Via Livestrong: Home Remedies for a Dry Cough in Kids

The American Academy of Pediatrics discourages the use of over-the-counter cough medications, including expectorants and cough suppressants, for children under the age of 6. Medications carry a risk of serious side effects in this age group and may not be effective for young children. Fortunately, most coughs are caused by a virus and clear up on their own. If your child is suffering from a dry cough, there are some steps that you can take at home to nurse him back to health.

Step 1

Give your child plenty of liquids to drink. These can moisturize and soothe a sore, scratchy throat.

Step 2

Feed your child chicken soup that contains garlic. David Becker, MD, the assistant clinical professor at the University of California, San Francisco, Department of Pediatrics, suggests that this combination carries antiviral properties, and your child may feel better faster.

Step 3

Offer your child cough drops or lozenges, but only if she is over the age of three. Before that, cough drops pose a choking hazard. Lozenges containing zinc may shorten the duration of her illness. Those containing menthol or eucalyptus can help to relieve a dry cough.

Step 4

Moisturize your child’s throat and nasal passages by putting her in a steamy bathroom or running a vaporizer. The moisture may calm down a dry, tickling throat and may reduce coughing.

Step 5

Give your child a teaspoon of honey. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, honey works as well as over-the-counter cough suppressants at easing a cough. Mix the honey in a mug of herbal tea or warm water.

Step 6

Call your child’s pediatrician if she is having difficulty breathing, coughs up blood, has a fever or is under the age of three months old.

Things You’ll Need

  • Chicken soup with garlic
  • Cough drops
  • Vaporizer
  • Honey

Tips

Encourage your child to rest and eat nutritious foods while he is sick. This will help him to get better faster.

Warnings

Never give honey to a baby under the age of one year. Honey can contain botulism spores, which older children and adults can handle, but infants cannot.


                                                                            Dry Cough Remedies for Kids

Is your child a victim of the weather change? Are you in search of dry cough remedies for kids? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, you have come to the right place, because this article will talk about how you can treat the cough and improve your child’s health.

What Causes Cough?

Before we discuss anything, you need to know what is causing your child to cough. Children usually cough when their windpipe is irritated and this happens when they are making a lot of phlegm and mucus. Cough can also be a symptom of respiratory infection and is reflex action that is used to move irritating particles from the wind pipe. You would see that your child coughs more when they are lying down because the mucus is accumulated at the back of the throat.

Types of Coughs

There are four types of coughs, and you need to know about them so that you can learn what is affecting your child’s health.

  • Croup cough
  • Dry cough
  • Wet cough
  • Whooping cough

Croup Cough

It is a harsh dry cough that is usually caused by viral infections.

Dry Cough

It is caused by an infection such as a cold or flu.

Wet Cough

In this type of cough, mucus is found in the lungs and in the windpipe and is caused by fluid secretions.

Whooping Cough

Whooping cough is when the child gasps for breath after coughing.


Complications of Coughs

Coughing too much affects our health, which is why it is important you look for dry cough remedies for kids. Get in touch with doctor if any of the following points are applicable in your case:

  • You child is younger than one month
  • They show signs of breathing disorders
  •  They are coughing up blood
  •  They turn blue while coughing
  • They are having coughing spasms
  •  They have sinus infection
  •  They have chest pain
  • They have high fever
  • They have persistent cough that lasts for more than three weeks


Treatment for Coughs

Here are some dry cough remedies for kids that you can use:

  • Make sure that your child is drinking enough water because that will prevent the mucus from thickening
  • Give them hot beverages to drink.
  • Make sure that they inhale humidified air which you can do by keeping a damp towel in their room or keeping a bowl of hot steaming water.
  • Help them to inhale cool air as that will soothe the irritated wind pipe.
  • Give them over the counter medicine.
  • Get them vaccinated so that their immune system is strong.


Opt For Natural Remedies

One great way to take care of your child is to use natural ingredients. Some of the things that will help your child out are:

  • Anise Seed
  • Apple Cider Vinegar
  • Chicken Soup
  • Ginger
  • Herbal Cough Syrup
  • Herbal Tea
  • Honey
  • Lemon Juice
  • Steam
  • Suction Bulb
  • Vapour Rub
  • Warm Saline Water