How to treat an infant for a cold with folk remedies? How can a mother of a baby determine that her baby has a cold? Main signs of the disease. Treatment options
A cold is always a difficult period both for a small child’s body and for his parents. You can encounter it all year round, but more often it happens in the off-season. If it happens that the baby has caught a cold, then treatment should be started as quickly as possible. But how to distinguish colds from the same flu and how can they be effectively treated? These two questions are now spinning in the head of every mother whose baby begins to experience health problems. Let's look for answers together on this burning topic.
The child's body is especially susceptible to colds in the autumn-winter period.
Where does a cold come from?
The root cause of a cold is the child’s reduced immunity. Factors that trigger the inflammatory process of colds are usually:
- hypothermia;
- periods of exacerbation of chronic ailments;
- a series of negative emotions experienced one after another;
- problems in the gastrointestinal tract.
How not to confuse the symptoms?
The first symptoms of a cold, unlike the fulminant flu, appear after a day or two. It could be:
External and behavioral signs of a cold
Are there any signs that, if you notice, you can guess that a small child has a cold? Yes. These are signs of a change in your baby's behavior:
- refusal of food (even from your favorite food);
- lethargy or increased excitability;
- restless sleep (screams are possible);
- cloudy eyes;
- pale skin;
- cheeks that are too pink or very pale;
- increased sweating;
- rapid or slow breathing.
The doctor knows how to help!
Most young parents, when their child shows the first signs of a cold, begin to panic or attribute the symptoms to teething. Neither of the two lines of behavior is correct. The child feels your inner excitement very well and begins to worry himself., thereby giving the disease the opportunity to develop faster and stronger. By sinning on your teeth, the teething of which reduces the body’s defenses, and by letting the course of the disease take its course, you risk developing a cold. Such “ignoring” can lead to very serious unwanted complications. The smartest thing to do is call the doctor, which will help determine what exactly the baby is sick with.
How can you keep your child safe?
Is it possible to prevent a child from getting a cold? Undoubtedly. Timely vaccination will help you develop immunity against most viruses. What you can do yourself:
Very often, traditional methods of fighting colds are not enough. Then doctors prescribe a baby, a weak electric current can work real miracles.
Exercises in the pool will help infants increase their immunity and feel great. Almost all city swimming pools have groups for the little ones. For more detailed information click.
Cold in an infant
If you can’t protect yourself from a cold, then you need to start treating it as soon as possible.
Colds in infants require increased attention from parents because treating a child with our usual medications at such a tender age is dangerous due to the fact that the latter can cause an unpredictable reaction, and incorrect or late treatment can lead to complications that can be dealt with for years.
A sick child requires increased attention and care.
When to call an ambulance and a doctor?
Treatment of colds in infants is an individual process.
If a baby 3 months or younger has a temperature above 38 0 C, call an ambulance immediately.
It is during this period of development of the baby’s reaction to medications that it is impossible to predict. If the baby is more than 3 months old and the temperature is not higher than 38 0 C, there is no need to knock it down. Let the body fight the disease itself, developing valuable immunity. When the thermometer shows more than 38.5 0 C, emergency qualified help should be called for every infant. If the numbers on the thermometer are lower, call your local children's doctor to your home.
Actions of the mother before the arrival of specialists
Before the doctor or ambulance arrives:
If the elevated temperature does not cause obvious discomfort in the child, then there is no need to bring it down, but It is better to refrain from swimming.
Medicines, especially antibiotics, that you give to your child to calm yourself without a doctor’s prescription can give a short-term positive effect, but soon the situation may be complicated by a second wave of colds, which is much more difficult to get rid of. Therefore, never treat your child yourself, without the advice of a wise doctor.
How to get rid of a runny nose?
The basis for treating a cold in an infant is the timely removal of excess mucus accumulated in the nasal passages. Your baby's nose needs to be cleaned before every feeding, even at night. What is needed for this:
- turunds - small cotton flagella;
- oil or soda solution.
Cotton buds can be purchased at any pharmacy.
We twist a small piece of cotton wool into a flagellum and dip it in oil or soda solution (1 teaspoon of soda per 200 ml of water). We carefully insert the moistened turunda into the baby’s nostril 7-8 mm and twist it while pulling it back. We do the same with the second nostril. If the mucus does not come out well, drop 2-3 drops of boiled water or saline into each nasal passage, wait a little and repeat the procedure with the mucus.
After cleansing your nose, if necessary, drop a few drops of breast milk into each nasal passage - it relieves inflammation thanks to its protective elements. If you are feeding the baby with a formula, then instead of milk you can drip vegetable oil heated in a water bath - it will soften the nasal cavity and prevent the nasal passages from “drowning” in mucus and becoming crusty. Do not put more than 3 drops in one nostril - they can easily penetrate the baby’s middle ear and cause inflammation.
Fighting a runny nose using folk recipes
Great for a runny nose carrot and . It is diluted in equal proportions with water and 2-3 drops are dripped into each nasal passage. After six months, you can try dripping aloe juice diluted in half with boiled water. If the baby does not like the instillation procedure, simply moisten a cotton swab with juice and insert it into each nostril for a few minutes.
Beetroot juice is an effective remedy for snot.
An effective method that helps remove mucus and quickly get rid of a runny nose - massage of the wings of the nose. It should be carried out with stroking movements from the bridge of the nose to the nasal openings. Together with the nose, you can massage the baby’s ears and forehead. Ask your doctor for advice before trying common cold remedies on your child.
Interferon- recognized by many doctors as a means of combating colds. The drug can be used from birth. Interferon is dripped every 2 hours 5 times a day. Treatment time is 3 days.
Hot foot baths are a simple and effective way to relieve nasal congestion.
Warming your feet in warm water when you have a runny nose is great! It is possible from 9 months and at a low (up to 38 0) temperature in the baby. First, we lower the child’s feet into warm water up to the ankles and let him get used to the temperature in the basin. Gradually add hot water into the basin, mixing it with your hand with the cooled water. The temperature in the basin should be about 40 0. When your feet turn red, pour cold water on them and dip them in hot water again. Repeat the procedure 3 times. Then dry your child’s feet with a towel and put woolen socks on them. Now you can go to bed.
You can steam your feet only at low temperatures.
If the baby is not yet 9 months old, then warm the soles of his feet with mustard plasters. Dip the mustard plaster into warm water and, taking it out, straighten it in the sock. Place the sock on the child’s foot, and then another sock on top of it. You need to keep the mustard plasters on the soles of your feet for 40-45 minutes.
Reviews from most parents about mustard plasters and warming baths are positive, but where are there no exceptions? Evgenia shares the consequences of warming up with mustard plasters:
“The child has a cold. We warmed our heels 2 times a day for 40 minutes. The first day yielded small positive results, and on the second the child developed a high fever. The ambulance arrived: they said it was overheated. It was necessary to hold the mustard plaster for less time (up to half an hour), since the baby is only a month old. I didn't experiment anymore. We managed without mustard plasters. Now healthy and happy!
During a runny nose at night, place your baby so that his head is much higher than his body - this will make it easier for him to breathe through his nose.
Let's get rid of the cough
The most important thing when treating a cough is to drink plenty of fluids. Warm water, tea with lemon, raspberries or rose hips (if there are no allergies), compote will help remove phlegm as quickly as possible.
Cough can be treated well with mustard plasters, but if the baby has a high fever or is allergic to anything, then immediately discard this option. An alternative to mustard plasters is inhalation. They can be done with:
- honey- dilute it in hot (about 40 0) water 1: 5;
- sage- 2 tbsp. Infuse spoons of plant leaves into a glass of boiling water for a third of an hour under the lid;
- chamomile- 2 tbsp. spoons into a glass of boiling water, leave for 20 minutes and add a liter of boiling water. Chamomile is an excellent antiseptic;
- soda- 2-3 tbsp. spoons per liter of fresh boiling water.
