Salt Saves the Day (or Night)

The kiddo had been coughing in his sleep, despite my having given him medicine and running the steamer. On the subject of medicine, I've found that over-the-counter cough syrup does nothing to suppress coughs. It's utterly worthless! What does seem to work is something sleep-inducing (in our case, antihistamine) and moisture. Anyway, the kiddo was coughing repeatedly and it was breaking my heart. I think it was particularly tough because he'll be going to his dad's for the next few days (and returning on Christmas Day), so I won't be able to take care of him myself and I feel like I have to give him extra-special care before he goes. I turned the heat down in the house to lower the temperature and minimize the amount of forced air blowing around the room (I hate a lot of forced air at night, and I seriously miss the radiant underfloor heat I had in my college apartment -- best heat ever), and he continued to cough. Finally I refilled the steamer and poured a little salt into it, and the thing is now producing steam like there's no tomorrow, and my boy is sleeping quietly.

Now I can sleep, too.