Cough in infants 1 month without fever. How to deal with cough in one month old newborns. How does a cough start?
Cough - we treat a newborn
A month-old baby sneezes and coughs, sleeps badly, starts screaming at night - a frightened mother carries a baby in her arms for days on end.
This requires the use of antiviral drugs. Tablets from viruses that affect the entire body, while pharmacists have not made. All systemic antivirals have been used relatively recently and their effect on the infant is unknown.
They resort to topical drugs:
- Aqueous solution of Oksolin- instill 2 drops in each nasal passage 3 times a day. During the onset of the disease, oxolin has an antiviral and weak anti-inflammatory effect;
- human leukocyte interferon- raises local immunity, destroys viruses, reduces inflammation. Interferon is a protein produced by the human body in response to an infection. When introduced into the human body, it helps to suppress viral activity, prevents the reproduction of the virus, and improves immunity. It is sold in a pharmacy in ampoules in the form of a dry powder; before use, it must be diluted in two milliliters of warm boiled water. It is necessary to instill 1-2 drops every 20 minutes for 3 hours, then 4 times a day.
- Grippferon– made from human interferon. Available in candles and drops of 5 and 10 ml. Buried two drops 5-6 times a day in the nose; suppositories are administered rectally twice a day for five to seven days.
- Viferon- an interferon derivative, the composition contains vitamin E and C. It is administered rectally at 150,000 IU 2 times a day for one week. It is recommended to use from the first days of illness, due to the anti-inflammatory effect, it normalizes the temperature of the child, reduces cough.
Antibiotics: when you can't do without them
There are a lot of reasons for the appearance of a cough in an infant. The most common cause is infection, and usually grows and. However, bronchospasm is also quite possible, as well as the ingress of a foreign body, liquid into the respiratory system, and a neoplasm is also possible. With such extensive variations in causes, it is better for parents not to understand the causes and effects on their own, but to consult a pediatrician.
A cough in one month is enough to attract the close attention of parents. At this age, the main causes may be an infectious process or the ingestion of breast milk into the lungs.
If the baby's sputum leaves, such a cough is considered wet. In the absence of such a symptom, the cough is called dry. However, in very young children, this division is relative, since it is difficult to consider the discharge of sputum from them.
Often, parents notice it is the baby’s nighttime cough, and it is a rather serious symptom, which can signal an increase in the intrathoracic lymph nodes and other serious lesions of the child’s body. A fairly simple method to relieve such a cough is to give the child some warm liquid, he should drink it in small sips. However, without finding out and eliminating the root cause, it is impossible to completely remove this cough.
Without a doctor's opinion, you can not purchase and give any medicines to a small child. And even consultations in a pharmacy cannot be trusted completely, because a pharmacist is still not a practicing doctor.
Even if you are going to use folk remedies, which often still help, they should be used only after consulting a doctor. They are not generic drugs.
A relatively safe remedy is radish. To use it on a black radish with a tail, cut off the top and cut out the inside by about a third. A little honey is placed in the resulting recess, leaving room for the juice that stands out. The radish is placed in a glass of water upside down. The juice will accumulate in three or four hours, then you should drink it and put honey again. However, honey can cause allergies in a child, and active consumption of radish can cause stomach pain.
For the treatment of cough as a set of symptoms, compresses are not used.
They can help, which are carried out using a special device. They can be carried out without age restrictions, one must choose among all the varieties exactly the device that suits you better than others.
You should also not prescribe mustard plasters or other warming procedures on your own, there are many cases when such procedures are contraindicated.
When coughing, a mother can drink a decoction of coltsfoot root and licorice, carrot juice with milk, lingonberries and cabbage. However, you still need to consult with your doctor.
For better sputum discharge, special ones are also made, but it is important not to overdo it, especially with premature babies.
According to normal indicators, the cough lasts up to a month after the infection. It can sometimes be provoked by long-term use of drugs. Just stop taking the drugs and everything will be back to normal.
Often the chest coughs. But bronchospasm may not be a sign of illness. Cough in a baby (as in an adult) is a natural reaction of the respiratory tract to irritation caused by the ingress of foreign bodies (solid and liquid) into them. Get into the bronchi and cause an attack can: milk, saliva, mucus, etc.