Essential oils and herbal vapors help remove mucus.
Place a pan or bowl with the inhalation solution near the baby's crib for at least an hour. You can also cut up an onion or a few cloves of garlic and place it near the head of the crib.
Magic compress
A couple of hours after inhalation, if there is no temperature, give the baby an oil compress:
- heat the vegetable oil in a water bath to 40-45 0;
- wet a cotton napkin with it;
- place it on the baby’s chest and neck;
- cover the top of the napkin with cellophane;
- put denser material on it;
- wrap the material in a towel;
- tie the towel with a woolen shawl or scarf.
The compress should keep the baby warm for 2 hours. After the baby, you need to wash off the oil so that it does not interfere with the removal of unnecessary substances used by the body through the pores.
The only compress that can be applied to a baby at a fever is cottage cheese. The curd must be heated and the whey separated from it. When a thick curd mass remains, place it in a double layer of gauze and place it on the baby’s chest for about half an hour. When you remove the compress, wipe the area where it was applied with a cotton swab dipped in warm water and blot dry. Any compress is effective if done several times a day.
Dry warm cottage cheese is used for a compress.
The type of cough is important
Cough syrup can only be given to a toddler from six months of age. What kind of baby needs syrup? - it depends on the type of cough: dry and barking or %20%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%81%D1%87%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BD% D1%8B%20%D0%BD%D0%B0%20%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%88%D0%B8%D0%B9%20%D0%B2% D0%BE%D0%B7%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%82,%20%D0%B4%D0%B0%20%D0%B8%20%D0%BD%D0%B5 %20%D1%85%D0%BE%D1%87%D0%B5%D1%82%D1%81%D1%8F%20%C2%AB%D0%BF%D0%B8%D1%87%D0 %BA%D0%B0%D1%82%D1%8C%C2%BB%20%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%B4%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%82%D0 %B0%D1%8E%D1%89%D0%B8%D0%B9%20%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B3%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B7%D0 %BC%20%D1%85%D0%B8%D0%BC%D0%B8%D1%87%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%BC%D0%B8%20 %D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%89%D0%B5%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BC%D0%B8?%C2%BB%20target=%C2 %BB_blank%C2%BB>%D0%B2%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B6%D0%BD%D1%8B%D0%B9%20%D0%B8%20%D0%B3%D0% BB%D1%83%D0%B1%D0%BE%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9%20%D0%B3%D1%80%D1%83%D0%B4%D0%BD%D0% BE%D0%B9 .%20%D0%9F%D1%80%D0%B8%20%D1%81%D1%83%D1%85%D0%BE%D0%BC%20%D0%BA%D0 %B0%D1%88%D0%BB%D0%B5,%20%D0%BE%D1%81%D0%BE%D0%B1%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%BD%D0%BE% 20%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%BB%D0%B8%20%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%BE%D1%81%20%D1%80%D0%B5% D0%B1%D1%91%D0%BD%D0%BA%D0%B0%20%D0%BE%D1%81%D0%B8%D0%BF,%20%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0 %B4%D0%BE%20%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%BA%20%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%B6%D0%BD%D0%BE%20%D0%B1%D1 %8B%D1%81%D1%82%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B5%20%D0%BF%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%80%D0 %B0%D1%82%D1%8C%D1%81%D1%8F%20%D0%BF%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%81%D1 %82%D0%B8%20%D0%B5%D0%B3%D0%BE%20%D0%B2%D0%BE%20%D0%B2%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B6%D0 %BD%D1%8B%D0%B9.%20%D0%94%D0%BE%D0%B1%D0%B8%D1%82%D1%8C%D1%81%D1%8F%20%D1% 8D%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%BE%20%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%B6%D0%BD%D0%BE%20%D0%B5%D1%81% D0%BB%D0%B8.
The baby's health is a concern for parents. The most difficult thing is to protect a child from a cold: he is easily infected, he has a hard time recovering, and complications often appear. It is important to know about the signs, course of the disease, how to treat a cold in an infant in order to provide him with timely help.
Features of occurrence in children
In medicine, a cold is called ARVI or ARI (acute respiratory viral infection or acute respiratory disease). The first spreads during viral epidemics: a baby can become infected from relatives if his immune system is weakened.
Acute respiratory infections often occur due to hypothermia in the infant, which causes a weakening of local immunity on the mucous membranes and the active proliferation of bacteria and viruses that are constantly present in humans in small quantities.
They try not to take babies under one year old into public places to prevent infection. If a close relative is sick, communication is limited so as not to infect the child.
The baby gets sick less often due to the immunity received from the mother at birth. It works in a newborn baby up to 3-4 months, then the body independently forms a protective system and additionally receives antibodies from mother’s milk if the baby is on. Children on IV are more likely to become infected.
Infection from mother
Great difficulties are caused by the disease of a nursing mother, which can infect the baby. An infected person does not immediately learn about the disease: the first signs of a cold appear a few days after infection.
The virus from the mother can enter the baby’s body through the mucous membrane of the nasopharynx and breast milk, but you cannot stop feeding: the baby will lose the main medicine.
Frequent hand washing with soap and a gauze mask that needs to be changed several times a day will help limit your exposure to pathogens.
Symptoms
The child is not yet able to explain that he has started to get sick, so parents often pay attention to the obvious signs of a cold in their infant:
- Discharge of mucus from the nose;
- The eyes become cloudy;
- Difficulty breathing, the baby often opens his mouth or pacifier during feeding, cries and refuses to eat, although he is clearly hungry;
- , may be accompanied by a feverish state, chills - the baby trembles at normal room temperature;
- The voice becomes hoarse;
- Frequent sneezing and coughing appears.
Before these symptoms, changes in the child’s behavior should alert you. He becomes lethargic or overly excitable. An infant sleeps poorly; on the contrary, he sleeps often and for a long time, and is capricious. Signs of a cold in a newborn are a reason to immediately consult a doctor.
If a cold occurs in an infant, Komarovsky recommends an immediate visit to the doctor. Only he will decide correctly how to treat a cold. It is advisable to use less different medications; self-treatment of a cold in a child is strictly prohibited. Medicines that help adults with similar symptoms may be dangerous for him.
If a cold occurs virally, it is useless to use antibiotics, which are used for complications of an inflammatory nature.
In case of inflammation, the pediatrician may prescribe nasal drops, vasoconstrictors or therapeutic ones based on saline solution, and for inflammation - containing antibiotics. You can put two or three drops in each nostril. It thins mucus and has an antiseptic effect. To make breathing easier, you need to clean your nose with a blower, a nasal aspirator, or, in extreme cases, with your mouth.
Babies cannot swallow pills. To treat a viral disease, suppositories are prescribed for colds containing , which are inserted into the anus. The medicine is absorbed in the intestines, acts faster and does not harm the child’s digestion. You can replace suppositories with drops or syrup, but they can cause vomiting.
There are positive reviews about the use of Anaferon for colds in infants. But it belongs to homeopathic medicines; to treat a viral disease, remedies with a higher concentration of the active substance are needed.
Contraindicated for the treatment of colds in infants:
- Decoctions, tea with honey, raspberries, cough syrups can cause allergies;
- . It is not originally intended to treat a runny nose, it promotes the growth of bacteria, and accelerates inflammatory processes;
- Rubbing with essential oils can cause rashes and itching;
- Steam inhalation leads to burns of the nasopharyngeal mucosa;
- The use of mustard plasters is unacceptable for the skin of a baby;
- Enema without consultation with the doctor.
