Komarovsky how to cure a cough in a baby at home

Baby cough

Phlegm can be very uncomfortable for your baby if it is present in excess. It can cause severe coughing and can even cause suffocation. Therefore, it is worth getting rid of it urgently, in all possible ways, but, of course, in such a way that will not harm the baby.

The first thing that is very important is not to self-medicate, be sure to go to the hospital. The baby's immunity is so weak that incorrectly selected therapy can only worsen the situation. So, how to remove phlegm from a baby?

Let's start with the fact that coughing is a natural reaction of the body that occurs when it is necessary to clear the airways. It can be wet and dry - in the article we will talk about its second variety.

How to cure a child's cough. Advice from Dr. Komarovsky

Self-medicating a newborn is a rash act. You can give medications to your child only with a doctor's prescription. But parents can also provide proper care, which will speed up the healing process. What are Dr. Komarovsky’s recommendations:

feed the child when he wants to eat;
give often and a lot to drink;
humidify the air in the room;
at fever - give antipyretics;
if there is no temperature, walk a lot in the fresh air.

We recommend reading: Recommendations from Dr. Komarovsky for the treatment of cough in children.

If the cough is caused by a virus, Dr. Komarovsky advises that the child be kept in a horizontal position. If there is a wet cough, the baby needs a back massage to improve the release of mucus. To do this, lightly tapping your finger on the child's back is enough. The following are used as expectorants:

plantain juice;
black radish juice with honey;
inhalations and decoctions with medicinal herbs.

Causes and consequences

A wet cough may indicate the development of bronchitis or pneumonia, acute respiratory infections, acute respiratory viral infections, and tonsillitis. There is no need to sound the alarm unless his attacks turn out to be particularly long-lasting. The causes of cough can be not only diseases, but also:

mucus getting into the throat while sleeping on your back;
excessive salivation;
profuse regurgitation;
belching.

You also need to be very attentive to a strong sudden cough, this indicates that foreign bodies have entered the respiratory tract. The child is choking and should be helped immediately.

Treatment

To solve the problem of how to remove phlegm from a baby, you must bring it to an experienced doctor for examination. Only a good specialist can select a high-quality medicine for phlegm for an infant. In addition, he will show and help you do a special massage that will help remove mucus.

Cough is a natural reaction of the body to pathological processes in the body. That is why it is first of all necessary to treat not the symptom (in our case, cough), but the cause of its occurrence.

Preventive measures

The main type of prevention of respiratory tract damage is breastfeeding. With milk, the baby receives antibodies that protect him from infection. During epidemics, it is advisable to reduce the child’s contacts to a minimum. After a walk, it should be washed with soap or an antiseptic. You can drop saline solution into your nose. Before visiting public places, including clinics, lubricate the area near the nose well with Oxolinic ointment. The vaccination schedule should be followed.

Massage for phlegm

So, how to remove phlegm from a baby using massage? It should be done if the baby does not have a high fever, after taking medications, if they have already been prescribed to you. To do this, place the baby on the tummy and rub the back until red. Start from the lower back, end with the neck. Afterwards, you need to lightly pinch the back with your fingers, tap with the edge of your palm, only with such force that does not cause discomfort to the baby.

After these actions, the baby may cough, do not be alarmed, this is sputum coming out, let him cough and continue. You can tap the back a little with your fists. Then turn the baby over and stroke his chest and tummy.

This is a very effective method that will help eliminate cough with sputum in an infant.

Traditional methods

Traditional methods also help cure coughs. They can only be used in consultation with a doctor. The following recipes are considered effective and safe:

The juice is squeezed out of ripe cranberries and mixed in half with honey. The resulting syrup is given to the baby ½ teaspoon in the morning and evening.
Black radish is peeled, cut into pieces and flavored with a tablespoon of honey. After an hour, they begin to give the baby the secreted juice. 1 teaspoon, 4 times a day.
The onion is peeled, grated and the juice is squeezed out. Take the same amount of honey per tablespoon of onion juice and mix everything well. The resulting drug is given to the baby 1 teaspoon, 3 times a day.
Brew pharmaceutical chamomile at the rate of 1 teaspoon of herb per glass of water. Place the decoction in the baby's nose 3 times a day.

Rubbing also helps to quickly remove mucus from the respiratory organs. For rubbing, you can use both pharmaceutical preparations and natural fats. Most often, babies are rubbed with goat and badger fat.

To rub a baby, you can use Turpentine ointment, but it is first diluted with baby cream in a 1:2 ratio.

Anti-cough medications

You should be very careful with medications for children. This issue must be dealt with by a highly qualified medical professional. Medicine for sputum should be used if other methods do not help.

It often happens that a child cannot cope with folk remedies alone. This is especially important if the baby is 3 months old or younger. In this case, inhalation or compresses cannot be done, and the doctor has no choice - he prescribes medication to facilitate the discharge of sputum.

Now there are many cough medications in the form of syrup, since babies do not yet know how to swallow tablets. Ambroxol, Lazolvan, and Bromhexine are often prescribed. But before drug treatment, be sure to consult with specialists.