A cough in a newborn will pass as soon as the body gets rid of the irritant. On average, young children can cough up to ten times a day. And this is considered the norm for a healthy child. A slight cough is also the norm, you should not worry about it. However, it is important to remember that a cough in a child of 8 months or at any other age can be a symptom of a cold.
Types of cough
Coughing in a newborn (like sneezing) is a normal phenomenon and a protective reflex. In this case, it is necessary to distinguish between types of cough in order to accurately determine the cause of bronchospasm.
Dry cough in infants can be caused by many factors. Therefore, it is not easy to accurately determine the cause of bronchospasm. It may be a symptom of SARS. In addition, a dry cough is characteristic of parapertussis and whooping cough in the initial stage. In other cases, such a cough in infants indicates an allergic reaction or even bronchial asthma.
Young children cannot clear mucus on their own. Therefore, at first glance it seems that the bronchospasm is dry, but in fact it is wet, because the baby simply swallows sputum.
In addition, a two-month-old baby's cough may be wet. In most cases, it accompanies SARS, but at the final stage of recovery. If the coughed up mucus is clear, then you should not worry. Complications are not observed.
Coughing with yellow or green sputum is a sign of a bacterial infection. It affects the respiratory tract and often provokes such ailments as pneumonia, tracheitis, bronchitis and others.
Causes of bronchospasm
What causes coughing in a 5 month old baby? This is important to know. After all, the correct diagnosis is the key to successful treatment. So, the main causes of coughing in an infant are:
How can I help you?
A cough in a child up to a year old with and without high fever should be treated only under the strict supervision of pediatricians. Otherwise, complications and dangerous consequences cannot be avoided. But a mother can help her baby. Helpful tips for this:
Cough medicines
Is it possible with medications? Yes, but only a pediatrician should prescribe them. Today, three large groups of drugs treat a cough in a three-month-old child.
Fees
If a baby is coughing, try buying a collection based on three or four medicinal herbs:
- chamomile;
- anise;
- plantain;
- marshmallow.
Some doctors advise using one, maximum two components for tea. Multi-component fees are recommended for use from 8 months of age.
Precautionary measures
Avoid overdose of expectorant cough medicines. Otherwise, the effect will be the opposite, which will lead to a protracted illness. In addition, it is fraught with an increase in the amount of sputum, which is not easy for the baby to expectorate.
It is impossible to treat a cough in a child for 1 month with antitussive and expectorant drugs at the same time. They do not mix well, which is indicated in most syrup instructions. If you ignore such advice and mix the cough preparations described above, sputum will be actively secreted and the cough center will be suppressed. This is fraught with the development of pneumonia.
Common Mistakes
Regardless of whether you are treating a cough in children under one year old or a cough in a 7 month old baby, remember well:
Do not forget: it is far from always necessary to immediately give the crumbs cough medicine. A cough in a month-old baby can be caused not by a disease, but by many other reasons. Therefore, cough preparations and the optimal treatment regimen are selected only by a specialist.
With the onset of cold weather comes the time of colds. Children are especially vulnerable, as their immune system is only learning to resist pathogenic bacteria at first. Noticing a cough in a newborn, a young mother may be confused and not react in time, but this is a rather important symptom.
This article discusses the types of cough, how to treat it, and also provides a review of medicines for babies.
Causes of cough in the chest
The first step is to recognize the nature of the cough. A newborn cough may be:
- Dry;
- Wet;
- Without temperature or with temperature.
By its sound and intensity, you can determine whether the cause is hidden in the disease or something interferes with the normal functioning of the respiratory tract.
The main causes of cough in infants:
- SARS. In almost 90% of cases, coughing is the first symptom of a developing ARVI. The baby occasionally coughs, the intensity of the cough increases at night or in the evening. Throat inflamed, red. Cells actively secrete sputum. The most dangerous for the baby is a prolonged cough that does not go away for more than 2 weeks. Immune protection is weakened, and the process can become chronic.
- Dry air in the baby's room. This phenomenon can provoke a sore throat. When the baby has a strong cough, which has no prerequisites for the disease, then it is necessary to normalize the humidity in the room.
- Inflammation of the upper respiratory tract. At first, it is characterized by a dry, obsessive cough, which is very painful for the baby. In a neglected state, it threatens with various complications, the most dangerous of which is false croup. The walls of the throat with it narrow sharply, the baby, due to lack of oxygen, begins to choke and whistle hoarsely. The disease requires immediate medical attention.
