A coughing fit in a child at night - what to do? Night cough in a child - treatment

From time to time, parents are faced with a problem such as an attack of night cough in a child. What to do in this case? How to help the baby?

Causes of occurrence

Cough may be caused by the following reasons:

• Pathologies of the respiratory system - rhinitis, sinusitis, adenoiditis or pharyngitis.
• Bronchial asthma.
• Whooping cough.
• ARVI.
• Stagnation of mucus in the nasal passages, which causes a reflex cough.
• Sputum from the lungs in a prone position does not depart, blocking access to oxygen.

If your baby has one of these diseases (conditions), it is necessary to get treatment recommendations from a pediatrician. A competent doctor will help to prescribe an appropriate treatment for the situation so that your baby does not suffer from such an unpleasant disease as a cough.

How to stop a coughing fit in a child? At night, you need to be especially careful if the baby is sick. It is necessary to understand which type of ailment torments the baby, because the treatment depends on it.

Types of cough

Dry cough

Attacks of dry cough in a child appear due to the development of certain diseases in the body, such as:

• Viral infections in the initial stage. In the normal course of the disease, after a few days the cough becomes wet.
• Allergies and various irritants. The presence in the room where there is crumbs, tobacco smoke, dust, chemicals (for example, a floor cleaner or air freshener), animal hair.
• Whooping cough. Common signs are redness on the face. There is vomiting. With whooping cough, breathing is often difficult (reprise).
• Asthma. A paroxysmal dry cough begins, wheezing, shortness of breath. A short breath is accompanied by a long exhale.

Moist cough

Various bacteria and viruses are the causative agents of wet coughing attacks. At night, the child opens a cough, accompanied by sputum production. This may occur in some diseases:

• ARVI. A wet cough in acute respiratory diseases indicates a positive trend and accompanies the onset of recovery in a small patient.
• Bronchitis.
• Pneumonia.

Whooping cough

It is accompanied by the following symptoms:

• Dry and frequent.
• Vomiting appears, tears, whites of the eyes redden.
• Shaky, between attacks deep breathing.
• If the child is not vaccinated against whooping cough, a convulsive cough is an occasion to think about this disease.

Allergic

This type may be accompanied by the following symptoms:

• Skin rashes.
• Itching
• Isolation of clear mucus from the nose.
• Tears from the eyes.
• May cause laryngospasm (stenosis) or even bronchospasm (asthma).

Barking cough with stenosis of the larynx

You can also call this type of cough laryngospasm or false croup. This means that part of the respiratory system swells and interferes with the access of oxygen. It is difficult to confuse with other species, since it looks like a dog barking. Laryngeal edema occurs, wheezing, suffocation often develops. Usually, laryngospasm is accompanied by a very strong attack of night cough in the child.

Causes of stenosis (false croup)

• Laryngitis.
• Tracheitis.
• Bronchitis.
• Adenoiditis

False croup often begins in a dream, from about one in the morning until four in the morning. Boys are most susceptible to laryngospasm from six months to six years.

Treatment of night cough in a child

How to help a child with a night coughing fit? Pediatricians recommend that parents do not be nervous. The baby feels the emotions of the parents and begins to worry even more, which entails an increase in the problem. Immediately plant a cough, lying down is strictly prohibited! Turn on the light, open the window for fresh air. Try to understand the type of cough that torments the baby. Based on this, apply the following algorithm of actions.

If the child has dry coughing attacks

• The baby needs to be given a warm alkaline drink. For example, table mineral water without gas or ordinary water with soda diluted in it (at the tip of a knife). Make sure that he drinks in small sips, otherwise you can provoke vomiting.
• Clean the nasal passages of a small patient with saline or hypertonic spray. If necessary, use cotton turunda to remove mucus. You can also use an aspirator, for example, "Otrivin baby", if the child does not yet know how to blow his nose himself. Using cotton swabs to remove mucus from the nose is not recommended, since the firm end of the sticks can easily damage the delicate nasal passages of the crumbs, because he can not sit still.
• If air passage through the nose is difficult due to swelling of the mucosa, use baby vasoconstrictor drops. During an attack, unhindered passage of oxygen through the nose is important.
• Humidify the air. It is best when the cough begins to take the baby to the bathroom, put on his lap and turn on hot water in the bathroom to form steam. At the same time, it is not necessary to wet the baby.
• You can also do inhalation with saline or alkaline mineral water. To do this, you must have a home inhaler. Doing inhalation with a pot of boiling water is strictly not recommended! A small patient may accidentally burn himself on the hot wall of the pan or even turn the boiling water over.
• If you are completely sure that your baby is not allergic to honey and pharmacy herbs, you can give him a decoction of herbs with a spoon of honey. But it should be remembered that if an allergic component is present due to an ailment, then honey and herbs can aggravate the situation.
• It is impossible to give a baby without a doctor’s prescription when coughing an etymology of an unknown etymology, such as Sinecode or Stoptussin.

