Strange, but when an adult coughs, he ignores this phenomenon, saying that he feels good. But if the child suffers from choking, then restless mothers begin to stuff him with syrups, pills and other all kinds of medicines.
But why not allow the thought that the child is completely healthy, and a cough only indicates the ingress of foreign particles into the respiratory tract ?! Let's take a closer look at its nature in babies, consider a list of drugs and identify an effective cough medicine for children from one year old.
Does a cough always signal a disease?
Coughing occurs due to the ingestion of foreign particles (mucus, dust, pollen, food) that irritate the larynx, trachea, bronchi, and pleura. In fact, this phenomenon is a physiological reflex even during the period of the disease, when the patient coughs up sputum.
In what cases does the cough in children have a physiological cause when there are no symptoms of the disease, and the baby is absolutely healthy?
- Morning. After a night's sleep, the child may have a slight cough. This is due to the fact that mucus accumulates in the bronchi overnight.
- Grudnichkovy. For infants, coughing is a characteristic phenomenon, as the baby can choke while crying or feeding.
- Artificial. Infants, struggling for the attention of mothers and fathers, can cause a single cough in themselves, having noticed once a concern on their faces.
- "Dental". During teething in children, increased salivation appears, which can contribute to a cough reflex.
- A protective cough occurs when small objects or food crumbs get into the respiratory tract. In this case, you need to remove the foreign body, most often you need medical help.
In these cases, do not give children expectorants. The cough medicine should be selected correctly, so as not to worsen the well-being of the child. A harmless cough differs from a cold short duration, episodic. It does not affect the health of the child.
The nature of coughing during illness
If the cough becomes a consequence of the disease, then the baby does not sleep well, eats, plays, begins to act up, to cry. In this case, the disease leaves its mark on the cough reflex:
- with colds, acute respiratory viral infections, acute respiratory infections, the cough increases in a few hours or days, turning from dry to wet;
- laryngitis causes a coughing barking, dry, painful, hoarse, accompanied by wheezing, labored breathing;
- with tracheitis there is a loud, "chest", deep and painful "thump";
- pharyngitis is characterized by dry cough, arising from a sore throat;
- bronchitis "bump" is similar to tracheitis, only it is painless and is accompanied by sputum production;
- pneumonia can cause a wet, deep, chest cough with pain in the ribs if the disease is caused by bacteria, or dry, paroxysmal, loud, painless if the cause of the disease was chlamydia;
- with flu, coughing is strong, dry, painful, aggravated at high temperature;
- in the first two days, measles causes a dry, weak, painless cough, while after skin rashes it becomes rough and hoarse.
In this case, even an expensive medicine for children with a dry cough will not help, since the treatment should be comprehensive.
Allergic cough
After colds, an asthmatic or recurrent cough may occur in children. It lasts more than two weeks and is constantly repeated after illness. This can be the cause of the appearance of obstructive bronchitis, then along with a cough, both temperature, and sore throat, and rhinitis appear.
If coughing is not accompanied by signs of a cold, but is caused by allergens, cold air, and physical exertion, then the child may have asthma. Such a cough occurs as a reaction to an allergy (wool, fluff, plant pollen, dust, products). It may appear during uneven breathing, for example, a child runs up, takes a deep breath, or swallows cold air. An allergic cough usually appears before dawn, as a reaction to shortness of breath and shortness of breath.
Observe the child: most often, along with an allergy, sneezing, lacrimation, skin rashes, redness, and itching appear. In no case do not ask for advice on the forum, do not read reviews about cough medicines and do not experiment on a child, as everyone has a different disease.
Be sure to seek pediatric medical attention. And if the child’s well-being stabilizes after taking bronchodilators, then we can talk about the appearance of bronchial asthma.
How can parents determine which child’s cough?
If the baby has the described symptom, then you should not panic, immediately call a doctor or look for medications. Pay attention to the following points:
- How does a child behave during a cough? If the baby did not pay attention to him, continues to play, then, most likely, this is a protective reaction of the body. But if the child is naughty or, conversely, has become quiet, trying to lie down, then you need to measure the temperature.
- Is there a temperature and other colds in a baby? If the temperature is 37, then watch the child during the day. Sometimes the cause of this temperature may be overheating (bought in hot water or put too warm on the street), then it will disappear in a couple of hours.
- Does cough affect the general health of the pean? Maybe the baby eats, sleeps, plays badly or his behavior has become unnatural?
- Did the child swallow small parts during the game?
If the children do not show signs of the disease, then coughing has a protective physiological nature, so there is no need to look for a good cough medicine for the child. But with a protracted phenomenon, consult your doctor, there may be other reasons for this symptom.
If the cough is a consequence of the disease
Your actions:
- to measure the temperature;
- examine the throat, tonsils, ears, eyes, nose;
- check with the child where it hurts;
- see if there are rashes on the skin;
- listen to what cough: dry, barking, intermittent, paroxysmal, wet, hoarse, with sputum;
- Call a doctor.
Monitor the well-being of the child, the nature of the course of the disease and the type of cough. For example, with colds, a “thump” from dry can turn into wet due to increased runny nose, while with flu, coughing occurs without acute rhinitis.