- Inhalation of a foreign body. When a foreign object enters the baby's respiratory tract, then urgently call an ambulance. The child's life is at stake and the count can go by seconds. Do not try to knock out a foreign object by tapping on the back - it can get stuck in the bronchi or trachea.
- Inflammation of the middle ear. In the process of inflammation of the middle ear, the baby begins to cough reflexively. This is a typical reaction to such inflammation. During pressure on the earlobe, the baby makes a piercing sharp cry - do not hesitate, the reason lies in the ear pain. The best option would be to call an emergency ambulance.
- Contaminated air. Is the air outside too polluted or is it smoky in the room? Under such conditions, your child can easily begin to cough. The longer you have to stay in these conditions, the more harmful compounds will be absorbed into the delicate and immature lungs of the baby.
Cough treatment: what mom needs to know
It is possible to correctly cure a cough, both without fever and with fever, only under the supervision of a pediatrician. The prescribed therapy should be started at the first symptoms.
What can a mother do on her own to alleviate the condition of the baby:
- Ventilate your home at least once a day. Lack of oxygen will only aggravate the condition of the child.
- Maintain the optimal level of humidity in the room. When the heating season begins and the batteries will certainly dry the air with their heat, buy a humidifier or create it yourself from improvised means. You can collect clean water in a container and put it on the battery - during the evaporation of water, humidity will begin to rise. You can also periodically irrigate the room with water from a spray bottle.
- Give your baby a light back massage. It promotes sputum discharge, which will improve the condition of the baby.
- Encourage your child to drink frequently. This is especially true when the child has a fever. To avoid dehydration, let tea, water and juices be always available for the baby.
- A common old folk remedy for coughs for babies is rubbing with animal fat. It is better to carry out the procedure immediately before going to bed. In the area of the back and chest, rub it well and put it to bed. The next morning, the baby will feel much better.
- Remember walking. When the baby breathes fresh air, his lungs open, filled with freshness and strength. The child is distracted from a painful cough, and a good mood will have a beneficial effect on the healing process.
- Pay close attention to the appearance of temperature. When it reaches 38.5 degrees, most likely you will be admitted to the hospital. It is better not to take risks and take advantage of the supervision of professionals. Do not be afraid to get there, because the main thing is the health of the baby, and some inconvenience can be endured.
Cough medicines
- During a wet cough, you need a drug that can remove sputum. The following herbal-based syrups have proven themselves excellently: Rospan and Gedelix. They thin the mucus quite gently and have a sweet taste. They need to be applied twice a day.
- When the cough is dry, Stodal and Oscillococcinum, homeopathic syrups (granules that dissolve in liquid), help well. Homeopathy has no contraindications and can be used along with the main treatment.
- Soften cough and facilitate breathing Nozzle patches, glued to clothing. They are impregnated with useful herbal extracts that have a beneficial effect on the mucous membranes of the larynx and nose.
- Sprays are strictly contraindicated for babies because of the possibility of suffocation. However, in the process of severe inflammation, the use of Tantum Verde spray may be acceptable. It has a sweet taste, dulls coughing fits and alleviates pain.
Video: Treatment of cough in a newborn baby, doctor's advice.
A cough in a newborn at 1 month old can occur for various reasons. But regardless of the cause and severity of the cough, the health of the crumbs at this moment requires special attention. Below are the main causes of a baby's cough, cases requiring emergency care, and recommendations are given to combat an unpleasant symptom.
Causes of cough in a newborn can be different.
Causes of cough in a newborn 1 month old
Cough is a natural protective reflex that allows you to clear the respiratory tract from foreign bodies, microbes, and mucus. It happens that the cough reflex in the baby occurs in the morning. But you should not panic. Most often, this phenomenon is caused by the fact that in a child, when he lies on his back, mucus from the nose flows down the nasopharynx into the respiratory tract, which causes irritation of the receptors and, accordingly, a cough reflex. To help the baby, you can turn him on his side and lightly tap on the back.
