A child’s cough with phlegm is usually an exogenous cough. External coughs are also divided into wind-cold coughs and wind-heat coughs. Coughing is a defensive response against germs, which removes germs, mucus and other irritants from the airways. Although coughing is a normal physiological mechanism for clearing the airways, prolonged coughing is not good for health.
Parents can observe their child’s tongue. If the tongue is white, the child has a wind-cold cough, which means the child is cold and has thin, white, sticky phlegm and a stuffy, runny nose. If the tongue is yellow and red, the child has a wind-heat cough, which means that the child has more internal heat, and the cough has yellow, thick phlegm that is not easy to cough up, and a sore throat.
Mom and dad should first clarify that coughing is a self-protective reflex of the human body. Having foreign bodies in the respiratory tract, including phlegm, is what causes irritation to the airways and then makes people cough, so coughing is a self-protective pathway for the body that needs to eliminate foreign bodies. Although there is a beneficial side to coughing, severe and prolonged coughing can lead to bleeding in the respiratory tract. Moms and dads must pay more attention to this, and with proper care, they can keep their babies away from coughing and restore their health.
When a child has a cough with phlegm, parents should first not just give the baby a cough medicine, but should first observe the situation and then treat the symptoms. If the cough is not serious, you can choose daily care or food therapy, but if it starts to get serious, then you should see a doctor immediately.
Cough with white sputum in children
White phlegm in a child’s cough is usually caused by a cold or a bronchitis. When your baby sleeps, let your baby’s head rest a little higher to help your baby breathe well and rest. If your baby does not have a fever, try not to use medicine to treat it.
Mom and dad should give their baby more plain water on a regular basis, pay attention to keeping warm, eat light and easily digestible food, and avoid oily food or stimulating food, such as overly sweet and salty food. The treatment period for baby cough is extremely long, and if you can apply food therapy, you will often receive unexpected results. At the same time, the temperature, humidity and air concentration in the baby’s bedroom should be appropriate, and the baby should be dressed and covered properly, and attention should be paid to keeping the baby’s abdomen warm.
The disappearance of phlegm needs to be a process, and parents should usually take good care of it. If you have the conditions, you can add a humidifier to the room, especially during the dry bath season and at night. If necessary, parents can give the baby medication under the guidance of the doctor to treat the symptoms. If the symptoms are not relieved after three days of medication, it is time to go to the hospital again.
A child’s cough often has a long duration without other complications. If you find that your baby wakes up in the morning with a cough and vomits phlegm that lasts for more than three weeks, this is probably bronchitis or allergic bronchitis.
Child’s cough with yellow sputum
Most coughs in young children are still viral infections and usually do not require special treatment. Drink more water, reduce the concentration of sputum and treat the symptoms. If a baby has yellow phlegm in cough, it means that the child has heavy internal heat. It is important to choose drugs that clear heat and detoxify and cool the body, such as the commonly used Jin Yin Hua, Scutellaria baicalensis, Lian Qiao, Panax notoginseng and Fishy Herb, etc. These herbs can not only treat babies with yellow phlegm, but also inhibit bacteria and viruses and fight the flu. It will be better if they are combined with phlegm-draining and diluting medicines to treat together.
The nature of phlegm is different, some phlegm is clearer, some phlegm is more mucus. Clear phlegm tends to be a symptom of wind-cold cold, yellow phlegm tends to be a symptom of phlegm fire in the lungs, and the medication for the two is different. In the case of viral infection, the total white blood cell count and neutrophil ratio are usually normal, or both are reduced, while in the case of bacterial infection, both are increased, and antibiotics must be taken for bacterial infection.
What to do if your child has a cough with phlegm
First of all, you can pat the baby’s phlegm, or you can give the coughing baby cough medicine or nebulizer treatment. In daily care, give your baby more water and dress loosely and comfortably so as not to interfere with your baby’s breathing. A comfortable environment should be established for your baby at home and indoor ventilation should be maintained.
1.Phlegm patting care
Mom and dad snap their hands up and pat from the child’s back, from bottom to top and from outside to inside, because this is the direction of the child’s lung lobes and bronchi, which can promote sputum patting. The mother can have the child lie on your forearm and pat the child with her other hand. A stronger pat on the back is required; too light an effort is not very effective. It is important to take extra care of a coughing baby at night so that the phlegm does not block the airway and affect the baby’s normal breathing.
2. Take cough and phlegm medicines
When your baby has a cough with phlegm, take oral cough medicine or nebulizer treatment, which can moisten the respiratory tract and dilute the phlegm. But do not use cough medicine, because cough and phlegm are two different things, cough medicine will affect the discharge of phlegm and make the condition worse. Do not let your baby seek medical help in an emergency!
3, room attention ventilation
Pay attention to ventilation indoors to keep the air fresh, with the temperature controlled at 25°C-26°C and humidity between 50%-60%. Family members try to avoid smoking in the house. A little bit of smoke will make the baby’s respiratory tract uncomfortable, and phlegm can’t be coughed up smoothly, so for the health of the baby, the home should be a smoke-free place.
4.Dressing should be appropriate
Dress your baby appropriately, don’t think about the baby is sick, you have to add clothes to him, so as not to catch a cold. In fact, when the baby is sick, clothes to avoid too much or too little, and to be loose, elastic pants should not be too tight or wear to the chest, so as not to affect the baby’s breathing.
5.Supply enough water
When a baby has a cough with phlegm, parents should give the baby more warm plain water. Sufficient water can effectively help the baby dilute the phlegm, which is conducive to coughing up the phlegm. The diet should also be as light as possible. Breastfeeding mothers should also pay attention to their diet, hydrate more and eat less food that is on fire, as these are passed on to the baby through the breast milk.