Coughing in a child: causes and treatment. Cough preparations for children

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Coughing in a child is a fairly common occurrence faced by parents of infants and already grown children. This is the main danger. Many parents do not perceive a wet or dry cough in a child as a serious illness. But it doesn't happen just like that, spontaneously. Any cough, even in a mild form, has its own reasons. It is impossible to cure it qualitatively without recognizing the prerequisites. There are several reasons for coughing in childhood.

Coughing in a child: causes

For a start, it is worth noting that sometimes coughing in young children is considered the norm, especially if it occurs in the morning. If this phenomenon does not occur more than 10 times a day, then you have nothing to worry about. It usually does not affect the child's he alth.

But if there is a constant cough during the day, then you are faced with some kind of violation in the baby's body. The reasons for this phenomenon may be hidden in the following:

• Bronchitis.
• ARVI.
• ORZ.
• Pneumonia.
• Rhinitis.
• Allergic reactions.
• Severe inflammation of the adenoids.
• Whooping cough is a particularly dangerous cause of coughing. It takes place if the child suffers from shortness of breath, and seizuresrepeated up to 50 times a day.
• Asthma.
• Diseases of the respiratory or circulatory system.
• Excessive exercise.
• Bronchitis.
• A foreign body stuck in the airways.
• Nervous tension.

Nervous coughing in a child is quite common. It is usually quiet, short and not accompanied by additional symptoms. If the child is stressed, you should pay attention to it. Perhaps he is constantly in a nervous tension. You need to eliminate the factors that provoked this in order to avoid future mental he alth problems.

Special attention should be paid to the child if there is a prolonged cough.

Prolonged cough in a child

Sometimes it happens that moms and dads forget to pay attention to important factors. For example, when the child began to cough. What to do at the beginning of the disease, they do not know. Then the cough becomes prolonged.

Usually this happens during the exacerbation of various diseases. If the treatment of the pathology was absent or was prescribed incorrectly, the disease does not recede and the child continues to cough. It can be considered prolonged if the condition lasts more than a month.

Persistent coughing for a long period of time requires a serious examination, where the circumstances under which the disease developed, the child's living conditions and the individual characteristics of the child's body are clarified. The child must submitseveral tests, as well as an X-ray examination.

Most often, in this case, the diagnosis is made by excluding the least likely diseases from the list of possible ones.

The child began to cough: what to do with a dry cough

Dry cough is characterized by the fact that it does not produce sputum. It can be a symptom of the initial stage of development of many pathologies. Usually a few days after its appearance, sputum formation begins. But until this happens, it is necessary to begin to find out the cause of the dry cough. The prerequisites for its occurrence include:

• Bronchitis, laryngitis or tracheitis.
• Strong and painful dry cough that appears periodically in the form of attacks, may indicate the occurrence of whooping cough.
• A rough and intermittent cough is a signal of diphtheria.
• Dry cough may be a symptom of TB.
• If a dry cough is accompanied by tearing and a persistent runny nose, you are dealing with an allergic reaction. In this case, you need to remove the allergen from the child's reach.
• If the room where the child lives is too dusty or the humidity is below normal, then in any case there will be a dry cough.
• Irritants can be any paint, cigarette smoke, all kinds of detergents.
• If your baby is suffering from abdominal pain or heartburn that occurs in parallel with bouts of dry cough, gastroesophageal reflux is the cause.
• A painful cough with shortness of breath can be a signal that a foreign object has entered the respiratory tract.

Often, parents are worried about the fact that the child is constantly coughing at night. There is a scientific explanation for this.

Why does a child cough at night

When the baby is lying, mucus flows towards the respiratory tract, so the main symptoms of diseases appear at night. Then the most painful attacks of coughing appear. They talk about the initial stage of the development of pathologies.

But sometimes coughing at night indicates that there is an allergen in the baby's room that provokes the development of appropriate reactions. It could be:

• The detergent you use to wash your baby's bedding.
• Night wear or bedding made from poor quality fabrics.
• Toxic substances hidden inside a pillow, blanket or mattress.
• Poor quality rubber or plastic toys near the bed.

To identify the allergen, periodically remove suspicious objects from the child's room. When the coughing stops, the problem can be considered solved.

Coughing is almost always accompanied by high fever. However, if this symptom is absent, it is necessary to find out why.

Cough without fever

If a child is constantly coughing and it is notaccompanied by an increase in body temperature, you need to sound the alarm, since the causes of this phenomenon may be hidden in the following problems:

• Tuberculosis.
• Bronchitis.
• Tracheitis.
• Tonsillitis.
• Bronchial asthma. This pathology occurs if, in parallel with coughing, the child develops asthma attacks.
• The presence of an allergen in the house or an increased concentration of dust in the air.

However, the most dangerous cause of a cough without fever is a foreign object entering the respiratory tract. This phenomenon should be discussed in more detail.

Foreign object in airway

If a child suddenly began to suffer from a strong cough with signs of suffocation, it is necessary to call an ambulance. Most likely, a foreign object has entered the respiratory tract.

If a child's complexion has changed, you can no longer hesitate. Remove the foreign body from the respiratory tract by hand or with tweezers.

Before carrying out these manipulations, it is necessary to put the child in a horizontal position. Only then can the airway be cleared.

Baby cough

If a cough develops in a baby, it indicates the presence of the same diseases as cough in older children.

But sometimes this phenomenon is physiological. In the body of babies, mucus constantly accumulates. Coughing is necessary in order to clearher respiratory tract. If it is repeated no more than 20 times a day, then there is no cause for concern.

Coughing in an infant can also be caused by dry indoor air or teething.

However, sometimes such a phenomenon can indicate the presence of serious pathologies, so it cannot be ignored. If you are not sure that coughing in an infant is an absolutely safe symptom, show the child to a doctor who will conduct an initial examination. If there is no cause for concern, you will return home safely. But if there are suspicions of the presence of complex diseases, the doctor will prescribe an additional examination for the baby, based on the results of which a diagnosis will be made and treatment will be prescribed.

It is necessary to get rid of a cough immediately after its appearance. Treatment depends on the cause.

Treatment of cough in children

The ways to treat cough in a child are as follows:

• Dry or too warm air is the main cause of coughing. Get a special humidifier and put it in the baby's room.
• If allergic reactions occur, the allergen must be detected and removed from the child's reach.
• For colds, a doctor's consultation is necessary, since the treatment involves the use of special preparations, such as Lazolvan or Doctor Mom. Syrup is the most effective form of cough medicine. Sometimes doctors prescribe several massage sessions. "DoctorMom" is a syrup that does not cause side effects, it can be used without a doctor's prescription if you are sure that the cough is caused by a cold.
• Plentiful drink.

If you have serious pathologies such as tuberculosis, you need to see a doctor.

Advice to parents

Any cough does not occur as a separate disease. It is a symptom of a pathology developing in the child's body. If you are not sure that you can correctly determine the cause of a child's cough, consult a doctor for advice. To avoid side effects, do not self-medicate.