How to stop an acute coughing attack in a child. Cough as a consequence of hypothermia. Severe cough in a child

Cough is an important and useful phenomenon. It is needed to cleanse the lungs and airways of extraneous irritants - dust, dirt, but most often - mucus.

If the body cannot do this, we are faced with a phenomenon called “dry” cough. The difference between it and wet cough is that a child or adult is trying to cough up, but the sputum does not come out.

Before trying to stop a coughing attack on your own, you should consult a doctor and determine what disease caused this unpleasant symptom.

What childhood diseases can be accompanied by coughing attacks?

1. In 90% of cases in children, cough is caused by ARVI or a cold. Accompanied by familiar symptoms: fever, runny nose, sneezing.
2. Acute bronchitis. It begins suddenly, is supplemented by moist wheezing, and quickly turns into a wet cough.
3. Tracheitis. As a rule, in children it begins at night and intensifies in the morning. Accompanied by pain in the throat and behind the sternum.
4. Whooping cough is a common viral infection. The baby coughs very strongly and often, and the situation worsens at night. During an attack, you may notice that his tongue is stuck out and curled into a tube. Often the child’s face turns red/blue and swells.
5. False croup is swelling of the laryngeal mucosa. The cough is rough and barking. The child has difficulty breathing. Most often, the attack begins at night.

If you notice that your baby begins to cough periodically, and the attacks are accompanied by signs of the diseases listed above (or other symptoms, for example, redness or itching of the skin, lacrimation, etc.), you must urgently make an appointment with a doctor.

An attack of false croup can threaten the baby with suffocation. In this case, it is very important to get medical help as soon as possible. If you notice that a child is coughing, choking and turning blue, this is a reason to urgently call an ambulance.

For what symptoms should you call an ambulance?

So, let us repeat once again, it is necessary to urgently call an ambulance for a child who is coughing severely in cases where the cough:

• appeared suddenly and does not stop;
• occurred against the background of high body temperature (above 38 C°);
• accompanied by suffocation, change in complexion (the child turns pale/blue) or loss of consciousness.

How to help at home?

Sufficient indoor humidity

The main assistant during an attack of dry cough is moist, cool air. Place a humidifier, a bucket of water, and place a damp towel on the pipes. Remove heaters. This will clear the baby's airways of germs, viruses and accumulated mucus.

Bathing

Give the child a bath. In this case, the purpose of taking a bath will not be cleanliness, but moist air. This is the simplest and most effective type of inhalation. At the same time, you should not tightly close the doors and windows in the bathroom, otherwise the humidity will be too high and the child’s weak lungs will not be able to cough up the accumulated lump of mucus.

Inhalations

Steam inhalations with herbal decoctions and essential oils will also help relieve a cough in a child. Chamomile decoction is often used as a way to quickly relieve discomfort in the throat. If you don’t have an inhaler, you can provide help in a way that has been proven over generations: let him breathe over potato fumes.

Note! Contrary to popular belief, inhalation should not be done before bedtime. During sleep, the child will not have the opportunity to get rid of the mucus accumulated in the lungs.

Inhalations are contraindicated for children under one year of age, in principle! In babies, the lungs do not have sufficient strength to independently remove mucus through the respiratory tract.

Folk remedies

Drinking plenty of alkaline warm drinks also effectively helps with coughs: milk, alkaline mineral water, chamomile tea. To enhance the effect, these drinks can be consumed with honey or butter. This will soften the mucous membrane and relieve coughing in children.

Herbal infusions: thyme, coltsfoot leaf, plantain are excellent expectorants. But! Before using such a remedy, you should consult your pediatrician and remove all cough medications that suppress expectoration!

Otherwise, the child will not be able to get rid of the mucus accumulated in the lungs and bronchi.

Pharmacy drugs

If a “dry” cough in a baby is a symptom of ARVI, treatment should begin with a visit to the doctor. Typically, in this case, expectorants of herbal origin are prescribed in the form of syrup or tablets.

