Why do babies cough? It is often said that nine out of ten babies have a cough! Because babies’ respiratory tracts are still fragile and underdeveloped, they tend to develop respiratory problems whenever there is a breeze. From a medical perspective, a baby’s cough is a defensive reflex to expel respiratory secretions or foreign bodies. In other words, coughing is a protective physiological phenomenon for the baby. However, if the cough is too intense and interferes with eating, sleeping and resting, then it loses its protective significance. The age of coughing A newborn baby with a cough should be careful of diseases such as aspiration pneumonia and congenital abnormalities in the development of the lungs. Coughs in older children are usually seen in respiratory tract infections. In the case of preschool-aged babies, coughing should take into account conditions such as airway infections and foreign bodies in the airway. The timing of the cough If the baby gets up in the morning and coughs, it is most likely a chronic condition such as chronic inflammation of the upper respiratory tract and chronic bronchial. If the baby coughs at night, it may be a disease such as whooping cough or acute spasmodic laryngitis. The coughing action of a baby can be broken down into four actions: short, deep inhalation; closure of the vocal folds; contraction of the septal and intercostal muscles, which increases the intrapulmonary pressure; and opening of the vocal folds, which squeezes the high-pressure air in the lungs and ejects it with the rapid contraction of the septal muscles. It is the combination of these four coherent actions that makes up the complete “cough” process and determines the different nature, rhythm, sound and characteristics of the cough. The nature of the cough is dry or irritating: it is most often associated with upper respiratory tract infections, tuberculosis, bronchial foreign bodies, and other diseases. Wet or phlegmy cough: Most often seen in diseases such as bronchitis, bronchiectasis, and lung abscess. Rhythmic monophonic cough: Most often seen in diseases such as laryngitis and bronchitis. Paroxysmal or spasmodic cough: Most often seen in diseases such as tracheal foreign body, whooping cough, and bronchial asthma. Periodic cough: Most often seen in diseases such as chronic bronchitis and bronchiectasis. Listen to the sound and identify the disease! Your baby is so smart that he can look at you with big eyes and convey his happiness, he can tell you his pain with different cries, and he can remind you with a very different “cough” sound: “Mom, I need your help…”. … “Your baby makes an “empty” coughing sound that sounds like a puppy barking, but this is unique to acute laryngitis! Acute laryngitis is an acute inflammation of the laryngeal mucosa, which may be the primary disease, part of an acute upper respiratory tract infection, or complicated by other acute infectious diseases. It is mostly caused by viral invasion followed by bacterial infection, and is triggered by cold and fatigue. The baby may experience a dry, itchy or painful feeling in the throat, followed by hoarseness, or in severe cases, complete loss of voice. It often causes breathing difficulties due to foreign body sensation in the throat, and even causes life-threatening laryngeal obstruction! Babies seem to be choking, there is a violent “choking cough”, then you should pay attention to the foreign body in the airway. Foreign bodies in the airway are most common in babies under five years old, such as food, drugs, metal, plastic and other small things that enter the airway because of improper feeding, poor eating habits, accidental aspiration, etc. Babies often start out with violent choking, breath-holding, nausea, vomiting, and in some cases, secondary infection, formation of atelectasis, or even development of bronchiectasis, which in severe cases can lead to respiratory distress, cyanosis, and sudden death! If your baby’s cough becomes paroxysmal, spasmodic, and ends with a “chicken crow”-like hook, it is likely to be a manifestation of whooping cough-like syndrome. Pertussis is a common respiratory infection in babies, caused by Haemophilus pertussis infection. The only source of infection is the patient, and the population is generally susceptible, especially babies who have not been formally vaccinated against diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus. Once a baby has pertussis, he or she goes through an incubation period, an inflammatory period, a spasmodic cough, and a recovery period. The cough during the inflammatory period is not much different from an ordinary cough, but during the spasmodic period, there is a cascade of several to dozens of consecutive coughs, followed by a deep and long inhalation due to the urgent need for the lungs to change air, so that a large amount of gas rushes rapidly through the vocal chambers to emit a high-pitched “cock-like coughing”. The spasmodic cough often follows one another until vomiting, bruising, and difficulty in breathing occur. Babies with an “irritating dry cough” that is recurrent should think of bronchial asthma. Bronchial asthma is a common respiratory allergic disease in children and is related to genetics and the immune system, often with a family history of similar illnesses and the baby’s own low cellular immune function. In general, allergens such as dust, pollen, mites and smoke inhalation, viral, bacterial and mycoplasma infections, sudden changes in temperature, cold stimulation, excessive exercise, emotional imbalance, certain drugs and special foods can trigger an attack. Bronchial asthma can be clinically divided into three stages. stage 1 cough is an irritating dry cough and occasional asthma sounds can be heard. In stage 2, the cough is mainly shortness of breath, with the baby breathing harder and deeper because of the “shortness of breath” and prolonged expiration. In stage 3, there may be severe bronchial obstruction or spasm, and the baby may suffer from respiratory failure due to increased wheezing. What should a mother do when her baby coughs? No matter what, babies are not comfortable when they