What can cause coughing in a child of children
If a child does not have a fever, many parents do not even pay attention to the fact that he coughs from time to time. And when they notice, they try to cope with the problem on their own. However, a child’s cough may indicate a serious illness. What could be its reasons? Will folk methods help?
Coughing in a child
Causes of coughing in a child
Often, young children cough in the morning immediately after waking up. This is due to the fact that the body is trying to get rid of the mucus that has accumulated overnight. In young children, it is thicker than in adults, and therefore it is more difficult to remove it from the respiratory tract.
It is considered normal if a child coughs no more than 10 times a day. But if this figure is exceeded and the cough torments the baby all day, and not just in the morning, then you need to seek help. Perhaps this is a symptom of one of the diseases: bronchitis, acute respiratory viral infections, acute respiratory infections and even pneumonia. Until the age of 3 years, children still do not know how to cough up properly. The discharge of mucus is difficult for them, so complications are quite frequent.
Other likely causes of coughing include:
- allergic rhinitis;
- physical exercise;
- inflammation of the adenoids;
- bronchial asthma;
- foreign body in the respiratory tract;
- changes in ambient temperature;
- chronic rhinitis;
- stress;
- pathology of the heart or lungs;
- obstructive bronchitis;
- whooping cough.
In the latter case, coughing in a small child gradually turns into painful attacks, which are repeated more than 40 times a day. Signs of choking may appear. If nothing is done, then the disease can last for a month or longer. Medical help is required.
Depending on the cause provoking the cough, you can help the child like this:
- If the cough is allergic, you need to find out what causes it and eliminate the cause.
- If it’s about a cold, you can use decoctions of herbs with expectorant effects, such as marshmallow root or coltsfoot. It is helpful to rub, warm up the chest area, and breathe over hot steam.
- If the cause is an excessive accumulation of phlegm, it is necessary to drink more warm liquid in order to liquefy and remove it. It is useful for a baby to give milk with honey, fruit drinks, tea with jam, decoctions of herbs.
- If the cough provokes dry air in the room, it is necessary to ventilate it more often and use humidifiers.
Thus, help depends on the reason the child has been coughing for a long time. The pediatrician should determine this reason.
Coughing in children is not a separate disease. Most likely, this is a symptom of some more serious ailment. Therefore, before you start to eliminate it yourself, you need to show the child to the pediatrician. Only he will be able to figure out what the matter is, and will tell you how to help the baby.