Against the background of ARVI, a cough can be a consequence of a runny nose: mucus from the baby’s nose flows down the back wall of the throat and settles in the lungs, causing a cough. In such a situation, before going to bed, you can drop a saline solution into the child’s nose, or vasoconstrictor drops prescribed by a doctor.

Pediatricians usually resort to sputum thinners if expectorants do not have a positive effect.

Attention! Before starting drug treatment, be sure to consult your doctor and carefully read the instructions for the drug. Remember, if you self-medicate and choose the wrong cough remedy, you risk only aggravating the condition of a sick child.

What to do if a healthy child has a coughing attack?

Eliminate the possibility of allergies

If a seemingly healthy baby regularly suffers from attacks of dry cough, including those that occur at night, its source may be an allergy. The only method of control: consult a doctor, identify the allergen and remove it away from the child.

If a foreign body is inhaled

If a healthy child, who is out of sight of the parent, develops a sudden paroxysmal cough with choking, then it is quite possible that the young researcher mistook something small for an edible object. Thus, by coughing, he tries to free himself from a foreign body in the respiratory tract.

Stopping the cough is a reason for parents to begin providing first aid to the child: tilt him so that the head is below the butt and lightly hit him several times on the back, between the shoulder blades, moving towards the head, as if knocking out a foreign object.

Arose without any reason

A sudden, severe attack of night cough that occurs without reason should necessarily entail calling an ambulance. While you wait for an ambulance, help your baby drink plenty of fluids and humidify the air in the room.

A cough at night does not allow the child or his parents to rest peacefully, and parents try to stop the attack in every possible way, forgetting that it is necessary to treat the cause of the cough, and not its consequences. But, nevertheless, the medicine Sinekod can be used as an emergency measure.

Coughing is considered a normal reaction of the body; it is caused by a sharp contraction of the lungs and the release of air from the respiratory tract, and is not a consequence of heart failure - nothing to do with it.

Cough can be caused by various irritants and diseases, thanks to this reaction, the air leaving the lungs removes phlegm and various microorganisms from them.

So, it can be argued that a cough is a cleansing of the respiratory tract, but, nevertheless, it is necessary to treat the causes of its occurrence, especially if it is prolonged. At the beginning of the development of a cough, you can try to stop it with folk remedies.

If a child's coughing attack begins at night, it is necessary to:

• Wake him up if he doesn’t wake up on his own;
• plant;
• You can drink warm milk with honey, or just warm water;
• You can also give 1 tsp. butter with honey.

To ensure that your child sleeps peacefully at night, you can put warm (not hot) paraffin on the child’s chest before going to bed and warm the chest for 20-30 minutes. Thanks to this, the bronchi will warm up, and there may be no coughing attack at night. If the attack does begin at night, despite previously taken measures, then it is necessary to do inhalation using a nebulizer, for example, you can use cedar essential oil.

Also, to prevent a child from having a night cough, you need to ventilate the room before going to bed; it is also advisable to use a humidifier, since dry air contributes to a dry cough. If during an attack there is a rise in temperature, an attack of vomiting is observed, and the child also becomes lethargic, and breathing becomes wheezing and intermittent, you should immediately call an ambulance or a doctor.

When a child begins to have a night cough, the first thing to do is to calm the child down, then his condition should be alleviated. Well, after that, depending on the type of cough, stop its attack. If the cough is dry, barking, then you should use inhalations with mineral water or soda solution. If you don’t have an inhaler or nebulizer, you can simply let the child breathe over moderately warm water with the addition of soda.

If the cough is expectorant, then you should:

• Place the child;
• Tilt it forward slightly;
• And start lightly tapping your palm on your upper back and chest.

This will allow phlegm and mucus to clear away better, improve breathing and, as a result, stop coughing at night. A night cough can be triggered by any allergy, and it can begin suddenly and last for quite a long time. In this case, the cough lasts quite a long time, and no accompanying symptoms other than a runny nose are observed. In this case, you should immediately see an allergist.