Folk remedies are effective for colds, but it is not recommended to use them to treat a newborn. Treatment procedures are prescribed by a doctor; self-medication can lead to complications that are life-threatening to the child.
If your child has a fever
A baby’s temperature up to 38° contributes to the body’s production of antiviral substances; it should not be brought down. If you lower it already at 37°, the baby will take longer to recover. At a temperature above 38° in children under 3 months, or 38.5° in older children, call an ambulance immediately; it is better to give medications under the supervision of a physician, as an allergic reaction is possible.
The ambulance does not always arrive quickly, and the rise in temperature threatens the child’s life. In such a situation, you can independently give him an antipyretic drug intended for infancy.
In the absence of children's medications, in emergency cases, you can use paracetamol, which will quickly reduce the temperature. Previously, it was often prescribed for the treatment of children under one year of age, but today its toxic effects on the kidneys and liver have been proven.
It is contraindicated if the baby is 1 month old or less. For a child 2 months and older, the single dose is 15 mg per 1 kg of weight, not more than 60 mg per kg of weight per day. The action begins after 30 minutes. and lasts 4 hours. The tablets need to be dissolved in water and given to the baby to drink. It should not be used for more than 3 days; it is better to replace paracetamol with antipyretic drugs adapted for infants.
It is forbidden to give aspirin or wipe the baby with a solution of water and vinegar, alcohol, or vodka. Chemicals enter the child's body through the skin and cause poisoning. A one-month-old baby can get a burn to the mucous membranes when inhaling vapors.
Thermoregulation in the body has not yet been established; sudden changes are dangerous and can cause convulsions in the child. To alleviate the condition, wiping with a cloth soaked in warm water is allowed.
A dangerous condition is white fever, which is manifested by high temperature and pale skin, while the extremities are cold. You need to bring down the temperature slowly, only under the supervision of a doctor.
Rules of care
Komarovsky notes that the body is able to cope with a cold on its own if favorable conditions are created. Basic Rules:
- Regular ventilation. The influx of fresh air allows you to get rid of viruses and bacteria in the room, oxygen makes it easier for the baby to breathe;
- Humidity level is within 70%. Dry air irritates the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract. You can use a humidifier, place a container of water near the battery, hang a damp cloth;
- The temperature in the room should not be higher than 22°. There is no need to additionally turn on heating devices, wrap the child up, or cover him warmer than usual. A weakened body will be forced to spend energy fighting overheating and will be sick longer;
- Carry out wet cleaning in the room 1 – 2 times a day, because microbes settle on surfaces, and dusty air irritates the baby’s mucous membranes and makes breathing difficult;
- Clothing should be light and comfortable, made of breathable materials (cotton). Change your child's clothes immediately after sweating, wiping him dry. Wet bed linen also needs to be changed. During illness, it is better to refuse diapers - they contribute to overheating at high temperatures;
- The child's head should be higher than the body; you can place a small pillow and monitor the baby’s posture when he is in his parents’ arms;
- A calm environment in the home is important. You cannot be angry with a child because he is sick and capricious. The baby feels tension and begins to worry. Double stress aggravates the symptoms of the disease in infants.
Daily routine and feeding for colds
The painful condition leads to exhaustion and fatigue. You need to move away from your usual sleep schedule and let your child sleep more to regain strength. It is necessary to avoid noise, bright light, active games - a sick baby quickly gets tired and needs rest.
If you have a minor cold, you should not give up daily walks if your child can breathe through his nose. They must be short-lived. Contraindications are high fever, severe runny nose, cough, sore throat, weakness.
Nutrition is necessary for the baby to recover; it contains useful substances and vitamins. If nasal breathing is impossible, the newborn often refuses to eat, and with exacerbation of the disease and high temperature, vomiting may occur. You cannot force a child to eat; it is better to feed more often, but reduce the portion.
If you have already started introducing them into your baby’s diet, you need to give up new foods for the duration of your illness. When an appetite appears, you need to give those porridges or purees that his body digests well.
The baby needs to be fed with boiled water, even if he is breastfed. Increased sweating causes dehydration; the water-salt balance needs to be restored.
Bathing and massage
It is believed that children should not be washed if they have a cold. Contraindications are high fever and poor health. You should refrain from the procedure if the temperature has subsided less than 2 days ago. In other cases, water procedures are mandatory: they help cleanse the skin of toxins that leave the body along with sweat and allow the skin to breathe. The temperature should be a couple of degrees higher than usual - 37-38°. You can return to the usual temperature after the child has fully recovered.
Whether it is possible to bathe a baby with a cold is decided by the attending physician. Pediatricians prohibit the procedure due to the risk of hypothermia. You can wipe it daily with a soft cloth soaked in warm water. You need to wipe and dry all parts of the body with a towel one by one. If you get your baby completely wet, he or she may freeze.
The doctor may prescribe baths with. This may have an antibacterial effect. prescribed to ease the baby's breathing. You should not bathe with the decoction without a doctor’s prescription, or use new plants to which the baby’s reaction is unknown.
Is it possible to get a massage if you have a cold? At the beginning and active phase of the disease, the procedure should be abandoned. It leads to vasodilation and a slight increase in body temperature, which is dangerous if the baby has a fever. A viral disease causes headaches, which are aggravated by increased pressure during massage. Impact on the chest leads to increased sputum production. It makes it difficult for the baby to breathe, and he still doesn’t know how to cough properly. It is better to cure a cold in a baby, then resume the massage course.
A cold in an infant lasts from 4 days to a week. At the first signs of the disease, you should consult a doctor and follow his instructions for treatment. This will allow him to recover faster and avoid complications.
A cold in a baby is a very unpleasant occurrence. At this age, the baby is not able to talk about what worries him, and he cannot independently free his nose from mucus and cough. A cold is an acute respiratory infection. Treatment of a cold in an infant should be carried out in a timely manner to avoid any complications in the future.
What to do if your baby is sick
If the baby is not yet 2 months old, and the body temperature exceeds 38 degrees, you must not hesitate and call emergency help as quickly as possible. This measure is necessary because self-treatment with any drugs can cause unpredictable reactions and consequences. In such a situation, it is better for specialists to take care of the child.
When an ambulance or a pediatrician is called, the child should not be force-fed. If he completely refuses to eat, it is better to give him a small amount of water. It is strictly forbidden to try to eliminate the signs of a cold with vinegar or vodka solutions, since such products can be dangerous for the baby. Their constituent elements are able to penetrate through enlarged pores into the baby’s body. If you can’t bring down the temperature with the help of medications, you need to apply a cloth soaked in water at room temperature to your tummy, groin area, or neck.
If a newborn baby has snot, it is not allowed to use any vasoconstrictor drugs without the appropriate prescription from a doctor. Accumulated secretions can be sucked out using a special aspirator or a regular enema.
To improve the discharge of mucus, a few drops of pharmaceutical saline solution are instilled into the nose from a pipette; this method of treatment is also recommended by the famous children's doctor Komarovsky. Any medications are allowed to be used only after appropriate prescription or permission from the pediatrician. At this age, it is not allowed to use traditional medicine. Even the use of raspberry jam can harm a baby and provoke the development of an allergic reaction.
If the baby eats breast milk, it is recommended to put it to the breast frequently; breast milk contains natural interferon. To prevent the occurrence of a cold in a baby, it is necessary to control how the child is dressed; there is no need to re-wrap him. Wearing large amounts of warm clothing negatively affects the body's resistance to various pathogens. If the baby constantly gets used to warmth, even a slight draft can become a prerequisite for the subsequent development of a cold.
