Sneezing is a natural process of clearing the upper respiratory tract. This process accompanies not only adults, but also infants. If a baby sneezes often, his parents should first of all pay attention to the cleanliness of his nose, and also evaluate the environment in which the baby is growing up.
Many parents wonder why their child often sneezes, is he sick? The frequency of sneezing is influenced by several reasons:
Preventive and therapeutic measures
If a child sneezes frequently, parents need to protect him from all the factors described above that cause this process. The first step is to check the cleanliness of the nasal passages.
If the heating season has arrived, most likely the cause of sneezing is dry air. If there is no special device, parents can hang a damp cloth in the room or use hand sprayers. Do not forget to regularly ventilate the room in which the child is located. It is also necessary to remove from the room fluffy carpets, large accumulations of toys and other objects from which it is difficult to remove dust.
It is also worth paying attention to the baby’s diet. Perhaps the child is sneezing and coughing from an allergic reaction to a new product that was given to him as complementary food. If the product is the reason why the baby often sneezes and coughs, it should be excluded from the menu.
If you have pets in the house with your baby, you should not immediately think that the baby is exhibiting allergic reaction and look for your pet new house. First, it is necessary to conduct tests to identify the allergen. If a child’s allergy to animals is confirmed, you should use products that reduce the level of allergies to care for pets and protect the baby from interacting with them. After all these measures, you should do a general cleaning of the room to remove remaining allergenic particles. If the baby no longer sneezes or coughs, the animal can continue to live in your home.
In the presence of elevated temperature, difficulty breathing, and if the baby coughs, you should consult a doctor, as these are the first symptoms of the disease. Based on the examination and tests, the doctor will make a diagnosis and prescribe treatment appropriate for the baby’s condition and age.
To improve efficiency therapeutic methods, it is necessary to ventilate the room more often, do wet cleaning in it and deal with dry air.
Cleaning your nose
One of the most common reasons The appearance of sneezes is caused by contamination of the nasal passages with dried mucus and dirt. To avoid irritating the nasal mucous membranes, the nasal cavity should be cleared of any crusts that have formed.
To do this, use a cotton wool flagellum. To clean your nose, you will need two flagella, each of which will clean one nostril. Under no circumstances should you use a cotton swab.
The rolled flagellum should be moistened in clean boiled water, squeezed out and straightened, and then placed shallowly in the nostril. This must be done very carefully so as not to damage the baby’s delicate mucous membrane or cause bleeding. Next, the homemade flagellum is rotated several times around its axis clockwise, and then slowly removed from the nasal cavity. After the parents see that there are no more crusts and dirt on the flagellum, the procedure can be completed by placing the moistened flagellum in each nostril again and removing all small particles of dirt. It's no secret that sneezing and coughing are completely normal physiological processes that should not cause excessive fear or anxiety. However, no parent can remain calm if the baby is coughing and sneezing. After all, we are talking about small child
, so no one in their right mind would want to risk his health.
Unfortunately, in most cases, parents immediately begin to panic. They wonder where the baby could have caught the cold. In addition, the mother and father begin to look for the most suitable medications for treatment. At the same time, they consult not with doctors, but with friends raising children, or with pharmacy workers. And this is theirs main mistake
. In such a situation, it is necessary to remain calm. Moreover, in this case, the first thing parents should find out is, is it really a cold? After all, if a baby coughs and sneezes, but there is no temperature, this does not always indicate that his body is fighting viruses.
Disease or not Please note that as in adults, so coughing and sneezing may not be pathological processes, but physiological ones. In addition, in most cases they are the first signs of an allergy. According to statistics, approximately 30% of children have fairly weak immunity. That is why their body cannot independently begin to fight the infection that has penetrated it. Therefore, no increase in temperature is observed.
If we look again at the statistics, we can find out that more than 15% of children suffer from allergies at this age. Moreover, they can develop allergies to household chemicals, dust or animal hair. In all other cases, we are talking about simple physiological coughing and sneezing. In other words, from time to time the body of children and adults without outside help gets rid of the so-called garbage that accidentally got into it. To understand what caused the cough and sneezing (illness or natural need), you should try to find other accompanying symptoms which will indicate the presence of infection.