This will prevent a painful night cough and at least give the child the opportunity to get some sleep. If the cough is not caused by an allergic reaction, then a strong cough at night can be prevented with tablets containing Mucaltin, or with special anti-cough preparations based on herbs. But such tablets are not recommended for use in children under 3 years of age.

What are the consequences of a prolonged cough in a child without fever?

A cough in children is almost always a sign of concern, especially if it is prolonged and does not go away for two weeks or more, then immediate action should be taken; the child should be immediately shown to a doctor so that a specialist can make a diagnosis and prescribe the necessary treatment.

For a more accurate diagnosis, you should:

• Get tested;
• Take an x-ray or fluorography;
• And after that, treat the child’s persistent cough.

If the cough is prolonged, then this may indicate some abnormalities in the body, for example, with an acute respiratory infection or with some kind of inflammation of the throat or nasopharynx. If any bacterial infection is detected, it should be treated with antibiotics, and if the cough is dry, the doctor will prescribe expectorant and antitussive medications, which will allow the disease to be cured after some time.

A persistent cough may be caused by a foreign body entering the respiratory system, and chest pain may also occur.

Also, frequent cough may be associated with a disease of the gastrointestinal tract; in certain diseases, stomach contents are refluxed into the esophagus and further into the respiratory tract. If the cough lasts a long time, this may indicate an allergy or some contact of the child with irritating substances, for example, with any household chemicals. In any case, in order to get rid of the causes of coughing and, as a consequence, the cough itself, you should consult a doctor who will prescribe the necessary treatment, and after some time, well-chosen treatment will cure the disease and stop the cough.

Instructions: how to stop a child’s severe cough

The cough may occur due to an asthma attack. To stop it, you need to relieve the spasm in the bronchi, to do this you should take a certain position, and if possible, relax the muscles as much as possible.

If this does not help, you should use a special inhaler.

If you don’t have an inhaler, you should call an ambulance so that the doctor can give you an injection of euphilin. A severe cough can be caused by various reasons, for example, if you have a sore throat. One of the diseases that causes a suffocating cough is laryngitis, to stop it, you should open hot water in the bathroom and take the child there so that he can breathe warm and moist air. If this remedy does not help and the cough worsens, you should immediately call an ambulance.

A disease such as whooping cough can cause a paroxysmal, hacking cough if a child coughs, so you should consult a doctor as soon as possible; whooping cough can also be stopped by cool, fresh air. To prevent coughing from bothering you during sleep, it is recommended to drink a mixture of black radish juice and honey before bed. You can also do warm foot baths before bed, but provided that there is no fever.

A sudden cough after eating can occur in a child due to:

• Problems in the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract;
• A large volume of food may contribute to this;
• The child's consumption of fatty foods;
• Lots of sweets.

This cough may also develop due to an allergy to certain foods. The cough often worsens in the morning after sleep; asthma and certain medications can contribute to it. It is enough to stop taking medications and get rid of a bad habit to get rid of a cough.

If a child has a constant cough, what should parents do?

A continuous cough can be caused by false croup, which is accompanied by hoarseness and difficulty breathing. Treatment requires plenty of fluids, fresh air and minimal tension on the vocal cords. Expectorants and steam inhalations should not be used.

A child's continuous cough may be caused by any respiratory disease if symptoms such as:

• Temperature;
• Runny nose;
• Redness of the throat.

To treat it, you must first eliminate the disease; if this is not done, the disease will progress. Non-stop cough can also be caused by bronchial asthma, bronchitis, bronchoscopic syndrome. Also, inflammation of the larynx due to any infection can provoke an endless cough.

It is enough to eliminate these diseases and the incessant cough will subside.

A never-ending cough can be caused by inflammation of the tonsils and also the presence of adenoids; treating them will help relieve the cough. A persistent, persistent cough can also occur due to mucus irritation of the lining of the upper respiratory tract. It is enough to drink a lot of liquid to thin the mucus and take inhalations to get rid of such a cough.

