All parents react differently to coughing in infants - someone does not pay attention and ignores, especially when there is no temperature and a cold, while others immediately rush to treat their child with all available means. All two types of parents go to extremes, because before you begin to treat a baby, both 3 months old and older, you need to find out the root cause of this cough.
What is a cough?
A cough is called a reflex that helps to clean the respiratory tract from any foreign substances, it can be dust particles, crumbs, accumulated mucus, allergens, pathogenic bacteria, viruses. Breasts cough with a sharp loud exhalation, in which air leaves the respiratory tract at high speed.
If the baby has a cough and fever, you should immediately consult a doctor.
Types of cough and its causes
Given the factors that cause a cough, it is usually divided into physiological, which is needed to clear the respiratory tract and pathological, which appears in various diseases.
Cough in a baby is a symptom of such diseases:
- pharyngitis;
- angina;
- laryngitis;
- ARVI;
- sinusitis;
- bronchitis;
- pneumonia;
- tracheitis;
- tuberculosis;
- allergy;
- bronchial asthma;
- whooping cough and other infections;
- helminth infection.
Moist cough
It so happens that at the same time cough and runny nose appear in the baby. If we observe the passage of sputum, then we can distinguish such types of cough as wet (also called wet or productive) and dry (there is no sputum). It is considered normal when a newborn baby of two months or older coughs up sputum in the morning, as it can accumulate during sleep. During the day, there will be no coughing, and the general condition of the child will remain unchanged.
Dry cough
Observing the sound of a dry cough in an infant, it can be defined as:
- superficial - detected with pharyngitis;
- barking - a loud cough, which with its sound resembles a dog barking, which usually occurs with laryngitis;
- pulmonary - paroxysmal, exhausting cough.
Is a cough in a baby without a fever dangerous?
Causes not related to sore throat
Infants may begin to cough if a foreign object, such as a small toy or some small part of it, gets into the airways. Also, in addition to the sudden appearance of a cough, the child’s voice may disappear, the skin will turn blue, and breathing will be difficult. Such situations become a compelling reason to immediately call an ambulance.
The appearance of a cough in a baby at about 5 months of age can be caused by an allergic reaction. A child can react by coughing to dust, pollen of plants, feather pillows, allergens from food and other objects and substances. In order to deal with such a cough in a child, it is necessary to detect an allergen and eliminate its effect.
Also, the cause of coughing in infants, in the absence of respiratory tract diseases, may be helminthiasis. Some worm larvae can penetrate the lungs, developing in the body of the child. During a cough, they can go with the mucus into the digestive tract, and then get to the intestines.
It is also important to note that the cause of dry cough in a child may be dry air in the room. In these cases, the problem can be easily solved by putting a humidifier or other source of moisture (wet towels, water containers) in the room.
Children can cough while eating when milk comes in very quickly. You can eliminate this cough by changing the position during feeding. Children who are bottle-fed need to change their pacifier.
But when snot and cough appear at the same time in a baby, this can indicate a viral infection.
Dangerous Cough Symptoms
Parents should be alert and quickly go with the child to the doctor in the following cases:
- the baby coughs up sputum of green or red color;
- the cough appeared suddenly and does not stop;
- coughing appears at night in the form of seizures;
- wheezing occurred along with the cough, which can be heard from afar;
- cough lasts more than three weeks.
We will figure out how to treat a cough in a baby without a fever.
Treatment
If a cough of any kind occurs in an infant, it is first necessary to find out whether such a manifestation is normal or is this a disease. To do this, you need to show your child to the doctor, because any pharmaceutical cough for children under the age of one can be used only after the appointment of a pediatrician or ENT.
In addition to medicines, in the treatment of cough are used:
- Drainage massage. It should be carried out for children whose body temperature is normal, from 5-6 days of illness, in order to improve sputum discharge. With this massage, the child’s head is placed below the body. First, back massage, then chest. After the massage is finished, the child needs to be wrapped up and put into bed, regularly changing the position of his body.
- Inhalation. They can be steam and nebulizer, depending on the version. It is necessary to keep the child above the steam very carefully in order to eliminate the risks of burns. In infancy, only saline or borjomi should be poured into the nebulizer for inhalation without the appointment of a pediatrician.