cough, so mothers should take their babies to a regular medical institution promptly. Observe your baby’s face before and after coughing to determine the severity of the disease If your baby’s face is rosy before coughing but becomes pale, blue, and has purple colored lips after coughing, then it suggests to mothers that your baby’s condition may be aggravated! That’s because the cough is too intense causing labored breathing and difficulty breathing. If the baby looks bad before and after coughing and coughs very weakly or even not at all, the situation is more serious and may have respiratory failure, heart failure or a combination of neurological damage. Coughing is only a symptom and not a separate disease. Mothers often just want to stop their baby’s cough quickly without paying attention to the secrets contained in it. Now that mothers know the secret of their baby’s cough and understand the difference between “treating the symptoms and the root cause”, they will actively cooperate with doctors in treating primary diseases such as respiratory infections caused by bacteria, viruses, mycoplasma, and foreign bodies in the airways. On the basis of this, we will use appropriate cough suppressants and expectorants as prescribed by the doctor (cough suppressants for children are very different from those for adults, so it is not possible to give the baby a reduced dose of cough suppressants suitable for adults), and we will also ask the baby to drink more warm water, pay attention to rest, and avoid adverse environmental stimuli. After this explanation, I finally understood why the doctor concluded what the baby had as soon as he heard the coughing sound, and I also knew that acute laryngitis is an ENT emergency and is quite dangerous! Three causes can cause a cough A cold is an infection of the upper respiratory tract caused by a virus. Children’s poor immunity to respiratory diseases, combined with a complex environment (kindergarten or school) and a high density of people, can easily cause the spread of pathogens among children. The early symptoms of the flu are mainly coughing and frequent and violent dry cough. At this time, mothers should pay close attention to the fact that frequent coughing can cause a lot of pain and hoarseness to the baby’s body and mind. In addition, the baby’s body resistance is weak and the respiratory tract is still immature, so coughing can lead to the spread of respiratory infections, which can lead to complications if not treated in time. Therefore, when a baby has a cold and cough, it should be treated promptly. So, why do children have more coughs with colds? There are three main reasons: 1. The backflow of nasal fluid caused by a cold stimulates the throat and respiratory tract, causing a cough; 2. Viral infection of the respiratory tract increases its sensitivity; and the baby’s respiratory mucosa is tender and lacks effective self-protection and defense, making it more sensitive to external stimuli than adults and more likely to induce a cough; 3. The baby’s systemic and local immune function is insufficient, and the respiratory tract and lungs are not well developed. Coughs are prone to recurrent attacks. When treating cough, do not take long-term antimicrobials, identify the cause, choose appropriate cough expectorants based on the treatment of the primary cause, and pay attention to care. Most pediatric bronchitis is acute bronchitis and is mostly due to viral infections. The condition is generally not serious, although there is fever, cough, dry cough, and even cough with phlegm, but often healed within 7 to 10 days. However, bronchitis can occur repeatedly and even turn into bronchopneumonia. Infants and children with congenital heart disease of the left-to-right shunt type, such as ventricular septal defect, atrial septal defect, and patent ductus arteriosus, are usually more prone to recurrent bronchitis. Bronchitis caused by pertussis bacteria is characterized by paroxysmal spasmodic cough and spitting, usually followed by a paroxysmal cough, followed by a chicken-like echo, or even coughing and vomiting and cyanosis. Pediatric bronchitis rarely turns into chronic bronchitis, and more rarely develops into pulmonary heart disease or bronchiectasis. Overall, the prognosis for pediatric bronchitis is relatively good, and it is easily treated and cured. The child should reduce activity and increase rest time. The head and chest should be raised slightly when lying in bed to allow for smooth breathing. Keep fresh air in the room, maintain appropriate temperature and humidity, and avoid convective wind. 2. Ensure adequate water and nutrition supply. Encourage the child to drink more water, if necessary, by intravenous supplementation. Give the child an easily digestible and nutritious diet. A liquid or semi-liquid diet is appropriate during fever. 3. Keep the oral cavity clean because the child has fever, cough, sputum and thick sputum, and coughing can cause vomiting. Infants and children can be fed appropriate amounts of boiled water after eating to clean their mouths. Older children should rinse their mouths in the morning, after meals and before bedtime. 4, fever care fever is not high does not require special treatment, high fever to take physical cooling or drug cooling measures to prevent the occurrence of convulsions. 5. Observe the nature of respiratory secretions and whether sputum can be effectively coughed out. If there are many secretions that affect breathing, use suction to remove sputum in time and keep the respiratory tract unobstructed. Oxygen inhalation can be given to those with coughing and wheezing symptoms. 6.Health education to strengthen nutrition, appropriate outdoor activities, physical exercise, enhance the body’s ability to adapt to temperature changes. Increase and decrease clothing according to temperature changes to avoid getting cold or overheating. During epidemics of respiratory diseases, do not allow children to go to public places to avoid cross infection. Actively prevent malnutrition, rickets, anemia, and various infectious diseases, and provide vaccinations on time to strengthen the immune system.