Pediatrician's advice: how to stop a child's cough at night (video)

In any case, if cough is a serious problem and both a child and an adult suffer from it, it requires treatment first of all for the disease that caused it. And after treating the underlying disease, you can begin treating the cough.

Cough is a very common manifestation of illness in children. It can range from a barely noticeable cough, which generally does not affect the baby’s well-being, to a painful attack, strong and frequent, combined with pain, anxiety and sleep disturbances.

An attack of childhood cough can pose a serious problem for the child himself and his parents.

Essential oils, especially cedar oil, can help stop a child’s cough if it gets worse. In an extreme situation - in case of suffocation, you should bring the baby to hot water so that he inhales the steam.

This will moisten the airways and stop coughing.

Night cough

If a coughing attack begins during sleep, you should first wake up the baby if he does not wake up on his own.

You need to sit him down and give him some warm liquid to drink. This can be milk, herbal decoction or mineral water. If these measures are ineffective, the child should be allowed to walk.

Honey and butter can also help stop a cough.

The baby just needs to suck them. However, it is important not to overdo it with their quantity - the best option would be 1 teaspoon. A higher dose can lead to nausea or even vomiting. In addition, allergic reactions that may occur when using folk remedies should be taken into account.

Occurred before bedtime

If your child coughs before going to bed, you can rub the baby’s chest with vodka, immediately cover him with a warm blanket and put him to bed.

You can also put paraffin on for half an hour (but not hot), which warms up the bronchi and eliminates soreness. It is necessary to exclude from the diet all foods that can irritate the mucous membrane (spicy and very salty).

Did you know what a “cough cake” is? We invite you to familiarize yourself with its properties, preparation and use in the article.

Allergic

Allergic cough can be effectively treated only under the supervision of a doctor. The allergist prescribes medications, discontinues them in a timely manner and selects more suitable medications in case of replacement. Self-medication is unacceptable in such a situation.

There are few ways to stop an allergic cough in a baby at night. A child with allergic reactions needs special care.

There should be exclusively hypoallergenic materials on his bed. Feather pillows and wool blankets promote the proliferation of allergens. Such bedding items harbor mold and dust mites, which can lead to an unexpected coughing attack at night.

It is impossible to effectively combat this cause of childhood sleep disturbance with home remedies. Parents who are looking for an effective method to quickly stop a child's dry allergic cough at night should purchase bedding that is suitable for the child. This will lead to a reduction in the frequency and severity of allergic cough attacks.

Allergic reactions will stop under the conditions of timely wet cleaning, maintaining a normal level of humidity and timely elimination of allergens from the child’s diet. To effectively combat allergies, parents must be as disciplined, attentive and purposeful as possible.

It is possible to relieve a severe night cough that occurs in a child in the form of attacks with the help of enterosorbents. They are used in the form of tablets and syrups.

Enterosorbents absorb substances that lead to an allergic reaction and cause a night cough attack.

In case of regular relapses of night cough, an allergist may prescribe inhalations with drugs that relieve pathological reactions. Such inhalations are carried out using a nebulizer.

Causes of children's cough

Cough in children can be caused by a variety of reasons, including:

• allergy;
• entry of a foreign body into the respiratory organs;
• tuberculosis;
• a brain tumor;
• whooping cough;
• infected mucus that flows down the nasopharynx in case of viral infection of the respiratory organs;
• reflux of food into the esophagus from the stomach;
• proliferation of adenoids;
• dry air.

How to stop a sudden coughing attack in a child?

If the cough is caused by an allergy, it is necessary to give the child an antihistamine to prevent swelling of the mucous membrane.

A coughing attack, which is caused by irritation of the walls of the respiratory organs, can be temporarily stopped with the help of any warm drink.