Allergy

How to stop a night coughing fit in a child of an allergic nature? Give your baby antihistamines based on their age and weight. For example, Suprastin. It is effective precisely with emergency care, unlike the Zodak or Zirtek, which help well with long-term therapy.

How to help a child with a night coughing fit if it is wet

• Immediately put the patient to improve sputum discharge.
• Massage with tapping movements. The tapping should be strong enough so that sputum, which is clogged in the airways, begins to go away with a cough.

What to give the child from an attack of night cough if it is wet? You can give mucolytic drugs, such as Ambrobene, Lazolvan or ATSTS. It is necessary to carefully observe the dosage of drugs, based on the prescription of the doctor, as well as the weight and age of the child. You can also do inhalation with these drugs, if the form and instruction of these drugs allows. Inhalation is carried out with a nebulizer.

Whooping cough

In this type of cough caused by whooping cough, the drug "Sinecode" or analogues of this medicine is usually prescribed. The treatment is outpatient.

Barking cough or stenosis of the larynx

If the cough is like a dog barking and sounds very rude, you must call an ambulance! Usually, doctors quickly come to nightly coughing fits in a child 2 years old or younger. Older children can also count on timely and qualified medical care.

Due to the narrowing of the larynx, air cannot penetrate the baby's lungs, it can suffocate. While the ambulance is traveling, parents should ease the condition of the crumbs.

Ways to alleviate false croup

They partially coincide with the methods of relieving dry cough, which were described above:

• Open windows for fresh air.
• Humidify the air in the room.
• Clear the nasal passages.
• Give a warm alkaline drink.

Also, with stenosis of the larynx, the following methods are used:

• By instilling vasoconstrictor drops in the nose during a nightly fit of coughing in a child, which is necessary, parents reduce edema of the respiratory system. Previously, emergency doctors even recommended to drip this remedy on the root of the tongue in the acute period of the disease in order to reduce swelling, but recently, doctors have not advised to do this, because it can negatively affect the work of the heart.
• Give any antihistamine that is in the house, observing the dosage by age. To achieve the fastest effect, you can use Suprastin.
• If the stenosis is not very strong, inhale the baby with saline or mineral water using a nebulizer.
• If the false croup is strong and the condition of the small patient worsens, inhalation with Pulmicort should be done. This is a hormonal drug that relieves swelling. It has practically no side effects, but after it it is recommended to rinse your mouth with alkaline mineral water to avoid thrush in the oral cavity. If inhalation with this drug does not help much, do it again.

What to do with a night coughing fit in a child if the above methods do not help? In this case, the emergency doctors will give the baby an injection of Prednisone, which will quickly remove all symptoms. Then, parents are advised to take the baby to the hospital and continue treatment in the hospital. Prednisolone is the most effective way to combat false croup, but with many side effects. Therefore, the task of parents before injecting this drug is to try inhalation. Often they completely relieve symptoms and Prednisolone is not required.

If children have at least once had stenosis, a Pulmicort, a nebulizer for inhalation, antihistamines and saline must be present in a home medicine cabinet. And also "Prednisolone" in ampoules and a syringe. It is, of course, not recommended to do this hormone injection on your own, but if the bill goes for minutes and the ambulance is in traffic, parents may not have a choice.

Some drugs can not be given to a child from a night coughing attack, which is caused by the peculiarity of the course of laryngospasm:

• Antitussive drugs, such as Sinekod, Stoptussin and other analogues, cause severe stagnation of sputum in the bronchi, why you can suffocate! After all, a cough is intended to remove sputum from the respiratory tract.
• Mucolytic agents during false croup are also prohibited. They cause liquefaction of sputum, which, due to swelling of the larynx, cannot escape.

Prevention

If nighttime sometimes happens coughing attacks in a child, what to do for prevention?

• Turn the baby over at night.
• Ventilate the room where the baby will sleep.
• Get a humidifier and turn it on in the bedroom. As a humidifier, even wet towels hung on radiators are suitable. As they dry, change them several times a night. Also put a container of water at the head of your ward.
• Keep track of the temperature in the room - it should not be too high. It is enough to maintain the temperature from +18 to +21 degrees.
• During the day and at night, rinse your nose with saline or special hypertonic sprays to rinse the sinuses with a high salt content. It is better to use a solution for washing in the form of drops, since sprays can cause otitis media or provoke a strong cough.
• During illness you need to drink a lot. Ideally, this should be a homemade raisin compote, which contains many useful trace elements and salts needed by the baby during the illness. But if the child refuses him, give any drink to which he agrees. The fluid should be warm. Also, table gas alkaline mineral water without gas helps prevent or even relieve a slight cough. Avoid honey or other ingredients that may cause an allergic reaction.
• Raise the head end of the bed with a roller or pillow placed under the mattress. This will allow the mucus not to stagnate in the nasopharynx, and it is better to expectorate the sputum from the lungs during sleep.

In conclusion

How to relieve a coughing fit in a child at night, you will always be prompted by a pediatrician. Even with mild ailment of the baby, it is advisable to consult a doctor. This will help to avoid many complications.