Common childhood illnesses are something every parent has encountered, as there probably isn’t a child who has never been sick. Even though parents are aware of this fact and all that awaits them, there are situations when a childhood illness catches them unprepared, whether it’s when the baby is very young, just before starting kindergarten, or just before a trip. Then they are often overwhelmed by various feelings, primarily fear that the illness will become complicated and prolonged, leading them to fall into unnecessary stress instead of calmly addressing the problem.
Although a child may not always be able to tell you exactly what hurts and what bothers them, especially when they are little, it is up to you to make an effort to do everything right to help your little one recover as soon as possible. Here are a few guidelines on what you can do if your child is troubled by a cough, fever, or a stuffy nose.
COUGH
The most common cause of cough in children is respiratory tract infections. Since children often have these at a younger age, sometimes up to ten times a year, coughing can be very strenuous for both them and their parents. Fortunately, most respiratory infections accompanied by cough are harmless and resolve spontaneously, without the need for antibiotics or cough medicine.
But how can you help your child while they are coughing? Unfortunately, there is no one solution that will make the symptoms disappear immediately, but several things can help the cough pass more quickly:
- regularly clear your child’s nasal secretions
- moisten their nasal mucosa with saline solution
- increase fluid intake
- elevate the head of the bed
- ventilate the room more frequently and humidify the air
- absolutely do not smoke in the room where the child is staying.
For calming the cough, there are also medications and herbal preparations that reduce irritation of the respiratory tract mucosa. However, these should not be given to your child without prior consultation with a pediatrician, who will prescribe them if the cough is exhausting the child and disrupting their daily activities.
STUFFY NOSE
A good way to clear your child’s stuffy nose is through inhalation. You can inhale children with saline solution when they have nasal secretions that cause coughing. This method can be applied several times a day. If you have a home inhaler, adjust the mask so that it covers both the nose and mouth of the child.
Do not introduce herbal remedies or inhalation medications on your own, but consult with your pediatrician about further steps.
Nasal sprays based on sea water or saline solution are also good, while nasal drops should be used in agreement with your pediatrician.
FEVER
When the fever is not higher than 38.5 °C (101.3 °F), and the child is not at risk of febrile convulsions, it is not necessary to give them medication to reduce the fever (ibuprofen or paracetamol). A quick, easy, and effective way to lower the fever is cooling, most commonly showering, or even dabbing the skin with a wet towel.
Cooling the child by showering is also recommended as an auxiliary method when the temperature spikes less than three hours after taking medication, but then pay attention to whether the child’s feet and hands are cold before you wet them. When the feet and hands are cold, shower them with warmer water, and shower the hot parts of the body with lukewarm water. It is not recommended to shower a child with a fever with completely cold water, but rather with lukewarm water so that it is not uncomfortable for the child.
If you are unsure about any step, you can always call us to consult our pediatrician. At the PULS DEDINJE special hospital for internal medicine, works primarius doctor Vesna Bogdanović, who has a lot of experience when it comes to monitoring and treating our youngest patients.