General recommendations

To quickly cure a cough in an infant, you should follow these recommendations:

The optimal humidity in the home should be maintained at about 55%.
The children's room should not be too hot, as in this case the nasal mucosa will dry out greatly.
A sick child should be given a lot to drink. This can be water, tea, compote or age-appropriate juice.
You should strictly follow all the doctor’s recommendations.

The baby should be picked up more often and carried in an upright position. In this position he can cough well. If a sick child lies down a lot, then congestion occurs in the bronchi.

A sick baby should be seen by a doctor 2 times a week. If the prescribed treatment is ineffective, the doctor reviews it and prescribes new medications .

Urgent medical care

When a child is sick, he needs to be closely monitored. If the sputum comes out with a greenish tint, this means that pathogenic microbes have become involved. Be sure to consult a doctor. In such cases, after examination, antibiotics are prescribed. As a rule, under their influence, sputum leaves faster and easier, and other symptoms of the disease disappear, but despite this, the course of treatment must be completed.

Folk remedies for older children

How to get rid of phlegm in a two- to three-year-old child? Common folk methods that are no less effective than drug treatment will help here:

Honey with the addition of cranberry, onion or radish juice. How to get juice from onions or radishes? To do this, grate the vegetable and then squeeze out the resulting pulp through several layers of gauze.
Hot milk with added figs. This delicious drink should be offered to your child a glass twice a day. This drink thins phlegm well and helps get rid of it as quickly as possible.
Natural cow's milk with garlic. Crush five cloves of garlic per liter of warm milk. The child should drink this mixture throughout the day. This is a very effective “grandmother’s” method.
The fourth method is suitable for a baby if he is two years old. We are talking about inhalation.

This method is very effective. To use this method, you must consider the following rules:

There must be someone adult next to the child throughout the entire procedure;
After boiling, the water should cool for 10 minutes, only after this should the procedure begin;
the entire process should not exceed five minutes;
After inhalation, the child should not inhale cold air; provide him with bed rest.

If all these rules are followed, the procedure will be effective and enjoyable for the child. Although inhalers are now sold in all pharmacies, so there is no need to use the old method.

How to remove phlegm from a child, help a baby cough up mucus, and what to do if it doesn’t come out?

Infants are helpless and very vulnerable. They are as dependent as possible on those who care for them. The immune system of infants is still developing, so they are susceptible to various diseases, including colds. If the disease is accompanied by the formation of mucus in the respiratory tract and throat, then the mother or nanny should know how to remove phlegm from the baby and help him cough up.

Why are sputum and cough dangerous?

The production of sputum is a protective reaction of the body. It prevents infection from entering the bronchi and lungs. The epithelial cilia located on the surface of the bronchi are activated and push mucus into the throat and out. Coughing up mucus is quite painful even for an adult. In an infant, this process becomes more complicated due to the peculiarities of the anatomy and development of the body.

Circumstances that prevent a baby from getting rid of sputum:

reduced bactericidal properties of sputum, contributing to its abundant formation;
increased viscosity and thickness of mucus;
unformed cough reflex;
tendency to narrowing of the lumen of the bronchi and swelling.

These circumstances can provoke re-infection of the body from mucus. Clots of mucus accumulate into large clots and attach to the walls of the bronchi.

The lumens and length of the bronchi in the infant are small, and there is no strength or skill to cough up mucus. As a result, mucus quickly fills the bronchi and does not drain well, which creates a risk of suffocation.

In addition, there is a danger of hernias, hoarseness, and nervous attacks.

When should you see a doctor?

If the cough is prolonged, accompanied by wheezing, and green mucus mixed with blood is constantly coughed up, then you should immediately call a doctor.

If you have a high temperature and breathing problems, you should urgently call an ambulance. In infants, all organs are small and the infection spreads very quickly, so you need to act without delay.

It’s a big mistake to rely only on your own strength, the advice of traditional medicine and drugs from advertising.

How and with what to remove phlegm from a child at home?

The second necessary condition is drinking plenty of fluids. The baby should be given boiled water and breast milk. If the diaper does not fill within 4 hours, then the volume of liquid must be increased. A child older than 8 months can be given fruit drinks, compotes, or rosehip decoction.

When treating, you need to remember that the main thing is to identify the cause of the cough and remove it. A wet cough is not a disease, but the body’s desire to get rid of an infection.

Medicines from the pharmacy

Cough medicines are divided into 2 groups:

Mucolytics. They thin the mucus and break large clots into smaller ones, which makes coughing easier. These are Atsestad, ACC, Fluditek, Ambrobene, Bronchicum.
Expectorants. They move mucus clots upward through the respiratory tract and help remove it into the oral cavity. These include Ambroxol, Lazolvan.