Treatment instructions
If the baby gets sick himself or gets infected from one of the adults, it is necessary to adhere to the general recommendations of doctors and experienced mothers. The following rules should be followed in treatment:
- Initially, you need to call a pediatrician. No matter how severe the manifestations of a cold, it is necessary to call a doctor, since even such a harmless phenomenon as a runny nose can become dangerous for the baby.
- It is recommended to place a pillow under the baby's head and frequently ventilate and wet clean the room in which the baby is located.
- If the body temperature rises to 38 degrees or higher, the baby is completely undressed and wiped with water at room temperature until the ambulance arrives. A useful procedure is an enema.
- If cold symptoms such as a runny nose and cough are present, in consultation with the pediatrician, rub the neck, back, chest, and feet using solutions based on eucalyptus oil or plant extracts (for example, Eucabal balm).
- An excellent assistant in the treatment of acute respiratory disease is a therapeutic bath using medicinal plants (chamomile, calendula, sage, nettle). The bath can be done for half an hour, the water temperature should be approximately 38 degrees. After the bath, the baby is dressed and put to bed.
- You can apply compresses with non-hot oil. A cloth or gauze is soaked in heated oil, a plastic bag is placed on top, and a woolen scarf is placed on top. It is recommended to keep such a scarf for several hours. Such applications are carried out for the baby several times a day.
- In many situations, cough medications are prescribed by doctors for children who are six months old. For productive and non-productive cough, different types of medications are used.
Read also: Symptoms and treatment of colds in adults
Children at this age can use the medicine Dr. Theiss - this medicine is effective if the sputum is difficult to separate. The drug Bronchicum contains thyme, rose hips, honey and other herbs. Doctor IOM is used if there is a sore throat or a dry, irritating cough. The drug Tussamag is used against dry cough; it is a thyme-based medicine.
Inhalations are effective. Place a pan of hot water in a closed room near the crib with the baby. Next, the mixture is lowered into the container for inhalation. The baby will inhale vapors for an hour and a half. You can also place a saucer with hot water near the crib, into which chopped garlic is placed.
It is recommended to give the baby a lot of warm drinks - tea with rose hips, lemon, fruit drinks, dried fruit compotes - only in consultation with the doctor. You can apply warming manipulations using mustard powder. If the child has a cough and a runny nose, put on cotton socks, another one with a little mustard in them, and a third wool-based socks on top. In addition to using traditional medications to treat colds, the doctor may advise giving the baby immunomodulatory drugs and vitamins.
Human immunity is developed only with age, when a person suffers from various diseases and his body develops protective antibodies. For this reason, young children suffer from colds much more often than adults.
When regularly visiting children's groups, the risk of contracting a viral infection increases significantly. Bad weather and inappropriate clothing only contribute to the rapid development of infection. The drug market offers a large selection of drugs for the treatment of colds of various etiologies. But medications must be used very carefully, only as prescribed by the pediatrician. Additionally, you can help your baby with folk remedies.
Use traditional methods of treatment exclusively as auxiliary procedures to the main treatment prescribed by the pediatrician.
The main symptoms of the development of acute respiratory infections in a child
Adults can independently determine the deterioration of their health and the development of a viral infection. It is quite difficult to diagnose the onset of a cold in an infant, and he himself is unlikely to be able to describe his poor health. Parents, as a rule, notice that something is wrong with the child when the disease is already in full swing.
Doctors identify a number of symptoms that indicate the onset of a cold in children:
- The baby is very capricious and restless;
- The child's appetite worsens;
- Fatigue increases;
- Lack of interest in games and toys;
- Increased drowsiness;
- Moods change dramatically.
Based on these signs, the mother can definitely tell that something wrong is happening to the baby. You should not start treatment with medications on your own. You must first consult with a pediatrician who will accurately determine the diagnosis and prescribe a course of treatment. You should start intensive therapy only if you observe the following symptoms in children:
- Runny nose;
- Cough;
- Increased body temperature;
- Redness of the eyes;
- Enlarged lymph nodes.
Using folk remedies to treat colds in children
When a child has a cold, the pediatrician must prescribe medication. But it is worth remembering that the use of folk remedies can be no less effective and will help the baby cope with the disease faster. Folk recipes have been tested for centuries, but herbal medicine must be used carefully.
Preparation of diaphoretics to treat colds
As soon as a child gets sick, it is necessary to strengthen the body’s resistance to viral infections and help it function normally. At the same time, the body must actively remove toxic products that accumulate under the influence of the virus. This is greatly facilitated by an intensive drinking regimen. Good diaphoretics will help remove harmful substances in a fairly short period of time.
The following folk remedies are suitable to speed up the metabolic process:
- Tea from linden inflorescences. This drink can be used for children aged from one month. To prepare, you can first collect and dry linden flowers yourself. Ready-made linden-based teas can also be bought at the pharmacy. Tea is given after meals.
- Warm milk with added honey. The product has been known since ancient times, but it must be prepared correctly: during the preparation process, warm milk is used up to 40 degrees. It must first be boiled. Add a tablespoon of any honey to a glass of milk. After taking it, you need to go to bed and wrap yourself in a warm blanket.
- Raspberry tea. To prepare this drink, you can use fresh, dried berries or raspberry jam. Although it is worth considering that if the jam sits for a very long time, then the raspberries gradually lose their healing properties.
- Tea based on chamomile infusion. Helps effectively and quickly reduce high body temperature. A child can take this drink after meals. In order for the baby to sweat well, he needs to be wrapped in a warm blanket.
- Warm decoction of nettle blossoms. This drink can be used for medicinal purposes if a child has an allergic reaction to raspberries or chamomile.
How to cure a runny nose with folk remedies
A runny nose is one of the most unpleasant symptoms in infants with a cold. It can be cured without the use of medications. There are a large number of folk recipes that will help you get rid of a runny nose very quickly. Let's look at a few examples below:
Warming up the baby's feet. This method is unlikely to be suitable for infants, but for older children this procedure will only be beneficial. This should be done if the baby’s body temperature is normal; at elevated temperatures, such manipulations are contraindicated.
To warm your feet you need:
- A basin of water at fifty to sixty degrees.
- Dilute a tablespoon of mustard powder and sea salt in water.
- The feet in the basin should be covered with a large terry towel.
The procedure should last no more than twenty minutes. After which you must put warm woolen socks on your feet.
Warming up the maxillary sinuses will help with runny noses in children. Just be sure to make sure that the child does not have sinusitis, otherwise the situation can worsen:
- We wrap several hot potatoes in a cloth made from natural materials.
- Apply a compress to the maxillary sinuses.
- Keep until completely cool. The fabric can be unrolled as the potatoes cool.
A soda-based inhalation procedure is good for colds:
- Steam eucalyptus or chamomile leaves in one liter of boiled water. Calendula also treats rhinitis well.
- The water must be cooled for several minutes.
- You need to dilute a tablespoon of soda in the liquid.
The child needs to breathe in the vapors under a towel.
Onions and garlic are effective against colds. Their medicinal properties have been known to people since ancient times. The vapors from these plants actively kill pathogenic bacteria.
In order to prepare the medicine you need:
- Grate the onion or garlic and let the baby breathe on the fumes;
- This paste can be placed in saucers in the rooms where the sick child is.
Also a very effective remedy for colds is inhalation based on pine buds:
- Boil three to four tablespoons of pine buds in one liter of boiled water.
- The baby needs to breathe in the medicinal vapors of this decoction.
To treat a runny nose in children, you can use agave juice:
- Squeeze a small amount of juice from the leaves;
- Any honey is added to the juice in a 50/50 ratio;
- You need to instill several drops into each nostril several times a day.
Products to support immunity
At the first signs of acute respiratory viral infection or acute respiratory infections, supportive measures can be used to prevent colds. These include echinacea.