1. Granulated sugar is poured into a hot frying pan, stirred, brought to brown, 100 ml of water is poured in, brought to a boil, then removed.
2. The resulting product is poured into a clean container and cooled to a temperature of +40. It is given to the baby in the amount of 3 tbsp. spoons

The following drinks also help relieve an attack:

• sweet tea with mint and lemon;
• Hot milk;
• mashed potatoes cooked in milk;
• tea with honey.

A cough that is too strong and incessant suggests that something is stuck in the respiratory system. In this case, you need to tilt the child down and gently but firmly pat him on the back.

At the same time, tap the edge of the hand several times on the baby’s ribs, moving from bottom to top. Thus, sputum is directed to exit the lungs. This massage ends with stroking movements directed along the lateral lines from bottom to top.

Prevention of development

If there is a low level of humidity in the room, this leads to dryness of the mucous membrane of the nasopharynx. As a result, pathogenic microflora actively multiplies.

Its dispersal in the respiratory system leads to irritation of the mucous membrane, which provokes coughing as a natural reaction of the body.

Therefore, the room must be ventilated before going to bed. An open container of water should be installed near each heating device. This water will evaporate and humidify the air.

Another simple method of humidification is to place wet towels over the radiators.

It is very important to control the inside of the room heated by convectors. Parents who have a small child should choose a heater very carefully.

Convection heating often causes a dry night cough, even in adults. There is a high probability of contracting ARVI after sleeping even for one night in a room in which a convector is installed, provided that there is a person sick with ARVI in this room.

The immune system of a small child is quite weak, so there is a risk that the baby will begin to suffocate in a room with convection heating, and will constantly suffer from a dry cough at night.

Fans can spread dust containing pathogenic bacteria throughout the room. To prevent this process, it is necessary to carry out wet cleaning in the evenings where the child will sleep.

In addition, you need to place a cup filled with water in front of the convector (if you have one) and hang wet diapers around the room.

The disease begins to recede. During the day the child is active and feels normal. His cough hardly bothers him. Why do severe attacks appear at night, why does the baby cough without a break? During sleep, the body rests. All processes slow down. Breathing also calms down. A night cough is associated with changes in the breathing rhythm and position of the child: he is lying down. If an attack occurs, there is no need to immediately give antibiotics that are left over from previous treatment and antimicrobial agents. How to help with night cough?

In the first minutes, it is necessary to understand what kind of cough is tormenting the baby, and why the attack begins? A cough does not appear without a reason. In organism dust accumulates, allergens, mucus. They act on the receptors of the respiratory tract, causing a sharp and strong flow of air, which is designed to free the larynx, trachea, bronchi and lungs from any type of irritant.

Dry

A cough is a symptom of a disease. Its humidity depends on the pathogen, which entered the body. A dry cough indicates the development of the following diseases:

One of the causes of dry cough is disruption of the gastrointestinal tract. The acid that is in the stomach enters the oral cavity with belching and irritates the throat. The attack occurs especially often when the baby is sleeping.

Wet

The causative agents of wet cough are infections and viruses. He is accompanied sputum production for the following diseases:

With nasal diseases and excessive mucus secretion, a wet cough appears. During sleep, mucus from the nose flows down the back of the throat. She accumulates in the bronchi. During sleep, the child finds it difficult to breathe, which leads to an attack.

Barking

A barking, dry cough appears in a baby during the initial stages of the disease. This symptom indicates that stenosis is developing. Happening narrowing of the larynx. Air cannot pass into the lungs. A barking cough is often accompanied by attacks of suffocation.

Stenosis occurs with swelling of the respiratory tract, acute laryngitis, tracheitis, bronchitis, and inflammation of the adenoids. The cough is characterized by sharpness and whistling sounds. It occurs in a child during sleep in the form of a severe attack.

Convulsive

The cough is frequent, dry: accompanied by tremors and deep breaths. The baby has difficulty breathing. His abdominal muscles hurt due to tension. A convulsive cough most often indicates whooping cough if the child is not vaccinated against this disease. Coughing often provokes vomiting and redness of the whites of the eyes.