- The child lost his appetite and his sleep became restless.
- With a cough, the baby produces phlegm.
- The baby began to cry frequently for no apparent reason.
- Any rashes were found on the skin.
The above changes are signs of a developing disease. To prevent the baby’s condition from worsening, it is recommended to consult a doctor and tell him not only that the newborn baby has begun to cough and sneeze, but also about your own concerns and the changes in behavior that have been noticed.
In what cases is cough a sign of illness?
Even if your child does not have a fever, but he is constantly coughing, this is a reason to suspect something is wrong. Perhaps we are talking about a serious infection affecting the respiratory tract. Often in newborns, a common cold begins with a slight runny nose. The secreted mucus is the main cause of cough, since it plays the role of a kind of irritant. It affects the receptors and causes coughing. As a result of this, you can experience a fairly frequent cough and runny nose, in which thick mucus is released from the nose.
But sometimes it also happens that a runny nose is not accompanied by mucus secretion, but becomes the cause of severe swelling in the nasal passages. Trying to swallow air through the mouth, the child provokes drying of the mucous membrane of the throat. This provokes a sore throat, so the baby begins to cough. But at the same time he does not produce sputum. In this case, the following signs help determine that the child is really sick:
- the baby often rubs his eyes and nose;
- his sleep becomes restless, he wakes up at night and cries;
- diarrhea appears;
- the baby becomes inactive or often arches his back and knocks his legs;
- if you touch his head or ears, he starts crying.
Sometimes the disease causes inflammation of the mucous membrane of the eyes. As a result of this, a number of other signs appear: the child’s eyelids often stick together, small crusts can be seen on the eyelashes, the eyelids swell and acquire a reddish tint.
It is strictly forbidden to leave something like this unattended, as it can have extremely Negative consequences. Treatment that does not start on time will require more time, effort and money. Therefore, if you notice one of the above signs, be sure to seek help from a pediatrician. After all, the child’s body is not able to resist infection. Consequently, it can cause a number of complications over time.
Allergic cough
As mentioned above, allergies do not occur very often in infants. However, this still happens. It is important to remember that the occurrence of an allergic cough is also a reason to start worrying about the baby’s health. Doctors believe that it is very dangerous for children, since the penetration of various kinds of irritants into the body can cause swelling of the respiratory tract.
According to statistics, about 12% of children who had an allergic cough began to suffer from attacks of suffocation. Determining that a child’s cough is due to an allergy is quite simple:
- cough is dry, no sputum is produced;
- the eyes begin to water even if the child is not crying;
- The baby has a stuffy nose, but there is no runny nose.
Sometimes, in addition to the above signs of allergy, there are also itchy skin and the appearance of a rash. However, this is typical for allergies to household chemicals.
In this case, you need to change the detergent, washing powder and skin care products used.
And since such a cough in most cases causes various kinds of complications, it is necessary to seek qualified medical attention as soon as possible. medical care. It is prohibited to independently try to select medications suitable for a course of treatment. After all, before prescribing treatment, the doctor will take a special allergen test to determine which irritant the newborn is allergic to. This is the only way to determine which treatment will be most effective.
When a cough is not a reason to call a doctor
If we are talking about a physiological cough, then there should be no reason for concern. But, in order to get rid of obsessive thoughts that the baby is sick, you need to make sure that there is no illness. How to distinguish a healthy cough from one that accompanies infectious diseases? To do this, you need to carefully monitor your children.
A more frequent cough is observed in children who are teething. This natural process causes them to produce more saliva and cough. Therefore, if such a physiological process manifests itself during teething, then there is no need to worry. If you are still tormented by doubts, then before calling a pediatrician, observe your child. And only after you notice other changes in his behavior and well-being, contact a medical center for help.
An infant is a defenseless and tender creature. Even minor illnesses on his part plunge adults into panic. So why does a baby cough, and what to do if such a nuisance happens in your family, we will tell you further.
