What is the disease of a child's cough with phlegm? Can a child take cough medicine when coughing?

Children have low immunity, so whether they have a cold or something irritating, they will cough. Coughs can be divided into dry coughs and wet coughs. Wet coughs usually have symptoms of phlegm. So what are the symptoms of a child coughing with phlegm? Can they take cough medicine?

What is the disease of children coughing with phlegm?

Common causes of phlegm cough in children include:

1. Postnasal drip syndrome (i.e. upper airway cough syndrome)

The nasal secretions are in the throat, and the cough brings phlegm, which is foamy white or yellow.

2. Acute bronchitis

Bacterial infections often cause sputum and cough with sputum, with or without fever.

3. Pneumonia

If it is bacterial, there are often moist rales, and coughing is accompanied by sputum. The sputum "feels deeper" and is not easy to cough out.

4. Bronchial foreign body

It often starts with a dry cough. If it is not diagnosed in time, symptoms such as coughing, sputum production, and even fever will appear.

Can children take cough medicine when they have a cough?

Some children cough, especially when they have runny nose and cough, it is often a respiratory tract infection. Respiratory tract infection will cause coughing. If the cough is not severe and it happens occasionally, it will not have any impact. As long as the child is in good spirits, willing to eat and drink, and able to play, there is no need to take cough medicine, especially when there is a lot of phlegm, it is not suitable to take cough medicine.

However, if the child's cough is severe and affects his sleep and life, it is still necessary to use cough suppressants appropriately.

If there is phlegm, you should also use expectorants, especially when you have a cough and phlegm. You cannot use cough suppressants alone, otherwise it will easily cause the phlegm to be unable to come out and cause respiratory obstruction.

There are also some children whose cough is not caused by respiratory tract infection but other reasons. For example, some children cough mainly at night and have severe dry coughs. They also have allergic rhinitis or skin diseases, or their parents have a history of asthma and other diseases. Then the cause of the child's cough may be cough variant asthma, not respiratory tract infection. In this case, we cannot simply give this child cough suppressants or antibiotics.

How to stop coughing

1. Ensure adequate water intake, that is, liquid intake, to maintain basically normal urine volume. Sufficient liquid intake is beneficial to the humidification of the airway. You can also take a little apple juice orally to moisten the throat and improve throat comfort; or directly eat honey to relieve cough, 2-3ml each time, twice a day, for three consecutive days.

2. Maintaining the humidity at home at 50%-60% is beneficial to airway humidification and improve airway comfort;

3. Avoid your baby from being exposed to secondhand smoke. If someone smokes at home, be sure to go out to smoke, and wait until there is no smell of smoke before approaching the baby.

4. Avoid taking your baby to crowded places to avoid cross infection and aggravate the condition, such as supermarkets and shopping malls. Keep the room ventilated regularly to speed up air flow and avoid cold air stimulation.

5. Daily diet should be mainly warm and soft food, and do not eat dry fried food, such as potato chips, biscuits, nuts, French fries, etc. Add or remove clothes appropriately, avoid getting cold, drink warm water in small amounts and multiple times, and keep the throat moist.