Your child has a dry cough, you can help relieve the cough at home

Children have a dry cough due to many internal and external causes. From these simple family ingredients and tips, you can help your baby relieve coughing.

Young children are susceptible to respiratory diseases and present with a dry cough day and night. Understand the cause and treatment, you will help your baby deal with this symptom effectively.

What is dry cough?

A dry cough is a cough that produces little or no mucus (phlegm). Usually, children have a dry cough due to a cold virus infection, which stimulates the nerves in the throat. Dry cough is a respiratory disease caused by external influences and internal hormones. The disease can appear in anyone, any age, whether it is children or adults. In special cases, infants as young as a few weeks old can also experience.

Cause a dry cough

There are many causes of a dry cough such as:

Viral infection: when a dry cough is caused by a viral infection, it can mean the baby is having a common cold and flu . Children with a dry cough caused by a viral infection may have a cough at the onset of illness, in the middle or at the end of the infection, and may even last after other symptoms have gone.

Posterior nasal discharge: when excess mucus that forms in the baby's nasal cavity drips down the back of the throat. Over time, it stimulates the nerves behind the throat and causes a dry cough.

Air pollution:  in fact, indoor air pollutants can also irritate the back of the throat causing a dry cough in a child.

Dry cough due to respiratory diseases:

With tracheitis, the baby often presents with a cough. This is a normal mechanism when your child's body is fighting off illnesses and trying to get mucus or phlegm out. Cough is also often a symptom of a respiratory infection or asthma. In addition, cough also helps to circulate air more easily through the endotracheal tube into the lungs, helping children breathe more comfortably.

When lying down, children tend to have a worse cough because in this position, the mucus will lodge in the back of the throat. Children swallow the mucus, not spit it out as adults usually do. This will cause stomach cramps or vomiting every time the child coughs. Mucus can also appear in a child's stool.

Some tips for you to help your child with a dry cough get through their symptoms

Here are 6 methods that parents can use from simple materials or items that are easy to find in the home to ease children's dry coughs.

1. Give the child with dry cough to drink enough fluids

To treat dry cough effectively for children, the most important thing parents need to remember to add enough water to your baby every day. In addition, adequate hydration will limit dehydration, moisturize and soothe pain and itchy throat.

2. Add garlic to your baby's menu

An extremely simple but extremely effective secret to treating dry cough that every parent should try is to add garlic to children's dishes. According to research shows, garlic works to increase the resistance ¹ to the virus that causes disease in the baby's body. This will help your baby get better faster.

3. Use cough medicine and some natural oils

When your baby is more than 3 years old, parents can treat a dry cough with medicine. However, if your baby is under 3 years old, you should not give cough medicine to your baby because it can cause very dangerous airway congestion. Besides, some essential oils like peppermint or eucalyptus can help relieve dry cough.

4. Ensure the baby's nose and throat moisture

Get enough moisture for your baby's throat and nose by using the sauna or using a nasopharyngeal vaporizer. Moisture can relieve a baby's cough temporarily.

5. Give your baby a teaspoon of honey

Babies with dry cough, parents can suck children to suck on a teaspoon of honey. Honey acts as a natural cough suppressant that children with a dry cough can use to soothe the cough.

You should note that never give honey to babies under 1 year old. Honey can contain botulinum bacterial spores that cause poisoning.

6. See your doctor for diagnosis and treatment

For children under three months of age who have difficulty breathing, cough up blood or have a fever, you should see your doctor for prompt diagnosis and treatment.

Parents need to pay attention to the daily changes in their child's health and it is best to take them to a doctor to find out the exact cause of their cough and be guided in timely treatment.

In addition, please refer to the article " Cough Children: Cause and the most effective and accurate treatment " to learn more about the causes and treatment of coughs.