Very bad cough

Haziq woke us up around 2 in the morning with his coughing. It sounded really bad. It is as though something is stuck in his throat and he wanted to get it out. It doesn't sound like the coughing he had a few months bad which is more pghlemy. This time around, it's rather dry and we felt really 'kesian' for him. We hold him up face facing down and tried to coax him to cough out whatever was inside his throat. Something did come out but not much. He's sleeping now and hope his sleep won't be disrupted till morning. Never realised that it's so tough for babies to take medicine. I suppose they're not used to the taste and so would just reject it totally. Previously it was easier but now Haziq is stronger and you can't just force the medicine down his throat, right?