At least parents can notice a slight cough in a child, which can be triggered by an irritating effect on the bronchial epithelium of dried mucus or various compounds - dust, detergents. In addition, irritation causes dry hot air in the room, smoking adults in the apartment, allergies to food that the mother of the newborn used. Naturally, in this case, it is not necessary to treat coughing, but to eliminate the causes that cause it.
Another common cause of coughing in infants (after the normal physiological reflex described above) can be a cold.
Often the cause of a cough in a child at 1 month is the flow of mucus from the nose.
Dry, unproductive cough with a small amount of sputum may indicate inflammation of the upper respiratory system. Rough, dull cough often accompanies inflammation in the trachea. With laryngitis, the character of the cough is dry, barking. This nature of the cough reflex, combined with hoarseness, is a reason for immediate medical attention.
If a child coughs at regular intervals, mainly at night, the cough is unproductive, hacking, then this may indicate whooping cough. Whooping cough can cause vomiting. During attacks, the baby's face turns red, his eyes watery. Noticing this condition, you should immediately call an ambulance. Children with whooping cough are usually hospitalized, further treatment is carried out under the strict supervision of doctors.
This is how children cough with whooping cough:
Another, quite rare, cause of the reflex is sulfur plugs in the ears. In this case, inflammation of the middle ear occurs, which provokes an unpleasant symptom.
As you can see, there are enough reasons for the appearance of a cough in a newborn for 1 month. And at the first signs of inflammation, it is better to immediately call a doctor - this will protect the baby from dangerous complications and cure it as quickly, safely and effectively as possible.
How does a cough start?
When pathogenic microorganisms (bacteria and viruses) enter the body, inflammation of the upper respiratory tract occurs. There is an accumulation of mucus, which gradually descends into the lower parts of the respiratory system. Sputum, which, in fact, is a foreign body, irritates bronchial receptors and causes a cough reflex.
In order to prevent dangerous complications, when a cough occurs, it is necessary to show the child to the doctor
When immediate medical attention is needed
If the child woke up at night because he could not take a full breath. The baby's voice is hoarse, the cough is barking, rough. These are signs of croup - inflammation of the larynx, usually of viral etiology. Before the doctor arrives, you need to provide the child with an influx of fresh cool air (bring it to the window, go out with the child to the balcony). It is also necessary to warmly dress the baby and give warm drinks.
If the baby was diagnosed with ARVI or ARI, treatment should be accompanied by the following measures:
- Compliance with the optimal temperature and humidity in the room. The temperature in the room should be no higher than 25 ° C, the air, especially in winter, when batteries or heaters are working in the room, must be humidified. You can use a modern humidifier, or you can resort to simple methods - hang wet towels on a radiator or place a container of water in front of the heater.
Fluid enters the body with breast milk
- The baby's room must be constantly ventilated.
- Breastfeed your baby more often to get more fluid into the body.
- Stagnation of sputum can be prevented by frequently shifting the child from one side to the other.
- With a wet cough, a drainage massage has a good effect.
Drug treatment of cough in a newborn 1 month old
Medicines are prescribed by a doctor depending on the diagnosed disease and the nature of the cough.
Drainage massage is used to treat wet cough
In the normal course of the disease, a dry cough turns into a productive one after a few days. If at this time the well-being of the crumbs worsens, it is better to call a doctor in order to avoid complications.
It is categorically unacceptable, without the recommendation of a doctor, to treat a newborn with antitussive drugs that depress the cough reflex - Bronholitin, Glaucin, Libeksin. They can only be used for whooping cough, and even then under the watchful supervision of a doctor.
Wet cough is characterized by the presence of sputum, often viscous. It takes effort to cough it up. A 1 month old baby can't do it. Therefore, the treatment of wet cough in infants should be aimed at alleviating it, that is, at improving the quality and rheology of sputum, and reducing its viscosity. To facilitate coughing, drugs that increase the contraction of the bronchi can also be used.
In the video, mom teaches to do drainage massage to the baby:
Cough in an infant is quite rare in comparison with children aged 1 to 7 years. If the baby receives only mother's milk as food, then the risk of suffering a cold for up to a year is minimized. In the presence of a runny nose and high temperature, ARVI can be suspected. If there is no snot, the thermometer shows 36.6 C, and the child begins to cough, you should check for allergies or whooping cough. In no case should you engage in self-medication, since the respiratory muscles of newborns and infants are not sufficiently developed. The baby will not be able to cough up sputum from the lungs and bronchi, which leads to stagnation of mucus in the airways and the occurrence of complications.