However, a cough without fever, runny nose, sore throat can be a consequence of the appearance of roundworms in a child, allergies, digestive tract diseases, and even with cardiovascular ailments. Therefore, if the described phenomenon lasts more than two weeks, it is better to consult a doctor and express your concerns, and not give a cough medicine uncontrollably.
A protracted nightly "booze" may indicate diseases such as rhinitis, sinusitis, sinusitis. In this case, in children there are discharge from the sinuses of white and green color, severe nasal congestion. Be sure to seek the advice of an otolaryngologist!
Essential and auxiliary medicines to eliminate cough
If you turn to a pharmacist for advice on how to buy a cough medicine for children from a year and older, then you can get dozens of names in response: Codeine, Demorphan, Sedotussin, Sinecode, Libexin, “ Helicidin ”,“ Stoptussin ”,“ Broncholitin ”,“ Lorraine ”,“ Herbion ”,“ Mukaltin ”,“ Ambrobene ”,“ ACC ”,“ Lazolvan ”,“ Bromhexine ”,“ Sinupret ”, etc.
Medicines in this category are divided into 3 types:
- drugs that prevent a cough reflex due to exposure to nerve cells in the brain;
- medicines that affect the bronchi and their mucous membranes;
- medicines that reduce sputum production.
Some of them can be harmful to the children's body, as they have narcotic substances, others are inactive, because the body does not perceive them. Therefore, the pediatrician after the examination writes out his treatment.
- Babies up to a year are prescribed syrups, inhalations, ointments, essential oils, less often sprays.
- Older children may be prescribed pills.
Inhalations are most effective, as the child inhales the drug vapor deeply. But the duration of the procedure and the proportions of the medication with saline, check with the pediatrician. In any case, when a dry cough appears , the doctor’s task is to prescribe a drug that transforms it into a moist one, and then helps to remove phlegm from the body.
What medicines give children a dry cough?
1. Libexin tablets are best used for colds. They act on nerve receptors, inhibiting the cough reflex, but do not inhibit the respiratory center. Tablets can be given to preschoolers.
2. The herbal preparation "Linkas" in the form of a syrup has an expectorant, antitussive, bronchodilator, antispasmodic effect. This is a cough medicine for children from a year who do not have diabetes.
3. Pills "Bithiodin" peripherally affect cough receptors, do not have narcotic components and any side effects. Therefore, they can be assigned to children.
4. Tablets "Stoptussin" belong to antitussive drugs and have a mucolytic effect due to butamirate and guaifenesin. They have a number of contraindications and are prescribed to adolescents from 12 years old.
5. Syrup "Broncholitin" copes with cough, reducing sputum production and expanding the bronchi. Suitable for children from three years. Despite the wide range of uses, this medicine has a number of contraindications and side effects.
What is the cure for wet cough given to children?
1. Herbion syrup for wet cough has an expectorant effect. It has a peculiar taste and smell, so not all children drink it.
2. Thermopsis tablets enhance sputum excretion and make it more viscous. This drug is contraindicated in infants who cannot cough up the formed sputum.
3. Syrup-like "Lazolvan" - a cough cough medicine for a child, stimulates sputum production, but does not suppress cough. This medication can be issued for inhalation, which allows the treatment of infants.
4. The drug "Ambroxol" in the form of tablets is aimed at increasing secretions of mucus. It has an expectorant, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial effect.
5. Tablets “ACC” can be prescribed for young children in the treatment of wet cough. Thanks to acetylcysteine, sputum liquefies and leaves the body. Despite the advantages of the drug, there are a lot of side effects, so treatment should be carried out under medical supervision.
What are expectorant
- The cough medicine “Sinecode” in the form of a syrup is used against dry cough and during whooping cough disease. It has an expectorant, anti-inflammatory and bronchodilating effect. It is used no more than 7 days in syrup for preschoolers older than three years, for babies it is sold in pharmacies in the form of drops.
- Gedelix Syrup perfectly removes phlegm. Herbal medicine is made in Germany. It does not contain dyes, sugar, flavorings, alcohol, so it can be used from infancy.
- The drug "Doctor Tyss" in the form of a syrup is made in Germany. Effective in the fight against wet cough. Facilitates breathing during night sleep and removes sputum. You can not give children up to a year.
- Herbal medicine "Doctor Mom" in the form of tablets, lozenges, syrup. Allows you to transform dry cough into wet and remove sputum from the body. Assigned to children from three years.
- Tablets and Bromhexine syrup increase sputum production, making it viscous. Great for children over three years old.
Effective cough medicine for children from a year
As you can see, there are a lot of drugs for dry and wet cough. Moreover, in each category there are subgroups of medicines that have a wide range of effects due to combined functions. Such medicines include Stoptussin, Broncholitin, Doctor Mom, etc.
Try to cure small children with rubbing, mustard, ointments, inhalations, herbal decoctions and syrups. For babies, pediatricians can prescribe such drugs as Doctor Tyss, Lazolvan, Linkas, Gedelix, etc., but everything will depend on the individual tolerance of the medication and the nature of the course of the disease.
In any case, parents need to remember two things:
1. Before you buy the drug, check with the pharmacy about contraindications and side effects. If you have concerns, you must immediately return to the pediatrician and clarify the method of treatment.
2. If the doctor has prescribed a new cough medicine for children from one year old, monitor the baby’s reaction.