Cough and Kids
Are you also worried about the cold and cough your child is suffering from? Coughing is a very common symptom in children and usually accompanies an infection with the common cold virus. Cough can be of many types, whooping cough, dry cough, chesty cough, cough with vomiting or barky cough. However you need to understand the cause of your child's cough in order provide appropriate help and treatment.
How to
understand the type of cough:
- When your child is coughing long or cannot draw breath, possibly its whooping cough, which is caused by bacteria not virus.
- If your child is feeling like a tickle in the back of the throat, that symbolizes dry cough that is not in itself dangerous, but a natural and normal reaction to secretions in the respiratory tract.
- If there is wheezing while inhaling possibly its barky cough which is commonly brought on by a viral upper respiratory infection, or in some cases allergies.
- Chesty cough is due to virus can get very loud and worrisome, but they don't always signal a major infection. If your child is still eating, has energy and can sleep at night, they'll likely kick the cough in 7 to 10 days.
- If your child or baby has a cough, and throws up after coughing, it doesn't necessarily mean they have a more serious infection. If your child coughs violently for over 2 weeks with vomiting, can't stop coughing and can't breathe, they may have whooping cough.
Remedy for cough among Infants (new born):
U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an advisory warning that children under the age of 2 should never be given cold medicine unless a doctor advises it. So always consult doctor if your new born baby has these symptoms:
- Breathing more rapidly than usual or looks like he's working harder to breathe
- Is wheezing
- Have little streaks of blood in the mucus he coughs up
- Is running a fever of at least 101 degrees F
You can do to help your baby:
- If you have any sort of heating (or cooling in summer) then the air may be quite dry. Use humidifier this will help add moisture to the air. You can also try cool mist vaporizers as well.
- During breast feeding, your baby is trying to suck, however with a stuffed up nose breathing is going to be difficult. So if necessary, offer the breast/bottle in smaller amounts more frequently.
- If the outside of her nose is sore from discharge, gently rub a tiny smear of petroleum jelly on it to soothe the area.
- Add a few drops of eucalyptus oil to her bathwater to help ease her breathing.
- Clear her nose with a rubber suction bulb after softening any buildup of mucus with saline if congestion is disturbing her sleep. Ask your doctor or health visitor to show you how to use the bulb.
- Use saline nose drops to thin the mucus if her nose is blocked, your doctor or pharmacist can recommend one.
- Another very effective and gentle natural cough remedy for babies is an herbal rub. Start with 3 to 4 tablespoons of olive oil and add 2 drops of essential oils to the olive oil. Mix the olive oil and essential oils well, then apply the mixture to your baby's chest and back.
- A cough or cold normally takes up to ten days to go away.
Cough remedies and home treatment for Toddlers (1 - 2 years):
- Use honey to soothe coughs. Honey is an effective natural cough suppressant for children more than 1 year. Mix 1 to 2 tsp. of honey into tea or into a glass of juice or warm water. Add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice to boost the effectiveness. A dash of white pepper in the honey solution will help clear mucous.
- Stir ginger into hot tea and give it to your child 2 to 3 times a day.
- Warm milk and stir in a teaspoon of honey and a dash of turmeric for a comforting remedy.
- If your toddler has dry, barking coughs, turn on the hot water in the shower and sit in the steam with your toddler for 20 minutes.
Cough remedies and home treatment for 3-5 years of child: Apart from all above treatments you can provide some additional help to your 3-5 years of child.
- Pour boiling water into a large bowl and add turmeric. Lean your child over the bowl with a towel over her head, and allow the steam to soothe her throat and quiet her cough.
- Prepare a solution of warm salt water for a gargle. Your child can gargle as many times during the day as he is able; be sure your child understands not to swallow the solution.
How to help your teenager child:
Gargling with warm
spinach juice is very helpful in dealing
with dry cough, but l am sure very few of us will get our teenager to do this
one.
- Chew 4 leaves of holy basil and 4 black peppers to prevent cough.
- Whooping cough is very common among teens and recently a new vaccine was developed to help teens from getting "whooping cough".
- Teenagers can take cough medicines after consulting the doctor.
If inspite of all precautions and home treatment the cough doesn't goes within 10 - 15 days, you must see your doctor for proper care and treatment or if you are unsure.
(Sources: youngwomenshealth.org, gurgle.co.uk, ehow.com/, just4families.com, babycenter.com, canadianliving.com)
(Image sources:cdn.24.com/files/Cms/General/d/17/c07c7db5782d4b08946fa7e00431a73a.jpg, telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/00800/Mother-baby-460_800413c.jpg,3.timeoutny.com/newyork/the-feed-blog/restaurants-bars/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/milkandhoney.jpg, askamum.co.uk/upload/16021/images/10003307.jpg)