Thanks to the beneficial substances contained in echinacea, the child’s body stops producing substances that affect the membrane walls. They remain more resilient. When a viral infection enters the body, microorganisms cannot spread very quickly. On the contrary, immune antibodies begin to be very active.
The body’s protective functions are activated much faster, preventing the virus from spreading in the child’s body.
Your pediatrician will be able to select the most suitable immunomodulator for you, taking into account the individual characteristics and age of the child.
Preventive measures to prevent colds
When treating a cold, it is very important to combine traditional methods of treatment and medications, but remember that the disease is easier to prevent than to treat. With the onset of the colder months of the year, you should take care of strengthening your baby's immune system. Then the risk of catching a cold will be minimized. In order for the child to feel good, pediatricians recommend thinking over a menu of healthy, nutritious food for him. The meals your baby eats should include a full range of vitamins and beneficial elements. Additionally, you can include honey and raspberries in your diet. It is not only healthy, but also tasty.
Physical activity also has a positive effect on your child's health. Spend as much time as possible outdoors with him. A good walk before lunch will ensure you have a sound and healthy sleep during the day. Which is also important for strengthening the immune system. Some pediatricians recommend hardening children from an early age. If your baby can tolerate low temperatures well, this will help the body become more resistant to viral infections.
Hardening procedures for young children can be carried out only after consultation with your pediatrician.
The most important factor that directly affects the risk of disease is contact with sick people. Any infection is transmitted primarily by airborne droplets. During an outbreak of diseases in schools and kindergartens, it is better to protect the child from contact with peers. You should also refrain from visiting places with large crowds of people (shops, shopping centers, etc.).
Let's look at effective folk remedies for treating colds in children.
Recipes based on materials from the newspaper “Vestnik “ZOZH”.
Treatment of colds in children with folk remedies - inhalation with potatoes.
The most famous folk remedy for colds in children is to breathe over potatoes. If a child has a cold, you need to boil the potatoes in their jackets, throw a pinch of soda into the pan with the potatoes and sit the child down to breathe the steam, covered with a warm blanket. After this, give her tea with raspberries and put her to bed. (HLS 2002, No. 23 p. 20).
An effective folk remedy for treating a cold in a child is a potato compress.
If a cough does not go away for a long time after a cold, this folk remedy will help children and adults.
Boil the potatoes in their jackets, crush them, add 1 tbsp. l. vegetable oil, 2-3 drops of iodine. Place the mixture in a fabric bag and apply it to your chest, wrap it on top. Carry out the procedure at night. Keep the compress until the potatoes have cooled.
Iodine can be replaced with 1 tbsp. l. dry mustard. Even a lingering cough goes away within 3 days.
(recipe from Healthy Lifestyle 2011, No. 1 p. 26).
Colds in children - delicious homemade remedies.
In winter, tonsillitis, pharyngitis, and bronchitis often worsen, and many people catch viral infections. Children are especially seriously ill and reluctant to receive treatment. Therefore, they need to prepare “tasty medicine” for colds.
1. For a sore throat, a mixture of butter and honey, thoroughly ground in equal proportions, helps a lot. It is given to the child 1/2 - 1 tsp. several times a day. This folk remedy is also good at relieving attacks of night cough in a child.
2. For hoarseness and cough, a decoction of white raisins, 2 tbsp. l. raisins, pour 1 glass of hot water, boil for several minutes. Cool, mix with 1 tbsp. spoon of onion juice. Let the child drink 1/3 glass 3 times a day, warm.
3. If a child has a cold and a sore throat, a mixture of honey and cranberry juice in equal parts will help - this mixture should be used to lubricate the child’s sore throat.
If a child has chronic tonsillitis, then the mixture is made from 1 part honey and 3 parts aloe juice. The throat is lubricated for 2 weeks every day, 2 weeks every other day. The procedures are carried out for children on an empty stomach.
During illness, the child should drink as much healthy fruit drinks and herbal teas as possible (rose hips, mint, linden, oregano). If he doesn't want to eat, don't force him. The body itself regulates the amount of food. Eating without appetite only undermines the body's healing powers.
To prevent your child from catching a cold, give him a mixture of pureed lemon and honey; this is a good prevention of colds. (recipe from Healthy Lifestyle 2011, No. 1 p. 27).
How to quickly cure a cold in a child using folk remedies at home.
If a child is over three years old and is not allergic to honey, folk remedies will quickly help cure a cold in the following sequence:
1. Give your child a glass of warm milk with 1 tbsp before going to bed. l. honey and 1 tbsp. l. butter.
2. Lubricate the chest with sunflower oil, then apply honey, on top of polyethylene and woolen fabric (if the child gets prickly, then cotton fabric first)
3. Lubricate the bridge of the nose, temples, earlobes, behind-the-ear pits, and the hollow between the collarbones with the “Star” balm. Rub the child’s feet with this balm and put on warm socks.
4. Put the child to bed.
This method of treating colds is also suitable for adults.
A compress on the chest can be done if the temperature does not exceed 37 degrees. This folk remedy is especially effective if a child’s cough does not go away for a long time after a cold. (HLS 2012, No. 6 p. 23).
A traditional treatment for colds in children is a honey compress.
Here's a similar recipe. A woman treated colds in children like this: she warmed honey to a liquid state, spread warm honey on 2 large cotton or flannel napkins, put one honey napkin on the back, the other on the chest. She put parchment paper on top and wrapped it warmly. After this, she gave the child hot milk or tea with raspberries and put her to bed. In the morning, the temperature, cough, runny nose, wheezing disappeared everywhere. (HLS 2012, No. 7 p. 30).
If your child has a cold, you can apply honey directly to the skin rather than on napkins, gently rubbing. On top is a linen towel, compress paper, and a warm scarf. It would also be nice to give the patient diaphoretic tea at night. (recipe from Healthy Lifestyle 2004, No. 13 p. 7).
An oil compress is a simple remedy for a cold in an infant.
When the girl was not yet a year old, she fell ill with pneumonia. In addition to the main treatment, warming of the chest was needed; mustard plasters were not suitable for such a baby. Then the child’s mother was advised to soak the fabric in vegetable oil, wrap the fabric around her daughter’s chest, bypassing the heart area, with oilcloth and cotton wool on top. Tie everything with a warm cloth and leave overnight. This compress gently warms and does not cause harm. While the child was small, my mother always made oil compresses for colds, and the cough and wheezing in the chest quickly went away. (HLS 2008, No. 16 p. 30).
Oil and honey compress for children.
The child had a severe cold - there was wheezing in the lungs, pneumonia was suspected. A friend suggested a simple method for treating a cold in a child. Mom did 2 procedures, and everything cleared up. Since then, in order to quickly cure a child’s cold, she has been using this folk remedy.
You need to mix 1 tbsp well. l. vodka. 1 tbsp. l. honey and 1 tbsp. l. vegetable oil. Apply this mixture thickly to your back without rubbing. Dress the child in a warm flannel shirt, put mustard plasters moistened with water on the shirt, paper side to back. Place a damp cloth on the mustard plasters so that they do not dry out longer, polyethylene and a terry towel. Secure this entire structure with a wide bandage, put on a warm shirt over it, and then a woolen jacket. Keep for 3-4 hours. It's better to do it at night. Repeat every other day. (HLS 2004, No. 2 p. 25).
Treating a cold in a child at home with camphor oil.
If a child has a cold, the following folk remedy for a cold will always help cure it: rub the child’s chest, back, nose and feet with camphor oil, put on woolen socks and go to bed. (HLS 2012, No. 12 p. 30).
Treatment of colds in children at home with a compress of mustard and honey.