If the baby is fed breast milk, the risk of catching a cold before the age of one will be minimized.Types of cough
Coughing in babies is the same protective reflex inherent in nature as sneezing. Mothers worry when they notice that the child is coughing. Pediatricians consider a slight manifestation of the reflex to be the norm, even if the baby coughed several times a day. There are two types of cough:
- Dry. It is typical for the initial stage of acute respiratory viral infections, parapertussis and whooping cough, bronchial asthma or an allergic reaction, which makes it difficult to make a correct diagnosis. An examination by a pediatrician is necessary, since mothers without experience often mistake a wet cough for a dry one (see also:). A baby under 3 months of age swallows mucus rather than coughing it up, so parents are confused.
- Wet. If a cough in a baby begins without a fever, this means that the disease is nearing completion. Do not worry when clear and thin sputum leaves. Yellowish or greenish mucus indicates a serious infection in the respiratory tract.
If the cough in an infant is wet, does not go away within a month and is not accompanied by fever, this may be a sign of pneumonia, tracheitis, or chronic bronchitis. The bronchi of children older than six months are able to self-cleanse, but in newborns and babies up to 5-6 months, this function has not matured. Cough appears when sputum irritates the back wall of the nasopharynx, flowing down.
Basic therapy
Cough treatment is always individual and is prescribed only after a doctor's examination. The course depends on the nature of the disease and includes:
- Antipyretic drugs. If the temperature rises with coughing, syrups with ibuprofen or paracetamol will help to reduce it.
If the cough is accompanied by a high fever, syrup will help bring it down. - Antiviral medicines. SARS can be treated with immunomodulatory agents. Doctors recommend using Viferon suppositories, since they have no contraindications and age restrictions (we recommend reading:). The drug can be prescribed to children from birth to one year.
- Washing the nasal passages. If the baby is prevented from breathing by thick snot, he sneezes and begins to breathe through his mouth (we recommend reading:). After a short period of time, the mucous membranes in the mouth and throat will dry out, and the child will cough. Before going to bed, it is important to rinse the baby's nose with saline or saline. During the day, you can instill 3 drops in each nostril 4 to 8 times. After the washing procedure, it is useful to drip the spout with an oily solution of "Ectericide" at a dosage of 1 drop. This will create a thin protective layer of the drug on the mucous membranes.
- Homeopathy. To cure an infant from coughing, pediatricians prescribe drugs based on natural products. Especially popular is the Stondal syrup, which has established itself as an excellent antitussive, bronchodilator and expectorant.
With a runny nose, it is forbidden to use antibacterial drops for the treatment of infants. Sometimes a doctor may prescribe a vasoconstrictor if the baby sneezes, but not for the treatment of SARS.
If a cough in a month-old baby is accompanied by snot, but the temperature remains within the normal range, this may indicate pharyngitis, laryngitis, or rhinitis of allergic etiology.
Cough remedies for babies
Infants and one-year-olds can be treated with safe forms of medications - drops and syrups. Cough medicines are divided into three groups:
- Mucolytic. They are produced on the basis of hydrochloride, acetylcysteine, bromhexine and ambroxol, which thin thick sputum in the respiratory tract. Among the popular ones are: "Mukodin", "Flavamed", "Flyuditek", "Mukosol", "Bromhexine", "Ambrobene", "Lazolvan". Syrups are given to children up to a year, but only after consultation with a pediatrician.
- Antitussives. They are prescribed for dry cough, which has the form of seizures. The drugs reduce the occurrence of the cough reflex, which is most effective in the treatment of whooping cough. Among the contraindications are children under 2 years of age. Syrups "Panatus" and "Sinekod" are allowed for children of the first year of life, if the therapy is carried out under the strict supervision of a doctor.
- Expectorants. They are effective if the cough of a one-month-old baby is wet, but the sputum comes out with difficulty (for more details, see the article:). Assign syrups based on plantain or ivy extract. Additionally, the composition includes plant components: coltsfoot, rosemary, thyme, oregano, elecampane, marshmallow, licorice, anise, thyme. Among the well-known drugs are recommended: "Prospan", "Doctor MOM", "Gedelix", "Bronchicum" and "Dr (we recommend reading:). Theiss. "Prospan" and "Bronhikum" are allowed from 4-6 months. A month-old baby may be allergic to herbs, so the baby's well-being must be monitored. If a skin rash or swelling occurs, the medication should be stopped and a pediatrician should be visited.