Why does my baby cough?
Coughing is a normal, protective reaction of the body.
Until the age of two months, the child coughs because his respiratory system adapts to the new environment. The baby’s behavior does not change, he eats actively and sleeps enough. Over time, such coughing disappears.
Baby teething as a test of endurance
The appearance of denticles is a painful process. The baby reacts to it with increased temperature, sleep disturbances, refusal to eat, and excretion. large quantity saliva that is coughed up ( moist cough) or spits.
This phenomenon can be mistakenly mistaken for ARVI. But swollen and reddened gums in the beginnings of baby teeth inform frightened parents that the child is growing up.
Otitis
Otitis media inflammation of the middle ear. The cough is associated with irritation of the nerve, which innervates the oropharynx and ear cavity with its branches. Therefore, the impulse reflexively passes from the damaged organ to the healthy one, and symptoms of both otitis and pharyngitis (inflammation of the pharynx) appear.
Low air humidity
Parents try to create a warm, cozy environment for their child, even in summer, and can overdo it. The child is bothered by a dry, hacking cough. And all because of the too dry indoor climate. Dry air irritates the mucous membrane of the back of the throat.
Advice! Parents, remember that maintaining sufficient air humidity is necessary for both adults and children. After all, water is life. And it is also needed for the functioning of the respiratory system. Be careful!
Contaminated air
Air has a detrimental effect on a small family member. Therefore, stop smoking at least around your child. If a baby coughs in a yard where there is industrial smoke or the result of combustion autumn leaves, then it is better to choose a more suitable place for a walk.
Intrauterine infection - infection of the baby before birth
The child faces congenital pneumonia, which is difficult to treat. This happens when a mother suffers from infectious diseases during pregnancy and does not receive adequate treatment.
The baby is sneezing and coughing
Often these are symptoms of a common cold or ARVI. As a rule, the disease is accompanied by fever and copious mucous discharge from the nasal cavity. The same secretions provoke a wet cough when they fall on the back wall of the throat (the sensitive cough zone of the upper respiratory tract), and sneezing.
If a baby wheezes and coughs, this is an alarm for parents. These may be symptoms of acute laryngotracheitis or, as it is popularly called, false croup, which is accompanied by shortness of breath, a specific barking cough (see), noisy breathing and, if assistance is not provided in a timely manner, can end sadly.
IN in this case You also need to humidify the air. Hot steam from a working kettle or a bath with plenty of water (sauna effect), distraction therapy in the form of a back massage or patting the buttocks will help.
Congenital heart disease is accompanied by a dry, frequent cough, shortness of breath, paleness, and blue discoloration skin. The baby is restless, the intercostal spaces and fontanelles are intensely retracted when the baby cries.
Advice! Suspicion of a pathology of heart development is a reason to contact a pediatric cardiologist. It is also important to know that infants have a normal heart rate of 130-140 beats/min at rest, and, for comparison, adults have 60-90.
What to do if your baby coughs in the morning?
Morning is the time for the reign of the vagus. In other words, physiological activation of the vagus nerve, which causes the bronchi to narrow.
Shortness of breath combined with wheezing are symptoms of acute obstructive bronchitis or bronchial asthma. The latter disease is hereditary, associated with allergies (see) and requires particularly careful examination and treatment. Children whose mothers are accustomed to smoking cigarettes are at risk for developing bronchitis.
Cough after feeding
Occurs for several reasons:
- Inappropriate position for breastfeeding
- A large amount of milk in the mother's breast
- Increased pressure inside the stomach.
Advice! To better regurgitate excess milk, the mother should lift the baby and gently press her to her, put a warm diaper on the tummy, in a word, relax the intestinal muscles. This way you can also stop an attack of intestinal colic, which is manifested by the child’s agitation when he cries after feeding due to bloating and gas not passing.
Treatment of cough in infants
You need to contact a specialist. A doctor who examines and treats newborns is a neonatologist. A pediatrician cares for babies older than one month.