Allergic

With allergies, cough is not the only symptom. It is accompanied by skin rashes and itching. Allergen could enter the body during the day, and coughing attacks occur at night. An allergic cough is always dry, may be accompanied by bronchospasms and become barking.

An allergic cough can be triggered by food, household dust, odors, and woolen products. The baby's body temperature is normal. Liquid mucus is released from the nose, tears flow.

Vocal tic

Cough is a symptom of a neurological disease. It appears in the child in connection with the experiences that have arisen. Baby starts coughing, if he is excited, he experiences stress. A vocal tic is a slight, frequent cough.

At night, a tic appears if the child has to perform at a matinee in kindergarten, before a test at school. Baby will cough at night, if he played with the children during the day and became a loser. This symptom is an indicator of a nervous system disorder.

How to stop a child's cough at night?

When children have a coughing attack in their sleep, they experience extreme fear. They should not be left unattended.

A calming and comfortable environment is created for the child. They sit him in bed or on his knees to normalize his breathing. Talk to him in a familiar voice without showing concern. You must always remember that the baby was sleeping when the cough appeared. Sudden movements and nervous voice of parents will aggravate the attack.

Treatment of dry cough

If a child has an attack of dry cough in a dream, then all measures should be aimed at moisturizing the mucous membranes of the nose and throat.

Medicines will help relieve the attack. The pediatrician himself recommends which medications will be used in this case. effective in treatment: You shouldn’t choose them yourself. If a child coughs in his sleep, then give one of the antitussive syrups:

• “Sinekod” - children from 2 years old are given drops, from 3 years old - syrup, from 6 years old - dragees;
• “Tussin Plus” – for children from 6 years old;
• “Linkas” – for children from 6 months;
• "Libexin Muco" - from 2 years.

This therapy is used for dry barking cough. The measures taken will help against an attack of stenosis or bronchospasm.

Emergency help for wet cough

If in a dream a child begins to develop an attack of wet cough, then all actions of the parents should be aimed at speeding up the removal of sputum from the bronchi.

For treatment attack of wet cough do not give antitussives, use mucaltinous drugs:

• "Ascoril" - from 6 years;
• "Ambrobene" - from 6 years;
• “ACC” – from 2 years;
• "Mukaltin" - allowed for children under 1 year.

Medicines are taken in the form of syrup. They have a sweet taste and children will like them. Tablets are not recommended. There is a possibility that children will not be able to swallow them.

How to relieve an allergic cough?

If an allergic cough is accompanied by an attack of suffocation, then immediately call an ambulance, and only then provide first aid to the child. The cough is always dry, so it is necessary to take proper measures to moisturize the laryngeal mucosa.

Parents must act calmly and clearly. Excessive nervousness in actions will harm the child. He will panic and the attack will not stop.

How to help with a neurological cough?

A vocal tic is not defined as dry or wet. These are frequent coughs that prevent the child from sleeping. It is relieved with sedatives. They give tea with valerian, lemon balm, motherwort. For 1 tbsp. boiling water take 1 tsp. dry crushed herbs: leave for 30 minutes, filter. If the child has already woken up, but he is not feeling any better, then take a soothing bath by dropping lavender or mint oil into the water.

The baby should be reassured with words and actions: tell him a fairy tale, sing a lullaby. It is better to talk to the teenager and convince him that everything will be fine, he is not alone, his family supports him.

Traditional medicine

Folk remedies with milk, herbs and honey are used in treatment if the child is not allergic to the ingredients. It is better to take buckwheat honey. Dry herbs, crushed.

Prevention

If there are fears that the baby will have an attack at night, then a “Nozzle” patch is attached to clothes, pajamas, or a shirt. Patch impregnated with eucalyptus oil, camphor. These products will make breathing easier and calm the child.

Before going to bed, take a bath with herbal decoction. Use chamomile, calendula, valerian. A little decoction is left for night drinking.

Rubbing with ointments is carried out:

• turpentine;
• "Doctor MOM";
• with badger fat;
• baby cream mixed with radish juice or sea buckthorn oil.