If a newborn sneezes and coughs, the doctor calculates the dosage of the drug (we recommend reading:). An overdose of an expectorant medicine is dangerous, since a month-old baby's cough can drag on. The volume of secreted mucus will increase, but a baby aged from a month to a year cannot physically cough it up.
It is forbidden to combine antitussive and expectorant medicines, as manufacturers warn about in the instructions. With the suppression of cough and the simultaneous formation of a large volume of mucus, pneumonia occurs.
Expectorant syrup Gedelix improves sputum discharge Baby first aid
Before the arrival of the doctor, parents are able to follow simple tips to alleviate the condition of the crumbs. At home, it is difficult to determine why the baby is coughing and sneezing, but you can help reduce negative symptoms:
- Plentiful drink. If a newborn coughs, then it is allowed to drink only water. When breastfeeding, breastfeeding should be offered more frequently. Do not forget that high temperatures lead to dehydration. Do not miss a dangerous signal if you watch the filling of the diaper. With infrequent urination (1 time in 4 hours), it is necessary to start soldering the little one. Babies from six months are offered raisin water, a decoction of wild rose or linden, diluted juice or dried fruit.
- Minimum clothing. The warmer the baby is dressed, the faster it loses moisture. The mucous membranes dry out, so the baby begins to cough.
- Walks in the open air. If the child coughs, but other health indicators are normal, short walks are allowed. The exception is weather conditions when it is very cold outside. Do not be afraid if the baby only coughed during the day, and in the evening after the walk, the cough intensified. This leads to a better discharge of mucus.
- Comfortable air humidity. In order for a dry, painful cough to turn into a wet one, it is not necessary to resort to medicines. It is enough to set the humidity in the house at the level of 50-70%. The temperature in the room where the baby is located should not rise above 22 C. 18 C is considered ideal, otherwise the sputum in the airways will be more viscous and thick.
- Safe inhalation. Steam procedures are prohibited in order to avoid burns to the skin and mucous membranes. If the baby coughs, it is recommended to install next to the arena for the duration of the illness. Doctors advise with a dry cough to fill the bath with hot water, adding soda to it. Then take the baby in your arms and sit in the bathroom, inhaling wet alkaline fumes.
Walking in the fresh air will help the baby recover faster and speed up recovery. Additional measures: do's and don'ts
A wet cough in one-year-old children is often accompanied by mucus that is difficult to separate. In this case, drainage massage will help. You can invite a specialist to your home who does professional massage for babies, but the mother is able to carry out some manipulations on her own:
- lay the baby on the back;
- put your palms on the chest and stroke it from the bottom up;
- turn the little one on his stomach;
- in circular soft movements "walk" along the back, avoiding the area of \u200b\u200bthe spine.
Finish the massage with light pats from the bottom up. It is advisable to position the baby so that the head is below the buttocks.
Fearing the negative consequences of taking medications, mothers, on the advice of their grandmothers, resort to the use of traditional medicine. Pediatricians are categorically against such experiments on the children's body:
- Thoughtless manipulations almost always lead to the opposite effect. Compresses with dry mustard, vinegar or vodka provoke burns and poisoning. Often there are dangerous spasms of the bronchi and larynx.
- Babies of the first year of life develop an allergy to medicinal herbs, so chest preparations, infusions and decoctions should be used after consultation with a specialist.
We must not forget that the time of shortage has long passed, and medicine does not stand still. The pharmaceutical industry can offer a lot of effective and safe drugs.
Medicinal herbs that are effective and effective for adults are far from always suitable for infants. Expert opinion
Evgeny Olegovich Komarovsky does not see anything terrible in the cough reflex, since it is inherent in all people. The snot that appears flows down the nasopharynx in children, so the body is forced to get rid of mucus. When diseases of the upper respiratory tract or lungs occur, the volume of sputum increases, it is removed through a natural reflex.
