Every parent is stressed and alarmed when a child coughs persistently, especially for those who have been coughing over an extended duration. Coughs can be persistent and uncomfortable, and can come with vomiting and fever. Coughs can also come at nighttime, troubling the child from her sleep when her body should be resting and recovering from the debilitation of coughing.
Parents have a need to see that coughing is in fact a good thing the body causes on its own, as ready reflex, to get rid of phlegm. Although a cough looks, feels, and sounds nasty, it is actually advantageous to a kid. A kid normally does not necessitate help with coughing, she can do this on her own. This is particularly true for clear coughs, or coughs which have clean, and not yellowish, phlegm.
The best thing parents can do to assist a child in overcoming cough is beefing up the kid’s immune system against impending diseases. When a child coughs, especially at nighttime, she loses precious time for sleep and rest, which in turn causes her immune system to drop and her exposure to diseases to rise. A kid can be given a great deal of water, fruit juices, a healthy diet, and lots of handwashing for a week to help him fight the effects of coughing.
However, coughs that go for up to two weeks or more are awful. Parents should bring the child to a doctor who can name the real malady which presents coughing as a symptom. Parents may then be prescribed the age-appropriate medicine for the child. This can be administered for one week.
If after a week of medicine and the coughing is still there, then bring the child to the paediatrician to confirm the theory that the cough may be characteristic of other more serious illnesses like asthma attack.
Parents should remember not to give an adult cough medicine to kids. Over-the-counter adult cough medicines given to children can have harmful effects. Also, parents should remember that OTC cough medicines do not in reality cure the cough; they only ease the child of the symptoms related with coughing such as runny nose, sore throat, difficulty breathing, and slight fever.
See a doctor for the best and most dependable approach to cough management.