In the children's room, the temperature is kept no higher than +22 C, the air is humidified to 70%: humidity is measured with a hygrometer. For creating comfortable atmosphere purchase a device that humidifies and ionizes the air. If there is no such device, then wet diapers are hung in the room.

Dinner is not made too rich and dense. Products that provoke gas formation in the intestines are consumed during the daytime. From citrus fruits, berries, sweet pastries, and fast food are better to avoid. Spicy food is not given during illness. It irritates not only the gastrointestinal tract, but also the upper respiratory tract, provoking an attack. Dinner time is 2 hours before bedtime.

If the child is overexcited, he must be calmed before being put to bed. Otherwise he wake up from bad dreams or from a vocal tic. Your bedtime should always be the same. Avoid computer and active games, problematic and emotional conversations in the evening. Have you encountered such a problem? You need to immediately try to understand the cause of the cough. If it is a runny nose, then clean and drip your nose. If the child is allergic and has had contact with an allergen, give an antihistamine. Well, if you have a dry cough, then drinking warm drinks, inhaling saline, ventilating the room and humidifying the air will do the trick. And the main thing is not to panic!

Cache accompanies many childhood illnesses. With the help of this symptom, the child can get rid of the respiratory irritant.

If cough did not occur, any infection would lead to serious damage to the lower or upper respiratory tract. It’s good when the cough is productive and wet, and the child can easily get rid of accumulated mucus.

It’s worse if it becomes intrusive and dry, causing considerable discomfort to the baby and his parents not only during the day, but also during sleep. When a child has a severe cough at night, it is worth thinking about it and at least contacting a pediatrician for help. After all, parents are not always able to independently determine the cause of this symptom.

A child's severe cough at night may be a natural defensive reaction or a manifestation of pathology.

In the latter case, additional signs usually appear, by which an attentive parent can determine that the child is unwell. Depending on what causes this symptom, the doctor will select a comprehensive and effective treatment for the child.

Do not forget that any cough is divided into two types:

1. damp or wet (with it you can hear a distinct bubbling in the bronchi, and mucus is easily coughed up);
2. dry (spasmodic, annoying, painful, in which coughing does not bring any effect).

Allergic reaction

If you notice that your child has a strong cough at night, but the baby does not cough during the day, this may indicate an allergy.

Every parent should be wary of the fact that the attack begins the moment the baby’s head touches the pillow. The absence of catarrhal manifestations (sputum production) adds confidence that the cough is provoked by an allergy.

Check what your child's bedding is made of. Often an allergic reaction occurs to sheepskin and feathers. Have you recently changed your baby's pajamas? Check its composition as well.

Allergies can manifest themselves not only to fillers, but also be a reaction to powder or fabric softener. Eliminate any allergens for a while.

Perhaps the cough will disappear along with them.

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Viral infection

A child may cough at night due to a common cold. Often a viral infection is accompanied by mucus in the nose and throat. Sputum drains into the larynx as soon as the child assumes a horizontal position.

As a result of this irritation, a cough begins. In most cases, this symptom is productive, but with large volumes of sputum, it is difficult for the baby to cough it up. As soon as the baby gets better, the night cough will go away on its own.

Bacterial pathologies of the lower parts of the respiratory system

Diseases such as laryngitis, bronchitis, whooping cough, pneumonia (caused by bacteria) provoke attacks of night cough in children.

They are often accompanied by vomiting, as the child gets into trouble and simply cannot stop.

If a child has a dry cough repeatedly at night, you should show the baby to a doctor as soon as possible.

Only a doctor can prescribe effective medications to eliminate this symptom.

But do not forget that in case of bacterial infections of the respiratory tract, the baby will need complex therapy, and not just symptomatic remedies.

Other reasons

Bronchial asthma and cystic fibrosis can cause nighttime coughing attacks in children. Accumulation of dry air and poor ventilation also provokes this symptom.