If the snot in the nose dries up, it becomes difficult to breathe, which leads to further complications. Komarovsky believes that preventing sputum from drying out in the bronchi is also important if the little one is coughing. It is necessary to provide a sufficient amount of drink for the baby and organize access to fresh cool air. Without consulting a doctor, it is forbidden to use antitussive drugs that are effective only for whooping cough. The use of mucolytic and expectorant drugs is allowed if it is evening outside and you need to somehow act.
Symptoms of any type of cough allow you to visit a pediatrician and get the necessary recommendations. The following drugs are effective and relatively safe:
- lazolvan;
- acetylcysteine;
- bromhexine;
- potassium iodide;
- mukaltin;
- ammonia-anise drops.
They should be in the home first aid kit, but the doctor sets the dosage. The specialist will also tell you the appropriateness of using a particular medication.
Mukaltin is an inexpensive, but very effective expectorant drug. The danger of complications after SARS is the development of acute bronchitis or pneumonia, there are frequent cases of secondary bacterial infections. The baby is prescribed antibiotics in tandem with additional medications. Such treatment will negatively affect the formation of the immune system, but there is no other way out. For this reason, Komarovsky recommends not self-medicating, contacting specialists in time and not endangering the baby. If the child has pneumonia before the age of 2 months, the lung alveoli remain affected and stop developing.
Why is whooping cough dangerous?
With whooping cough, the cough reflex has some characteristic features, only a pediatrician is able to make a correct diagnosis. A timely DPT vaccination does not completely protect against infection, but allows you to transfer the disease in a milder form. The mass refusal of vaccination in recent years has led to the fact that whooping cough is more common among preschool children. Self-treatment and self-confidence of mothers in their own actions complicate and slow down the diagnosis, since they turn to doctors at 2-3 weeks of illness.
Vaccination will not protect one hundred percent from the disease, but it will help to significantly alleviate its course. Whooping cough and its severe forms are deadly to babies because of paroxysmal, hysterical coughing that provokes severe vomiting, respiratory failure, and even respiratory arrest. Whooping cough symptoms include:
- dry cough, similar to a common cold;
- in subsequent stages, the cough becomes more painful, not turning into a wet form;
- cough reflex occurs on exhalation and is paroxysmal in nature;
- after a prolonged cough, the child takes a deep breath, which is accompanied by a whistle;
- sometimes an attack of coughing can result in vomiting with a discharge of viscous sputum.
The cough reflex can occur up to 50 times a day, which should alert parents. Whooping cough is a bacterial infection, so antibiotics are used in therapy. Antibacterial agents are effective at the first symptoms, when the cough center is not yet in the stage of excitation. Additionally, antitussive drugs are prescribed to reduce the frequency and intensity of the cough reflex. The course lasts from several months to six months, so that the baby ceases to be contagious and does not pose a danger to others. During therapy, outdoor walks are not contraindicated, and it is advisable for parents to be patient.
Often the chest coughs. But bronchospasm may not be a sign of illness. Cough in a baby (as in an adult) is a natural reaction of the respiratory tract to irritation caused by the ingress of foreign bodies (solid and liquid) into them. Get into the bronchi and cause an attack can: milk, saliva, mucus, etc.
A cough in a newborn will pass as soon as the body gets rid of the irritant. On average, young children can cough up to ten times a day. And this is considered the norm for a healthy child. A slight cough is also the norm, you should not worry about it. However, it is important to remember that a cough in a child of 8 months or at any other age can be a symptom of a cold.
Types of cough
Coughing in a newborn (like sneezing) is a normal phenomenon and a protective reflex. In this case, it is necessary to distinguish between types of cough in order to accurately determine the cause of bronchospasm.
Dry cough in infants can be caused by many factors. Therefore, it is not easy to accurately determine the cause of bronchospasm. It may be a symptom of SARS. In addition, a dry cough is characteristic of parapertussis and whooping cough at the initial stage. In other cases, such a cough in infants indicates an allergic reaction or even bronchial asthma.
Young children cannot clear mucus on their own. Therefore, at first glance it seems that the bronchospasm is dry, but in fact it is wet, because the baby simply swallows sputum.
In addition, a two-month-old baby's cough may be wet. In most cases, it accompanies SARS, but at the final stage of recovery. If the coughed up mucus is clear, then you should not worry. Complications are not observed.