Actions for a runny nose during ARVI
In this case, the baby’s nose should be washed with an antiseptic solution. The best option- drops. Then, using a rubber bulb, the contents of each nasal cavity are removed in turn.
Advice! During this unpleasant procedure, it is necessary to close the entrance to the baby’s ear with your finger to prevent mucus from entering the ear cavity behind the pressure gradient. In this way, you will prevent the development of otitis media.
If the air in the room is dry
Simple ways to increase air humidity in your home:
- If it's cool outside, it's enough to a short time open the window in the room.
- Place a bowl of water near the hot radiator. You can make a simple device from plastic bottle and secure in a warm place. The water will evaporate and the climate in the room will improve significantly.
- Shake the wet towel several times.
- Hang wet bedding around the perimeter of the room.
When the cause of cough is confirmed bronchial asthma or bronchitis, the doctor prescribes inhalation of saline solution, bronchodilators (bronchodilators) through a nebulizer - a modern device for converting liquid into fine particles that easily enter even the most distant and narrow branches of the bronchial tree.
Instructions for pulmicort:
- The active substance is budesonide.
- Group of drugs: hormonal bronchodilator.
- The effect occurs 1 hour after administration, but lasts a long time.
- Release form: suspension for inhalation, 0.25 ml/kg.
- Indication: bronchial asthma.
- Price: about 400 UAH.
Mode of application:
- for babies under 6 months, with caution and according to strict indications - 0.25 mg/kg/day, diluted with 0.9% saline before use;
- children over 6 months – 0.25-0.5 mg/kg/day.
Advice! The solution for inhalation must be prepared strictly according to the instructions and used within 30 minutes.
If there is no nebulizer in the house, use inhalation (see) over a bowl of steaming tea made from rose hips, sage herb or chamomile flowers. The method is cheap but effective. Dried plants cost pennies in pharmacies, but side effect with moderate use they do not cause.
Mucolytics - medications that reduce the viscosity of sputum - help turn a dry cough into a wet one.
Mucolytics allowed in infancy
| Drug name | Release form | Daily dose |
| Bronchicum | Drops, bottle, 30 ml | Children from 6 to 12 months. ½ teaspoon (2.5 ml) 2 times a day |
| Althea | Syrup | ½-1 tsp, pre-dilute in ¼ glass of warm water, 2-4 times a day |
| Ampoules 10% 2 ml | 10 -15 mg/kg 2 times a day | |
| overslept | Drops, bottle, 25, 50, 100 ml | Up to 1 year – 10 drops (2.5 ml) |
| Sinupret | Drops | With caution, children under 1 year old – 1 tsp. 3 times a day |
| Eucabal balsam C | Syrup, fl. 100 ml | From 6 months up to 6 years - 1 tsp. (5 ml) |
To prevent coughing attacks ethnoscience advises placing sage leaves in the corners of the nursery.
If it is determined that the baby’s cough is associated with the appearance of teeth, then you can alleviate his suffering with the following techniques:
- use special toys for biting, which must first be cooled; they relax the gums well and relieve pain due to their distracting effect;
- grandmother's method - lubricating the gums with a thin layer of honey, but provided that there is no allergy;
- Dentol 7.5% is an anesthetic ointment approved for children over 4 months of age.
The video in this article will introduce parents to the basic information about physiological coughs and those that indicate illness.
Is your baby coughing and sneezing, but no temperature?
Cough, like a runny nose, is a frequent companion to most respiratory diseases.
Its task is to rid the body of foreign substances: viruses, bacteria, small particles of dust, various allergic particles.
IN Everyday life A small amount of them necessarily gets into the child’s respiratory tract, but with the help of mucus, protective antibodies and the structural features of the bronchial mucosa, the body quietly gets rid of them.
When a child gets sick, there is more mucus, and coughing helps remove it and reopen the airways.
But coughing does not always give relief; it often disturbs sleep, worsens the child’s well-being and worries parents.
In addition, it can be a sign of diseases more serious than acute respiratory infections, and the use of various, especially combined antitussive drugs can worsen the child’s condition.
