The most common illness that toddlers and children experience are upper respiratory infections, also known as the common cold. More than 200 different viruses are known to cause the symptoms of upper respiratory infections. But rhinovirus is the most common.
The child’s immune system is well-equipped to take care of the viral infections themselves, but there are things you can do to help with the runny nose, nasal congestion and cough.
Common symptoms:-
First, I want to mention the common symptoms that typically present with an upper respiratory infection. Most of them will involve the child having a runny nose, nasal congestion and cough.
The following symptoms are also common:
• Sneezing
• Sore throat
• Fever
• Decreased appetite
• Decrease in activity level
• Increased fussiness
Some children will also experience,
• muscle aches
• Headaches After the on set symptoms typically become worse the first 2 to 3 days, and then they usually start to improve.
Initially the mucus starts off transparent, thin and runny. Within the next several days it can become thicker and change to a white, yellow or green color. The mucus changing to one of these colors does not automatically indicate that the child now has a bacterial infection.
As the mucus thickens, drips will be less out of the nose and more drips down the back of the throat. Around this time, the cough tends to worsen.
A lot of parents become concerned about the cough, but in most situations, when it’s associated with an upper respiratory tract infection, the cough is actually the body’s natural mechanism for protecting the lungs.
When the mucus moves from the nose down the back of the throat, the child will cough to prevent it from going into the airways and lungs, and gets the mucus to move into the digestive tract instead. On average. Upper respiratory infection symptoms will last around 7 to 10 days.
Although for some children the symptoms, may last longer. Since they are not the best, blowing the nose or spitting out the mucus that collects in the back of the throat.
Treat:-
Here are some things you can do to help treat the runny nose, nasal congestion and cough.
Nasal saline drops or spray:-
In the first several days of an upper respiratory infection, when the mucus is thin and runny, you may use nasal saline spray or drops to help keep the mucus from becoming too thick, and to clean out your child’s nose.
A great time to do it is whenever the child sounds congested, during bath time or in the evening about an hour before bedtime. If you are using saline spray, put 2 to 4 sprays into each nasal opening while your child is sitting up and has the head in a neutral position.
If you are using saline drops, I find that pushing on the bottle to make a stream of saline flow into the nose is more effective than just putting in several drops at a time. Since the nose is connected to the throat, some mucus will run down the back of the throat, creating a post nasal drip.
As the mucus in the nose gets thicker, the mucus that coats the back of the throat becomes thicker. This can make the cough worse and wet-sounding.
Since toddlers and young children are not able to expectorate, or spit out the mucus that’s in the throat, doing nasal saline flushes can help loosen it up. When the mucus loosens up, some will run down the back of the throat.
The child will cough as a protective mechanism to prevent the mucus from going in the lungs, and will cause it to move into the digestive tract instead.
Nose blowing:-
Another thing that will help clear the nasal congestion and cough is teaching your child to blow the nose. Typically, after 2 years of age, children can start to grasp the concept of learning to blow the nose. It’s a gradual stepwise learning process and take patience. But, how you can train your child to do it. First, start off by holding a tissue in front of your face and demonstrate how you blow with your mouth to make the tissue move. Then give your child the opportunity to blow on their tissue with the mouth and make it move. Next hold your tissue in front, but slightly away from your nose, and while you have your mouth closed, blow air out of the nose at the tissue to make it move.
Then hold your child’s tissue near their nose and have them try to make it move by blowing air out of their nose. Keep demonstrating and giving your child opportunities to practice. Once your child starts to grasp the concept, transition to holding the tissue over the nose and have them blow directly into it.
Treating the cough:-
With an upper respiratory illness, one of the more bothersome symptoms to the baby and parents, is the cough. And of course, the cough is usually worse at night. When, the child is laying down, more mucus drips down the back of the throat and triggers coughing episodes.
By doing things to remove mucus from your child’s nose, through the use of nasal saline, and having the child blow it out, will result in less mucus dripping down the back of the throat.
Keeping your child well hydrated during the time of illness will also help to keep the mucus from becoming too thick.
There are a lot of chemical cough and cold medications sold over the counter. However, they are not recommended for children under 6 years of age.
Honey:-
However, honey has been shown to be effective at decreasing cough, especially nighttime cough. By coating the back of the throat, it decreases irritation and helps alleviate post nasal drip. In a study children 1 to 5 years of age, who received up to 2 teaspoons of honey 30 minutes before bedtime, had less cough and better sleep than those who received an over the counter cough medication, or those who didn’t get any treatment.
Honey is not recommended to be given to children under one year of age due to botulism risk.
Vapor or chest rub:-
Another home remedy, to be effective in decreasing nighttime cough and congestion, and improve sleep, was the use of a vapor or chest rub. It can be placed on the child’s chest, neck, back or bottom of the feet.
Concerning symptoms:-
Symptoms that are indicators, you should have your child’s evaluated by a healthcare provider. Anytime children look like they are having respiratory distress, they need to be evaluated promptly.
Signs of respiratory distress include,
• Rapid breathing
• In younger children, you will see their belly going up and down as they breathe rapidly.
Other concerning symptoms include,
• Noisy breathing or making wheezing sounds as they breathe.
• Children should be seen if their fever is not improving with appropriate doses of fever reducing medicine, or if fever continues for 5 days or longer.
• Other concerning symptoms include the child’s cough continuing to worsen or cough lasting longer than 2 weeks.
As uncomfortable as it is when your child is sick, remember that this is the way that your child develops immunity towards infections, and the process is helping to strengthen their immune system.
By doing the things that mention, you will be able to alleviate runny nose, nasal congestion and cough, and help your child get over them quicker.
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