When a 4-year-old child has a severe cough at night, the family can do the following: 1) elevate the child’s head to open his airway and reduce coughing symptoms; 2) pick the child up and pat his back to loosen the sputum and promote coughing; 3) for families using air conditioning, suspend the air conditioning and open the windows for ventilation as appropriate. The causes of cough aggravation at night in children are, first, vagal excitation, which causes bronchospasm and airway narrowing; second, environmental changes, such as high temperatures in summer and low temperatures in winter, and the use of air conditioning; and third, disease states, such as upper airway syndrome, gastroesophageal reflux, and cough variant asthma. Clearly identifying the cause and treating the symptoms is more effective. In addition, traditional Chinese medicine treatments, including acupressure and foot soaks with Chinese herbs, can also significantly improve nighttime cough symptoms.