Gastro-food reflux is accompanied by a night cough, while during the day the child looks completely healthy. It is almost impossible to determine the cause of this anxiety on your own.

First aid: how to relieve a coughing attack?

Home methods, including inhalations and herbal decoctions, will help relieve a child’s cough at night, and drug therapy will help completely cure its cause.

If your child has a disturbing symptom that prevents him from sleeping, then you should resort to effective methods that will help you survive these few hours.

Even if these rules help you, don’t be too lazy to go to the pediatrician the next morning.

• Drink plenty of warm drinks.

Any herbal decoctions, fruit drinks based on vitamin C, juice, baby milk, as well as plain water will help calm a child’s cough at night. Place a bottle or glass next to the crib, and if a cough appears, give the baby a little drink.

The liquid will soothe an irritated throat, wash away remaining mucus from the larynx, and moisturize dry mucous membranes. Giving your child more to drink is the first thing that should come to your mind.

Do not forget that herbal infusions should not be given to children under 6 months of age, as they can cause allergies.

• Setting the right conditions.

If your baby starts coughing, pay attention to the environment. Is it very warm at home? Lower the temperature! Is dry air predominant? Hydrate it! You can almost immediately stop your child’s cough at night.

• Washing mucous membranes.

If you see that the baby’s nose is not breathing, then the use of saline solutions and vasoconstrictor nasal agents will help normalize the little patient’s condition. To survive until the morning, or rather to sleep peacefully, rinse your nasal passages with special products for children:

• Aqualor,
• Aquamaris,
• Rinostop,
• Dolphin.

And drop the drops:

• Nazivin,
• Snoop,
• Otrivin.

You can use those products that have already been tested by your baby and are in your home medicine cabinet. Do not forget that the use of vasoconstrictor medications for the nose should not last more than three days in a row.

Inhalation procedures

Doctors unanimously say that inhalations for both dry and wet coughs are extremely effective.

Their action is almost immediate, and contraindications are either absent or minimal.

But many parents make the main mistake: they perform steam inhalations. This should not be done if you have allergies, laryngitis or fever.

It is worth refraining from such self-medication and resorting to the cold method. The procedure is carried out using a special device: a nebulizer.

Let the child breathe in saline solution or ordinary mineral water. The mucous membranes of the irritated respiratory tract will be moistened, and this will calm a strong cough at night, and the little patient will be able to sleep peacefully until the morning.

Rubbing

Warming ointments such as Doctor Mom, Badger, Vicks and others.

They will have an irritating and distracting effect, ease breathing, and also warm inflamed organs.

Please note that many of these drugs are prohibited for use in children under 2-3 years of age.

Rubbing can be carried out only if the child’s cough occurs without fever.

Effective treatments

What to do if a child’s severe cough at night is regular?

First of all, you need to consult a doctor and, taking into account the individual characteristics of the little patient and the nature of the disease, he will prescribe effective medications.

• Antibiotics.

You should take such medications only after examination. Never give antibacterial medications to a child yourself.

• For pharyngitis, tonsillitis, sinusitis, bronchitis, penicillins are usually prescribed: Amoxiclav, Augmentin, Flemoxin.
• If the bacterial disease occurs in a sluggish form and is not accompanied by a high temperature, then macrolides can be used: Sumamed, Azitrus.
• Cephalosporins are prescribed for acute bronchitis and other serious pathologies of the lower respiratory system.
• Antiviral drugs and immunomodulators.

Such drugs will help speed up the treatment of cough caused by a viral infection. A strong child with good immunity can completely do without them, but doctors like to prescribe at least something.

You will find a complete list of antiviral drugs by age in.

Syrups

Any treatment for cough comes down to the use of anti-inflammatory drugs that normalize the functioning of the lower respiratory system.

Askoril, Erespal, Siresp– syrups for young children. The listed agents and others like them also have an antispasmodic effect. You should not expect an instant effect from them.

Therapy usually lasts at least 5 days.