- Folk remedies for dry and wet cough in infants. These include herbal decoctions, rubbing with badger fat, tortillas with honey.
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Among the medicines that a doctor can prescribe for a baby from coughing, there are drugs in the following groups:
- Expectorant preparations. They help improve sputum discharge. Children under the age of one year are prescribed Linax, Gedelix, Prospan, Herbion, Bronchipret and licorice root syrup.
- Antitussive drugs. They can reduce the activity of the cough center and are prescribed only with a strong, debilitating dry cough. You also need to know that such drugs can not be combined with expectorants.
- Antihistamines. They are usually prescribed in case of allergic cough.
- Mucolytics. These agents are able to reduce the viscosity of sputum, which will help its better discharge. Such approved for use in infants include the drug "Ambroxol".
- Antibiotics. They are prescribed for bacterial infections that manifest as a cough, for example, with angina or pneumonia.
Breast Fees
It is possible to use medicinal herbs for cough treatment, to combine them in various combinations as breast fees. These fees may include plantain, sage, licorice, oregano, anise, marshmallow, mother and stepmother, and other herbs. One way or another, in order to avoid allergies and other side effects, experts recommend giving small children decoctions with one component.
Such a healing plant as chamomile has an antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory effect and is often taken before the age of one year. If you brew a chamomile for a child for the first time, you need to give him this natural remedy for a few drops in order to check the reaction of the baby's body.
To prepare this decoction, you need to take one tablespoon of dried flowers and a glass of boiled water, cover it with a lid and strain after 10 minutes. Such chamomile tea should be given three times a day after feeding after half an hour in an amount of not more than 30 ml for infants.
Chamomile can also be used for inhalation. To do this, you need to brew dried flowers and let stand for 40 minutes, then pour the broth into a liter of boiled water, then bring the child to the container and let it breathe over the steam for 5-10 minutes.
You can also carry out the so-called passive inhalation. To do this, a little boiling water is poured into the bath so that the bathroom is filled with steam. Then go into the room with the baby and sit in it for about 10 minutes. And if the child does not have allergic reactions, then eucalyptus oil can be added to the bath.
What else is included in the treatment of cough in infants?
The benefits of cough massage
In some cases, the doctor may prescribe physiotherapeutic measures for the child. The actual method in the treatment of cough is massage. There are techniques that are designed specifically for babies and use them not only in the treatment of colds, but also for preventive purposes. Commonly used methods are:
- Do light pats and taps in the chest area. Such movements help to remove excess sputum from the respiratory tract.
- Rub the feet with warming ointments. First, ointment is applied to the skin with light strokes, then rubbed to a pink skin color, after which they switch to the calf muscles.
- Percussion massage - tapping on the back with the edge of the palm of the hand. The child is placed on his stomach, his arms are raised up, his head is located below the torso. After this massage (its duration is not more than five minutes), the oral cavity of the child is checked. If mucus has accumulated there, it is mechanically removed with a finger on which clean gauze is wound.
- A warm massage is performed in the chest with the help of special ointments. The procedure lasts until a slight reddening of the skin, which indicates an improvement in blood circulation. After the child is wrapped or dressed in order to keep the heat as much as possible.
Massage has contraindications, which include:
- allergic reactions;
- exacerbation of rickets;
- fever;
- epilepsy;
- damage to the skin;
- bleeding disorders and heart disease.
How correctly the massage goes, you can find out by the reaction of the child, the touch for him should be pleasant. Do not massage if the child feels uncomfortable.
We examined how to treat cough in infants.
Parent Tips
Here are a few more helpful tips you should follow:
- it is often necessary to ventilate the room where the small child is located, especially if he has a cough, since he always needs fresh air;
- change the position of the child in the crib and often pick it up;
- it is desirable that the temperature in the room be no higher than 22 degrees;
- in order for the child to drink more liquid, offer him a new beautiful or bright mug;
- if the baby's body temperature is normal, you need to go out with him for a walk;
- if the baby has a runny nose besides coughing, rinse his nose with water and sea salt.
If you follow all these simple rules, then the child will be less likely to get sick, and also recover much faster. You can also consult with a specialist about the proper care of the baby.