The following compress will help your child quickly cure a cold: mix dry mustard, flour, vodka, honey, sunflower oil in equal parts - 1 teaspoon each, and 5 drops of iodine. Apply the mixture to a gauze pad and bandage it on your back overnight. There will be no burn, just pleasant warmth. (HLS 2004, No. 10 p. 15).
How to cure a cold in a child with pine jam at home.
Due to a medical error, a child suffered from pneumonia 10 times in a year (from one and a half to two and a half years). After the third time, the doctor said that the child would not survive another inflammation. Then the grandmother began treating the child with folk remedies. In parallel with taking antibiotics, she gave the child honey at night, gave him a honey cake and gave him a wonderful mixture prepared from the young tops of pine or fir branches. The tops must be collected while they are still 10-20 cm long without needles. Remove resin flakes from the tops with a soft cloth and pass through a meat grinder. Mix the resulting mass with honey in a 1:1 ratio, place in sterile jars, and sprinkle a layer of sugar on top to protect against mold. Place in the refrigerator.
For colds and coughs, prepare tea from this mixture: 1 tbsp. l. Pour 300 ml of boiling water on top and leave until warm. For a child, divide this infusion into three doses; an adult can drink it all at once. The effect comes very quickly, the cough becomes soft and goes away quickly.
With the help of this remedy, the child was completely cured, constant colds stopped, and he grew up healthy. (HLS 2010, No. 9 p. 8-9).
Honey cake for colds and bronchitis in children.
To prepare honey cake you need to take:
honey - 1 tbsp. l.
mustard – 1 tbsp. l
vegetable oil – 1 tbsp. l
flour – 1 tbsp. l..
Mix everything, heat in the oven for 3-5 minutes, divide the mass into two parts, put each in a cloth and bandage it on the baby’s chest and back with a wide bandage or cloth. Put a warm blouse on top and put the child to bed.
This folk remedy can even cure pneumonia in a child, not to mention colds and bronchitis. (HLS 2002, No. 24 p. 18,).
The human immune system gains strength only with age, going through various diseases and strengthening as a result of proper treatment. Although even adults suffer from colds 2-3 times a year, this illness occurs much more often in children.
While attending kindergarten, a child can catch a disease completely by accident, and cold weather and inappropriate clothing create favorable conditions for the development of infection in a young body.
The pharmaceutical market offers a large number of drugs that can cope with a wide variety of ailments. However, using synthetic products is not always safe for a child, so many general practitioners often recommend treating colds in children with folk remedies.
The first signs of a cold in a child
An adult can independently feel the approach of the disease based on already known symptoms. In a child, especially a small one, it is quite difficult to identify the disease - the clinical manifestations at the initial stage are very vague, and the child himself cannot accurately describe his feelings. Parents are often faced with an already progressive disease, which they have to devote all their strength to fight.
However, experienced pediatricians still identify several symptoms that help determine the approach of a cold in a child:
- the baby becomes excessively capricious;
- his level of anxiety increases;
- there is a lack of appetite up to a complete refusal to eat;
- the child gets tired quickly;
- loss of interest in toys and surroundings;
- the baby often gets sleepy;
- sudden mood swings are noticeable.
These signs will allow parents to guess that something is happening to the child’s body. However, in this situation, you should not quickly run to the pharmacy and stuff your baby with a variety of pills.
Of course, for preventive purposes, you can give a tasty medicinal syrup, but full-fledged therapy must be started if the child exhibits the following symptoms:
- sneezing;
- cough;
- redness of the eyes;
- runny nose;
- enlarged lymph nodes in the area of the ENT organs;
- elevated temperature.
Modern drugs for treating colds
There are so many medications for colds today that you can choose one for every taste and color. However, every parent should remember the need to show their child to a doctor who will make the correct diagnosis and prescribe a course of treatment. If the baby is very unwell, then it is not necessary to take the child to the hospital in the cold - calling a local therapist at home will be the best solution to the problem.
Clinical studies show that most childhood diseases are respiratory infections that affect the upper respiratory tract. But in the absence of timely treatment, pathogens can enter the lungs and other parts of the body, which will cause complications that will be much more difficult to cope with than with a common cold.
- the child is required to have bed rest;
- the room temperature should be at least 22-24 °C;
- the room needs to be ventilated often, but at this moment the baby should be taken to another part of the house;
- it is necessary to regularly perform wet cleaning using disinfectants;
- The baby should be given plenty of warm drinks (tea, water, milk, etc.).
Of course, in some cases it is quite difficult to get a child to constantly lie wrapped in a warm blanket. Although if the disease seriously progresses, then he simply will not be able and will not want to get out of bed. But if this is just a slight ailment combined with children’s whims, then you will have to playfully give the child medicinal drinks, dress him warmly and offer him some quiet activities (for example, putting together cubes or puzzles).
Medicines for fever
A baby’s fever can be both very strong and quite acceptable. The body of any person is designed in such a way that at a temperature of 38 ° C the immune system is maximally activated, including most protective proteins in the fight against infection.
Therefore, you should not knock down this indicator, but if the thermometer shows more than 39 ° C, then you should definitely take action by giving the child Panadol, Nurofen, Efferalan or another antipyretic drug as prescribed by the doctor.
Medicines for the common cold
A cold is always accompanied by a runny nose, which manifests itself in nasal congestion and copious mucous discharge. Often this symptom causes a lot of trouble, significantly complicating breathing and preventing the child from sleeping normally.
It would be appropriate to regularly rinse your nose with a solution of sea salt (Aquamaris, Aquador, etc.) or special antiseptics with a low concentration of the active substance (Miramistin, etc.).
Various sprays and aerosols produced by many pharmaceutical companies will clean and dry the nasal cavity well. However, this remedy is not intended for long-term use - the baby’s nose may get used to the medicine, and the mucous membrane will gradually thicken, which will lead to unpleasant complications in the future.
If the discharge from the respiratory organ is similar to pus, then antimicrobial and antiviral drugs should be used, for example Pinosol, Collargol, etc.
Cough preparations
During a cold, a cough usually appears on the 3-4th day of illness, and it may be accompanied by a feeling of pain and sore throat. Children's sprays (Hexoral, Prospan, Gerbion, etc.) cope with such symptoms quite successfully, but you should not use them too frequently. It is much more important to help the child’s body increase its natural defenses, which will create the prerequisites for a speedy recovery.
Antiviral drugs
Elimination of symptoms usually leads to relief of the baby’s condition, but antiviral drugs must be used as part of complex therapy. The difficulty of their use lies in the fact that it is impossible to identify the causative agents of colds, of which there are over 200 species, without special analysis. However, laboratory testing usually takes a long time, and in the meantime the disease continues to progress. Therefore, special medications have been developed to treat the disease, acting on different principles:
- Fast-acting drugs (Grippferon, Viferon, etc.) contain ready-made antiviral substances and exhibit their effect almost immediately after administration to the body.
- Slow-acting drugs (Arbidol, Neovir, etc.) stimulate the production of one’s own immune proteins that can affect the course of the disease 4-8 hours after administration.
Folk remedies for colds in children
Many people prefer synthetic drugs, but few people know that treating colds in children with folk remedies can also be very effective. Time-tested recipes will quickly make the disease recede, but you need to use herbs wisely.
Sweatshops
In the first days of a cold, it is very important to activate the body’s natural defenses, creating all the necessary conditions for its normal functioning, but this will require the urgent removal of toxic metabolic products.
Drinking a large amount of liquid will promote increased metabolism, and diaphoretics will remove harmful substances from the child’s body in a relatively short period of time:
- Lime tea It is allowed to be used from the age of 1 month, which characterizes it very positively. You can brew both hand-picked linden flowers and tea sold in bags. Give to child only after meals.