Infants should choose syrups and drops. The following are available in the form of syrups:

Ambroxol - from the first month of life 5 days, 2.5 mg twice a day after meals;
Lazolvan – from 6 months, ½ teaspoon with morning and evening meals for 5 days;
Ambrobene - from the first month, 2.5 mg in the morning and evening after meals for 5 days;
Bronchicum (contains thyme) - from 6 months, ½ teaspoon in the morning and evening, allowed to drink for 14 days;
Gedelix - from birth, ½ teaspoon (can be diluted in a bottle of water) once a day.

Stoptussin is released in the form of drops. The dose of the medicine is calculated based on the baby’s weight: 9 drops/200 ml of water for 7-12 kg. If the weight is less than 7 kg, 8 drops are enough. Drops are given from six months to 4 times a day after meals. Ambrobene is also available in the form of a liquid solution. In this form, a dose of 1 ml is prescribed.

Folk remedies

Recipes from grandmothers allow you to remove phlegm at home, but they must be agreed upon with your doctor.

Practice shows that when coughing, rubbing the chest and feet with internal fat (ideally badger or bear, but you can use beef or pork) at night helps a lot.

Honey is sometimes added to the fat, but parents should be sure that the child is not allergic to it, otherwise the skin may become covered with scabs. Wild animal fat can also cause allergies. After applying the product, the child needs to be wrapped up.

Traditional medicine practices wrapping with cabbage leaves, on which a layer of honey is applied. Applying a warm cake of mashed potatoes with honey can soothe cough well.

If the child is not breastfed and is switched to cow's milk, he should be given warm milk at night. After 8 months, you can try herbal teas, but with caution, as they can also cause allergic reactions.

Massage and breathing exercises

Before the massage, it will be useful to give the baby an expectorant prescribed by the doctor, or drop saline solution (0.9% NaCl) from a pipette into the nose.

Procedure for massage:

lay the child on his back, perform stroking movements with his palms from bottom to top along the chest;
turn the baby onto his stomach, perform stroking movements on the back from bottom to top and in a circle;
rub the back from the waist to the shoulders until the skin becomes slightly red;
perform pinching movements with your fingers;
pat the back with your palms and tap the surface of the back with the edge of your palm or fingertips, without applying force;
finish the massage by pressing on the back with a hand clenched into a fist.

The entire procedure should not last longer than 5 minutes. Massage movements are performed above the kidneys and do not touch the spine line. If you lay the child down so that the legs are higher than the head, the discharge of sputum will be easier.

To do this, you can place a pillow on your knees at an angle, and place the child on it, leaving your face open. Massage can trigger a coughing attack. If possible, your child should be taught to cough up and spit out mucus. After this, you need to give the child a warm drink and wrap him up.

You can rub the chest with camphor alcohol if your doctor allows it.

If your baby starts to cough, breathing exercises will help. Children under one year old are difficult to force or persuade to perform them, so it is better to try the game form.

For example, you can put colored pieces of paper on some surface (hold a strip of paper or fabric in your hand) and teach your baby to blow on them with his mouth or through a straw.

It is advisable to arouse the child’s interest so that he wants to imitate his mother or older children. You can come up with other options for the game, the main thing is to have fun.

Inhalations and mustard plasters

Children under two years of age are not prescribed inhalations. You can recommend dripping saline solution into their nose. You can buy it at the pharmacy or make it yourself using boiled water. Physiological is a solution of table salt of 9% concentration. 9 g NaCl is a heaped teaspoon. It should be thoroughly mixed in a liter of water. The solution, entering through the nose, thins mucus in the throat and bronchi.

If the family has a special device (nebulizer) that converts the medicine into an aerosol without the formation of steam, then you can try using inhalation for a one-year-old child or younger.

You need to buy a device that includes a mask for infants. It will be safe and comfortable. As a healing component, you can use saline solution, mineral or sea water.

In agreement with the pediatrician, it is possible to add a few drops of an expectorant or mucolytic agent to the solution.

Many pediatricians are against inhalation for infants, especially before bedtime. Their airways are very small; swollen mucus clots can block them and create a dangerous situation with breathing problems. Inhalation can be done before the massage, with the child's body positioned head down.

Another method of treating cough - gluing mustard plasters - is used with caution for children under one year of age. It is only permissible to use special mustard plasters in the form of a strip of paper bags with dry mustard inside. You can cut off the required amount from it.

The steamed sachet is applied to the baby’s delicate skin through cloth or gauze. The effect of mustard plaster causes blood flow and activation of the cilia of the bronchial epithelium. Clots of mucus begin to move and are pushed out.

The use of mustard plasters in infants causes conflicting opinions among parents and specialists.

Preventive measures

After a walk, it should be washed with soap or an antiseptic. You can drop saline solution into your nose. Before visiting public places, including clinics, lubricate the area near the nose well with Oxolinic ointment.

The vaccination schedule should be followed.

Children need to be hardened, accustomed to cool, ventilated rooms, and not bundled up. For a child on artificial nutrition, vitamin and immunostimulating complexes are added to the diet, agreed upon with the doctor. It is easier to make efforts in advance to prevent the formation of sputum than to remove it from an infant later.

Source: https://www.deti34.ru/ukhod/narodnie-sredstva/mokrota-u-grudnichka.html