Therefore, parents should know that a baby who is coughing must be examined by a doctor.
A cough can be a manifestation of inflammation of the mucous membrane of any part of the respiratory tract, namely a symptom of one of numerous diseases.
Diseases accompanied by cough
- Laryngitis (inflammation of the larynx), in this case the cough is rough, barking, and may be accompanied by noisy breathing.
- - rough cough, which may be painful. This cough is also possible with further acute respiratory infections.
- Bronchitis is a cough that is dry and frequent at first, then becomes less frequent and wet. With obstructive bronchitis, wheezing is observed.
- - the nature of the cough can be similar to bronchitis, but is determined by the severity of the baby’s condition. Shortness of breath is possible; in case of complications with pleurisy, pain may be felt in the intercostal spaces during coughing.
- Children's infections. With measles, along with the symptoms characteristic of this infection, an obsessive, painful cough is observed. With whooping cough and parawhooping cough, the cough is paroxysmal with characteristic stoppages of breathing.
- Allergic diseases. Along with cough, other manifestations of allergies are observed - various rashes, itching, lacrimation.
- Tuberculosis of the respiratory system. This is also worth remembering, but as a rule, the disease is identified in the early stages.
- . The nature of the cough can be different - dry, paroxysmal, wet and deep, and may be accompanied by wheezing. Often, an obsessive cough may be the first or only manifestation of this disease.
- Pleurisy. This is a complication of pneumonia, in which inflammation spreads to the membrane surrounding the lung tissue, the pleura. In this case, the cough is accompanied by pain in the area chest, possible abdominal pain, the child’s condition is serious.
- Cough in infants can also be observed with rhinitis: mucus from the nasal cavity flows down the back wall pharynx, and due to its irritation, the baby may cough periodically. In this case, the cough will be infrequent and short-lived. A superficial cough can be observed with adenoid growths, with possible difficulty breathing and nasal discharge. If there is insufficient air humidity in the room, respiratory discomfort may occur, especially in winter when using different heaters.
- A cough can occur as a result of milk entering the respiratory tract during breastfeeding (especially in children who often regurgitate). The child must be monitored, as frequent repetition of such cases can lead to.
How to relieve a child who is coughing?
It depends on what kind of cough the child has.
Therefore, antibiotics are used in the treatment of children in the first months of life, and the doctor recommends hospitalization in a children's hospital.
Regardless of whether the child is prescribed antibiotics or not, whether he is being treated at home or in the hospital, the baby needs to be helped to cough up the accumulated cough.
If it works, you can lightly press the spoon on the tongue and the baby will cough; if not, the natural method will help.
You shouldn’t immediately calm the baby down when he’s crying; literally a minute of crying fills his lungs with oxygen, which will help the baby cough up phlegm and clear the airways.
Loud laughter has the same effect, the effect is enhanced by positive emotions and helps the baby recover faster.
Parents should know that repeated bronchitis is dangerous not only in itself, but also because it can lead to the development of bronchial asthma.
In addition to symptoms such as cough and fever, others are added:
- weakness
- poor appetite or breast refusal
- baby sweats often
- gets tired quickly
- shortness of breath is observed
- drowsiness
- Blueness may appear around the mouth and nose.
If such symptoms appear, you should immediately call a doctor to begin timely treatment.
You should think about the possibility of developing bronchial asthma in a child if the following symptoms are observed:
- wheezing when exhaling
- frequent bronchitis
- a cough that gets worse at night and wakes the child up
- paroxysmal cough that persists for a long time after suffering from bronchitis, pneumonia or acute respiratory infections
If the diagnosis is confirmed by a doctor, treatment should be started as early as possible; often, the administration of hormones through inhalation at the beginning of the disease under the constant supervision of a doctor allows one to overcome asthma.
In addition, there are many other ways to cure this disease.
It is very important to find exactly the method that will help the child recover as quickly as possible, before the disease starts.