- Milk with honey has long been used as a diaphoretic, but it must be prepared correctly:
- boil a glass of milk and cool to 40-50 °C;
- add 1 tablespoon of honey;
- drink and immediately go to bed under a warm blanket.
- Tea with raspberries It is best to use only with fresh berries, but dried ones are also suitable. Raspberry jam, although very tasty, still loses its beneficial properties due to the large amount of sugar.
- Chamomile tea has a good antipyretic effect. It should be given to the child after meals, immediately wrapping the baby in a warm blanket.
- If the patient has a severe allergy to raspberries or chamomile, then decoction of nettle flowers will replace these ingredients.
We treat runny noses in children with folk remedies
A runny nose is often one of the most unpleasant symptoms, but you can get rid of it without the help of medications. How to treat a runny nose in children with folk remedies so that it helps the baby get rid of this disease faster?
Warming up the feet of very young children involves some difficulties, but at the age of 2-3 years this procedure will not cause much difficulty. Only it is necessary to perform the manipulation at normal body temperature, and not elevated:
- prepare a bowl of hot water (50-60 °C);
- add 1 tbsp. dry mustard and sea salt;
- put your feet in a basin and cover them with a warm towel;
- sit like this for 20 minutes, then rub your feet and immediately put on warm socks.
By warming up the maxillary sinus several times, you can stop the development of rhinitis:
- wrap two small and hot potatoes in natural fabric (not synthetic);
- apply to the nose on both sides;
- keep it this way until it cools, gradually unrolling the fabric.
Soda inhalation will reliably relieve a runny nose and cough.
- boil 1 liter of water in a saucepan;
- add a handful of dry eucalyptus leaves (you can replace them with chamomile or calendula);
- cool the resulting liquid for 2-3 minutes;
- add 1 tbsp. soda;
- cover the child's head with a towel over the saucepan and let the vapors inhale.
Onion and garlic have an antimicrobial effect known since ancient times. By inhaling the vapors of these plants, you can naturally destroy a large number of viruses and pathogenic bacteria
- grate the onion and garlic and let the child breathe over the pulp;
- You can also place saucers with peeled and chopped plants around the room.
Helps with cough and runny nose inhalation based on pine buds
- boil 1 liter of water;
- add 3 tbsp. kidneys and boil for 10 minutes;
- let the child breathe in the medicinal vapors.
Agave juice is also good for relieving a runny nose.
- squeeze a little juice from a plant leaf;
- mix in equal proportions with honey;
- bury 1-2 drops in your nose several times a day.
Preventing colds in babies
Treatment of colds in children with proven folk remedies has proven itself in practice, but it is much more important to prevent the disease and prevent its occurrence. In the autumn-spring period, the child’s body is most at risk of catching a cold, but preventive measures will help strengthen the immune system and reduce the likelihood of illness to a minimum.
Doctors recommend feeding your baby healthy and natural foods and, if necessary, adding a complex of vitamins and minerals to the diet. In addition, regular consumption of honey and raspberries will not only be therapeutic, but also a tasty addition.
Constant activity of the child will contribute to his good development, so games and walks in the fresh air will be very useful. After such a pastime, healthy and deep sleep is guaranteed, which is also an important factor in strengthening immunity.
Some doctors believe that from early childhood you can teach your baby to harden. Of course, the body’s resistance to cold will significantly increase resistance to disease, but such procedures must be carried out very carefully and only after consultation with a specialist.
One of the most important factors in preventing colds is limiting a child’s contact with sick people. Any respiratory infection is transmitted by airborne droplets, so if an epidemic situation occurs in a kindergarten or school, it is better to temporarily stop attending the educational institution.
Although on the street in the absence of adults it is difficult to protect a child from contact with a person spreading the infection, but with the right approach to education, the problem can be easily solved.
Every parent eagerly awaits the birth of their baby. But it soon turns out that children not only need care and concern, but often also treatment. This is exactly what we will talk about today: what to do if a child gets sick?
How to treat a runny nose, cough, sore throat, laryngitis in infants
There are probably no children who do not suffer from colds. And as we know, one of the first signs of a cold is a runny nose. It not only accompanies the disease, but also creates significant difficulties during breastfeeding. Therefore, it is very important to clean your baby’s nose. There is an opinion that breast milk, enriched with protective substances, very effectively clears the sinuses: you need to drop a drop of milk into each nostril. If the mother does not have breast milk, then you can rinse the spout with a soda solution or vegetable oil. Also, one of the excellent ways to treat a runny nose is aloe juice. It is necessary to bury 4 drops of plant juice into the nose two to three times a day. But for this you should use a wick, because rinsing with a pear can result in a complication - inflammation of the middle ear. The pear can cause liquid medication from the nasopharynx to enter the Eustachian tube, which connects the ear and nose.
The appearance of eczema on a baby’s body is characterized by a red spot, which over time the baby scratches and a wound forms. Such symptoms signal that a malfunction has occurred in the child’s body.
The first thing to do when diathesis, allergies or eczema appears is to eliminate the root cause of the disease. Then you should carry out procedures that will help relieve inflammation of the skin. To do this, you can bathe your baby in a herbal solution of chamomile and. You can also prepare a healing ointment by mixing fir oil and baby cream: the mixture is used to treat inflamed areas of the body.
But for effective treatment, it is necessary to consult with a pediatrician and determine the cause of the allergic reaction.
How to treat conjunctivitis and stye in infants
Conjunctivitis is an inflammation of the mucous membrane of the eyes, which occurs due to infection. The most common home remedy for the disease is brewing tea. It is necessary to wipe the child's eyes with a moistened swab about four times a day. This procedure can also be carried out with a decoction of rose hips. In addition, you can grate a potato, apple or cucumber and apply the mixture, wrapped in a napkin, to the inflamed areas of the eyes.
Compresses with chamomile or aloe juice will help eliminate barley. You can also wipe the inflamed areas with plantain infusion. The procedure is carried out two to three times a day. A decoction of birch leaves also effectively relieves inflammation. If we talk about drug treatment, then Albucid drops, which are instilled three to five times a day, effectively eliminate barley. But any treatment of inflammatory processes in the eyes should always be discussed with an ophthalmologist, so as not to make things worse.
How to cure an infant from scabies
The scabies mite causes a disease such as scabies. The child develops a rash on the body, which is accompanied by severe itching. The first thing that needs to be done is to disinfect the room where the baby is. In addition, the child’s personal belongings and bed should be treated with a hot iron.
The doctor prescribes special creams taking into account the degree of manifestation and clinical course of the disease, and the individual characteristics of the child’s body. Self-medication is not recommended, since only a doctor can diagnose the disease.
How to treat fear in infants
Children are very susceptible to any sound or stressful situation. Therefore, fear in childhood is a fairly common phenomenon. Moreover, the baby is very closely connected emotionally with the mother. Any irritation or nervousness affects the baby’s condition. Therefore, first of all, mother should take care of her emotional balance. And a child in a state of fear should be given more attention and care. Mother's love and tenderness are the best medicine for fear.
Parents must respond in a timely manner to any pathological disorders in their child. However, you should not self-medicate. You should always contact a specialist who will help diagnose the disease and select the most effective methods of treating it.
However, it would do well for every parent to think about ways that will help increase the protective functions of the child’s body. After all, preventing a disease is much easier than treating it.
Especially for - Marina Amiran
The first year of a baby's life is full of excitement for his parents. Colds in infants are one of the most common health problems at this age.
All young parents should know the rules of how to treat a cold.
Colds are popularly called respiratory infections. The airborne route of infection explains their prevalence among children compared to other diseases.
