. I have since switched to Soy products and the PND has not been an issue at all. My doctor said that I am not allergic to dairy but sensitive to it.

My stepdaughter (8) had a sinus infection and when she got done with antibiotics, she started having a constant ahem (it wasn't a cough, but like she was clearing her throat... constantly.) After about a week, I took her in to see the doctor who said it was allergies. He gave her a nasal spray.