- spa treatment
- speleotherapy in salt caves
- phytotherapy
- homeopathy
- physical therapy and massage
It should be remembered that in the first months of life, when immunity has not yet been formed, the baby is not sufficiently protected from the effects of viruses and bacteria.
But children who receive breast milk have protective antibodies to many infections, and such babies get sick less often and recover faster than bottle-fed children.
The parents’ task is to ensure that there are as few microbes as possible in the child’s environment until the baby’s immune system gets stronger and is fully formed.
This is fully achieved good care for the baby, long breastfeeding, limiting his contacts with sick children and adults, as well as carrying out preventive vaccinations.
Gradually, the baby’s own immune system will learn to produce antibodies and resist pathogens of infectious diseases, but its formation takes place in stages and this process is very individual.
Final formation immune system ends around 3 years of age.
Caring parents try to create conditions for the newborn in which the baby would feel as comfortable as possible. The health of the new family member is put above all else, so the baby is dressed warmly, given daily air baths, walks, and health-improving gymnastics. Undoubtedly, any mother who thinks about the health of her child tries to breastfeed if possible. However, it is not always possible to protect yourself from the disease using all of the above methods. Bacteria and viruses spread through the air at lightning speed during cold season, so even visiting a store or clinic can be dangerous. Often relatives bring the infection home. The situation when a newborn coughs and sneezes is not uncommon, so parents should know what to do in such cases.
A newborn is coughing and sneezing - what to do?
If a newborn's cough and runny nose are accompanied by high temperature, it is better to call a doctor.
It is believed that any case of an infectious disease in children under one year of age deserves the attention of a pediatrician.
In most cases, it is difficult for parents to independently assess the condition of the newborn and draw a conclusion whether they should start taking serious medications or whether it is better to give the immune system time to cope with the infection on its own.
The temperature in the room where the child is located should not be higher than 20 degrees. Parents often forget about this when trying to keep their baby warm. A room that is too hot and the warm air that the child inhales causes the nasal vessels to dilate and worsen the runny nose. Dry air increases irritation of the mucous membranes, causing sneezing and coughing. For healthy child normal level air humidity is considered to be 40%; for a sneezing and coughing newborn, the humidity should be maintained at about 50-60%. Often, a humidifier is used for these purposes or wet towels are hung on radiators. Droplets of moisture in the air soften and moisturize the surface of the respiratory tract. This makes breathing easier and promotes better cleansing the nose from mucus, and the bronchi from phlegm.
It is also worth remembering that if a newborn is coughing and sneezing, this is not a reason to refuse breastfeeding. Quite the opposite - when a baby has a cold, he should drink as much liquid as possible. This relieves intoxication and removes bacterial waste products from the body. In addition, breast milk contains antibodies that strengthen the immune system. The mixture in this regard is somewhat inferior in composition breast milk. Sometimes it is recommended to supplement artificial drinks with cold water with regular warm water.
What medications can be used if a newborn is coughing and sneezing?
In addition to humidifying the air, to facilitate breathing and the general condition of the baby, you should clean his nose of crusts and mucus using a rubber bulb or special devices.
Usually, first, saline solution or one of the pharmaceutical salt preparations (AquaLor, Salin, Aquamaris, Physiomer, etc.) is instilled into the nose, then hygienic procedures are performed to cleanse the nose. After this, 1 drop of a drug is instilled that constricts blood vessels and makes breathing easier.
Only Nazol Baby and 0.01% Nazivin are suitable for newborns.
10-15 minutes after using them, it is advisable to rinse your nose again.
Treating a cough in a newborn is more difficult. Officially, only two syrups are used for children under one year of age - Bromhexine and Ambroxol, and then only with the permission of a doctor. Children's syrups are given to babies 2-3 times a day, half a teaspoon. They are used only in advanced cases, when the sputum is too viscous and does not separate well. Usually, to cure a newborn's cough, drinking plenty of fluids and doing postural exercises - lying in a crib with the foot end raised - is enough. Herbal infusions (Alteyka, “Breast infusion” series) are allowed for infants from 6-7 months of age if they do not have allergies.
