With the dry climate and large temperature difference between day and night in autumn, babies in this season are prone to bronchitis, upper whistle infections, allergic coughs and other diseases. Today we are going to talk to you about the problems related to cough in babies in autumn.
What causes a cough?
Coughing is very common for children. Coughs are usually caused by an upper whistle infection, such as a cold, for example. In layman’s terms, it is a reaction produced by the body, such as a virus invading the whistle, or it can be caused by bacteria.
What should I do if my baby has a cough?
Cough is usually the main symptom of a cold and the last one to go away. When a baby coughs, many parents are eager to give their baby a cough, after all, it hurts to see their baby coughing with a red face. So what should parents do when they hear their baby coughing?
1. Coughing itself is not a disease, it is a symptom that many kinds of whistling tract diseases show, and is a way for our body to protect itself by coughing to produce whistling percussive actions to expel secretions such as phlegm from the whistling tract, which is a beneficial action. If your baby’s cough after a cold does not affect his diet, sleep, and other daily activities, there is no need to give him medicine.
2. If the cough interferes with daily activities, you can use a single-ingredient phlegm-reducing medicine under the guidance of a doctor for the right condition.
The FDA recommends that cough syrup be used with caution in children under 6 years of age. Some of the ingredients in cough medicine have an impact on the child’s recovery, such as cough syrup containing central cough suppressants, which can inhibit the baby’s cough reflex, and children of this age do not cough up sputum like adults, and the coughing force is not particularly strong; as a result, although the baby no longer coughs, the secretions in the whistling tract are not sufficiently cleared and can easily accumulate in the pharynx or This can lead to secondary infection and aggravation of the disease.
In addition, the central cough suppressant ingredients in some cough drops, such as codeine, can be addictive. The State Food and Drug Administration recently issued a notice specifying that cough drops containing codeine are prohibited for children under 12 years of age.
However, if there is a violent cough, on the one hand, it can damage the child’s delicate mucous membrane of the whistle, and on the other hand, it can affect the child’s rest, sleep and learning, so it is time to consider treating the cause of the cough under the guidance of a doctor and using appropriate cough suppressants.
If the cough affects sleep, nebulization can be performed under the guidance of a doctor. The nebulized medication can simply be saline, which is used to keep the whistle tract moist and reduce the coughing caused by irritation, or add phlegm-forming medication or bronchodilating medication to the nebulizer according to the symptoms, and anti-inflammatory medication may also be used if necessary. Many parents now buy nebulizing devices for their babies to do at home, but we remind parents that nebulizing medications need to be used under the guidance of a medical professional, so parents are advised to take their babies to the hospital.
How do I care for my baby’s cough?
1. Encourage your child to excrete more sputum
Sputum is the mucus secreted by the whistle, if the child can cough up sputum on their own, they should be encouraged to cough to avoid blocking the whistle and causing other problems; if the baby is too young to cough up sputum on their own, then parents can help the child to expel sputum by patting their back with an empty palm.
Sputum patting technique: fingers together to form a hollow shape, so that the vibration effect is better and will not hurt the baby, when patting sputum to both sides of the lung lobe up and down, left and right all pat. The lower part of the baby’s lungs is more likely to produce fluid accumulation, so you should focus on these parts. It is difficult to have an effect with light patting, as long as the right posture is used, the child will not feel the pain.
2, try to keep the indoor air fresh and moist
The irritation of the air to the whistle can also cause or aggravate a cough, such as when the air is too dirty or too dry.
3. Use water vapor
Water vapor can moisten the whistle. Water vapor can moisten the airways. You can let your baby spend some time in a steam-filled bathroom before bedtime to help relieve coughing.
4. Relieve coughing at night
If your baby coughs a lot in the middle of the night, you can raise the side of the mattress or put a pillow to raise the upper half of your baby’s body to help the flow of secretions from the whistle.
5. Try to stay away from smoke
Fumes containing particulate dust are best kept away from children; avoid active and passive smoking, both of which can aggravate coughing.
How can I prevent my baby from coughing?
1. Pay attention to avoid dry air indoors, open windows regularly to keep the indoor air fresh and moist, and avoid the smell of fumes or smoke, which can stimulate your baby’s airways and cause coughing.
2. Increase or decrease clothing with the change in ambient temperature. As the temperature difference between day and night is relatively large in autumn, when your baby sweats while playing, pay attention to keeping warm to avoid catching a cold, which can lead to coughing and other symptoms.
3, to ensure that your baby gets enough sleep, pay attention to diet, avoid eating greasy, spicy food, which can easily cause allergies to your baby by stimulating the respiratory tract.