Coughing with yellow or green sputum is a sign of a bacterial infection. It affects the respiratory tract and often provokes such ailments as pneumonia, tracheitis, bronchitis and others.
Causes of bronchospasm
What causes coughing in a 5 month old baby? This is important to know. After all, the correct diagnosis is the key to successful treatment. So, the main causes of coughing in an infant are:
How can I help you?
A cough in a child up to a year old with and without high fever should be treated only under the strict supervision of pediatricians. Otherwise, complications and dangerous consequences cannot be avoided. But a mom can help her baby relieve a dry or wet cough. Helpful tips for this:
Cough medicines
Is it possible to treat a cough in a month-old baby with medications? Yes, but only a pediatrician should prescribe them. Today, three large groups of drugs treat a cough in a three-month-old child.
Fees
If a baby is coughing, try buying a collection based on three or four medicinal herbs:
- chamomile;
- anise;
- plantain;
- marshmallow.
Some doctors advise using one, maximum two components for tea. Multi-component fees are recommended for use from 8 months of age.
Precautionary measures
Avoid overdose of expectorant cough medicines. Otherwise, the effect will be the opposite, which will lead to a protracted illness. In addition, it is fraught with an increase in the amount of sputum, which is not easy for the baby to expectorate.
It is impossible to treat a cough in a child for 1 month with antitussive and expectorant drugs at the same time. They do not mix well, which is indicated in most syrup instructions. If you ignore such advice and mix the cough preparations described above, sputum will be actively secreted and the cough center will be suppressed. This is fraught with the development of pneumonia.
Common Mistakes
Regardless of whether you are treating a cough in children under one year old or a cough in a 7 month old baby, remember well:
Do not forget: it is far from always necessary to immediately give the crumbs cough medicine. A cough in a month-old baby can be caused not by a disease, but by many other reasons. Therefore, cough preparations and the optimal treatment regimen are selected only by a specialist.
There are a lot of reasons for the appearance of a cough in an infant. The most common cause is infection, and usually grows and. However, bronchospasm is also quite possible, as well as the ingress of a foreign body, liquid into the respiratory system, and a neoplasm is also possible. With such extensive variations in causes, it is better for parents not to understand the causes and effects on their own, but to consult a pediatrician.
A cough in one month is enough to attract the close attention of parents. At this age, the main causes may be an infectious process or the ingestion of breast milk into the lungs.
If the baby's sputum leaves, such a cough is considered wet. In the absence of such a symptom, the cough is called dry. However, in very young children, this division is relative, since it is difficult to consider the discharge of sputum from them.
Often, parents notice it is the baby’s nighttime cough, and it is a rather serious symptom that can signal an increase in the intrathoracic lymph nodes and other serious lesions of the child’s body. A fairly simple method to relieve such a cough is to give the child some warm liquid, he should drink it in small sips. However, without finding out and eliminating the root cause, it is impossible to completely remove this cough.
Without a doctor's opinion, you can not purchase and give any medicines to a small child. And even consultations in a pharmacy cannot be trusted completely, because a pharmacist is still not a practicing doctor.
Even if you are going to use folk remedies, which often do help, they should be used only after consulting a doctor. They are not generic drugs.
A relatively safe remedy is radish. To use it on a black radish with a tail, cut off the top and cut out the inside by about a third. A little honey is placed in the resulting recess, leaving room for the juice that stands out. The radish is placed in a glass of water upside down. The juice will accumulate in three or four hours, then you should drink it and put honey again. However, honey can cause allergies in a child, and active consumption of radish can cause stomach pain.
For the treatment of cough as a set of symptoms, compresses are not used.
They can help, which are carried out using a special device. They can be carried out without age restrictions, one must choose among all the varieties exactly the device that suits you better than others.
You should also not prescribe mustard plasters or other warming procedures on your own, there are many cases when such procedures are contraindicated.
When coughing, a mother can drink a decoction of coltsfoot root and licorice, carrot juice with milk, lingonberries and cabbage. However, you still need to consult with your doctor.
For better sputum discharge, special ones are also made, but it is important not to overdo it here, especially with premature babies.
According to normal indicators, the cough lasts up to a month after the infection. It can sometimes be provoked by long-term use of drugs. Just stop taking the drugs and everything will be back to normal.