In the nose of an infant, viruses and bacteria are present on the mucous membranes. Their quantity is permissible. There are no additional harmful factors - no colds. Pathogenic microbes and viruses, penetrating through the nasal mucosa, cause the development of the disease. Then a runny nose and other symptoms of a cold appear in the baby:
- loss of appetite, breast refusal;
- unusual excitability or lethargy;
- moodiness;
- sleep disorders;
- difficulty breathing;
- redness of the mucous membranes of the eyes;
- cough;
- chills;
- redness of the throat;
- increase in body temperature.
The parents say that the baby has caught a cold. In reality, he had contracted a respiratory infection. The most common routes of infection for a child, especially a newborn, are from the mother or other family members. Babies whose mothers breastfeed have stronger local and general immunity.
Until the age of 3-4 months, the child lives with the protection received from the mother. Then his body begins to form its own immunity, which is stronger the longer the newborn baby receives breast milk. If the baby has a cold, feeding is not stopped. This will make it easier to cope with the disease.
Treatment of colds in children under one year of age is complicated by the following factors:
- immaturity of children's immunity;
- contraindications to many medications;
- the child’s inability to cough or blow his nose;
- the baby's unwillingness to swallow pills.
Virus or bacteria
Parents should treat colds in their infants competently. The disease can be caused by different types of pathogens. Antibiotics do not act on viruses, and to combat the diversity of bacteria, they are selected specifically for each case. This is only done by a pediatric doctor, studying the characteristic signs of a cold in an infant.
If the disease is clearly of viral origin, antiviral therapy is prescribed. These are candles, drops, tablets, syrups. Interferon-based products are popular for children. They are used for severe symptoms of the disease and certain conditions, such as:
- high, more than 39 degrees, temperature;
- chills and fever in a child that last more than 3 days;
- the baby gets sick again;
- habitual use of drugs under the supervision of a physician.
If there are no such factors, it is not necessary to offer the child antiviral drugs. Let the body cope with the disease on its own.
Self-medication of a child is prohibited. The doctor decides how to treat a cold, especially with chills and fever.
If your child has a fever
An increase in temperature is the body’s correct protective reaction to the invasion of infection. Thermometer readings of 37.8 – 38 and above are considered dangerous. What to do? At a temperature of 38 degrees in a one-month-old child, an emergency doctor is called. For children with heart pathologies, the critical figure is from 37.8. At 3 months, the child is given antipyretic medications at a temperature of 38.5 degrees or higher after examination by a doctor.
Rules of behavior for parents when their baby has a high temperature:
- A baby with a cold should be given water often (and not only with a fever, but with any manifestations of acute respiratory infections).
- The artificial one is given warm boiled water.
- When breastfeeding, a cold baby is applied to the breast every 10 minutes if he is not sleeping. Milk consists of 75% water and contains ready-made antibodies from the mother's body. Colds in breastfed newborns are treated faster, and children get sick less often.
- If the temperature is high, the baby is given an antipyretic. The medicine can be based on paracetamol or ibuprofen. In your home medicine cabinet, it is better to keep two medications in the form of syrup with each of the active substances, and one in the form of rectal suppositories.
- Do not wipe your child with vinegar or alcohol diluted with water. Dangerous liquids are easily absorbed into thin skin and enter the bloodstream. This treatment of colds in infants causes irreparable harm!
Runny nose
The most popular cure for it is drops.
- Vasoconstrictor drops are needed to make breathing easier. They are used after rinsing the nose with salt water and removing mucus. For babies who are more than 1 month old, drops based on xylometazoline and oxymetazoline in children's dosages are suitable. The course of treatment with them is short.
- For viral rhinitis, if the mucus from the nose is clear, without pus, use saline solution, ready-made preparations with sea water. Place 2 drops of solution into each nostril. If your doctor approves, you can use an aspirator to remove mucus clots after instillation.
- If a cold in infants is accompanied by a runny nose with thick discharge, drops based on iodine or silver are prescribed. They disinfect the mucous membrane.
- If crusts form in the nose, they are removed with a cotton swab soaked in vegetable oil.
- Nasal medications with antibiotics are not recommended for children.
Breast milk does not cure a runny nose in a child who has a cold! This is an outdated folk practice. Milk is ideal for the growth of microbes. Putting it in the nose can cause complications. Treatment of colds in infants should not contradict medical practice.
Cough - how to treat it
A runny nose can cause a child to cough. Excess mucus descends along the back wall of the nasopharynx, irritating its receptors. The accumulation of this mucus in the bronchi causes its rejection. All this is expressed in the form of coughing.
Difficulties in treatment are associated with age restrictions on taking medications. Expectorants based on acetylcysteine, ambroxol, carbocysteine are prohibited for children under 2 years of age. Plant-based cough syrups are indicated from 6 months. Their cautious use is possible only after consultation with a pediatrician. The dosage is selected by the doctor.
You can attach cold patches to your baby's clothes. The essential oils in their composition help the baby breathe. In any case, when a child with a cold coughs, give plenty of water, his room is ventilated and moistened.
Attention! If a child has a cough and runny nose, but no fever, this may be a manifestation of an allergy. Then the treatment will be different. Only the attending physician will help you understand the diagnosis.
What if it's teeth?
If a 4-9 month old baby shows signs of a cold along with heavy salivation, you should check to see if his baby teeth are cutting. The gums at the site of eruption become red and swollen. The baby constantly puts various objects and his fingers into his mouth. All these signs are especially pronounced in children older than six months.
If your neck is red
The rules of treatment are simple. Sprays, lozenges, and lozenges are not given to small children. The neck is lubricated with a cotton swab containing iodinol solution. An oil-based medicine with eucalyptus is suitable. It can also be dropped into the nose, from where it will enter the nasopharynx and work as an antiseptic. A child 2 months and older is given a chamomile decoction or the neck is lubricated with it by soaking a cotton swab. If prescribed by a doctor, solutions with chlorhexidine can be used.
Some cold treatments are contraindicated for infants.
- Homeopathy should be used with caution.
- Steam inhalations and those performed using ultrasonic devices are prohibited for infants.
- Mustard plasters for children's skin are aggressive.
- Rubbing and compresses with essential oils and irritating components can lead to skin burns.
- Drinking with honey, raspberries, linden are potent remedies. Honey is a pronounced allergen, and raspberries and linden in a hot drink stimulate sweating. Excess fluid loss is dangerous for the baby. And there is no need for allergies.
You need to be especially careful when treating colds in newborns. A small mistake, the wrong medicine is given - the risk of complications increases (otitis media, sore throat, pneumonia, bronchitis).
Important! If, when a baby has a cold, pus comes out of the ear, a rash appears on the body, the baby has a fever, there are convulsions, vomiting - all these are signs of conditions that parents cannot cure on their own. In such cases, call an ambulance doctor or immediately take the child to the hospital.
How to understand that a child has recovered? The same appetite, vigor, and sound sleep will indicate the beginning of recovery.
How to avoid illness
Preventing colds is simple.
- Adult hygiene – frequent hand washing, changing towels.
- Frequent ventilation of the children's room and the entire apartment.
- Humidifying the room by watering flowers, hanging damp cloth, and using special devices.
If any family member gets sick, the spreader of the infection is isolated in a separate room. It is necessary to use disposable masks for the sick person and all family members. Any contact between the infant and the patient is excluded. It is especially important to follow this rule with older children attending school or kindergarten.
Rules for every day:
- daily walks, even if there are first signs of a cold;
- sleeping in the fresh air;
- air baths;
- massage, gymnastics;
- bathing, rubbing;
- treating toys with boiling water once a week;
- cutting off all contact with anyone who has a cold.
A cold in a child under one year old is a dangerous condition for him. If an infant often catches colds, there is a serious reason for a comprehensive examination. At the first sign of a cold in a newborn, you should consult a doctor.