my whole familly got ill with a cold or flu, but my youngest children, a toddler and a baby are more sintomatic,basically the runny nose and the severe cough are the most scary for me, can somebody tell of homeremedies, doctor says to let it follow the virus follow his course, but I am worried for my kids, they have so much phlemg. i tried onions by the bed but did not work
give them a warm shower each night. The steam helps the cough. For the 7m old, either stand in the shower with him or just sit in the bathroom with the shower running.
Honey is great for the 3yr old, but not the 7 month old (due to the chance of botulism). My kids were not fans of the steam, so I just gave them long hot baths and used a cool mist humidifier in their rooms.
We used saline and a nasal aspirator for the baby (to try and keep the stuff from draining down) and our 3 yr old knows how to blow her nose, so we stayed on top of that (make sure to use a little lotion/cream to keep the nose from getting chafed).
Also, you can firmly pat their back when they're coughing to help loosen up some of the phelgm. Hope they feel better soon!
My kids pediatrician said to turn the shower on the hottest setting and just sit in the bathroom.
For the 3 year old, one teaspoon of honey (none for baby until 1 year old). This seems to help my kids and they love it! Or give it to the 3 year old in tea.
I second the hot shower idea and also turn on a cool mist humidifier.
Good luck!
for the 7 month old, the only thing to do is let him/her cough it out.. The 3 year old; I have been giving mine HONEY, just a teaspoon at night to help aleviate the cough. You want them to cough, because it is the bodies natural way of getting rid of the bugs that are causing them to be sick.
If the coughs continue, do not be afraid to go back to the doctor and insist that he or she see them again. Untreated, this could turn into bronchitis which requires much more intervention like antibiotics. Also be on the lookout for signs of ear infections, which are secondary infections that can happen when mucus sits in the ear canals and becomes infected. Ear infections can accompany long periods of having phlegm in the head and throat.
Hot showers? That wears off fast -- as soon as they're out of the steamy bathroom they'll start to fill up with phlegm again. I strongly recommend cool mist humidifiers in their rooms -- not warm, which raises the temp in the room so it's tropical, but cool, which is more effective for this problem. Run the humidifiers pretty much all the time and certainly all night on low. You can get a humidifier at any drug store right now -- they are not expensive and are a huge help. During the day keep them in rooms with humidifiers as frequently as you can. Much more effective than steaming up the bathroom all the time. You do not need to put Vicks or anything else in the humidifiers -- water does all you need.
I also would not put an essential oil in the water or even anywhere near a baby -- essential oils can be dangerous if kids ingest them. And as someone else noted -- the strong menthol smell of Vicks VapoRub makes some kids gag and feel sick.
Elevate their mattresses at the "head" end by putting folded blankets under the mattresses (do not put an infant propped up on pillows and blankets due to suffocation risks -- elevate the head end of the mattress instead).
With the infant, use a "snot sucker" bulb also called a "nasal aspirator" -- the kind you get at baby gear stores or drug stores. It's just a rubber bulb, you stick the tube end into baby's nostril (after squeezing the bulb end closed) and when you release the bulb, it suctions out mucus. If you're afraid to use it -- seriously, it will be fine, it will not hurt the baby (though the baby may fuss when you use it) and it does actually work. It's not a permanent solution but does provide an infant with some short-term relief from mucus in the nasal cavities. Baby may be coughing but a lot of what is going on is mucus higher up in the nasal passages.
Put a few drops of eucalyptus oil on a towel and put it next to your little one at night. I also put eucalyptus oil on the bottom of my 4 year olds feet and it always makes him stop coughing. Did you cut up the onions? I use a white onion and cut it up a few times. It helps for us.
My MIL told me about the Vapor Rub on the bottoms of the feet. I just tried it on my 4-yr old on Sunday and would NOT recommend it. After about 30 mins he started freaking out that he couldn't breathe and felt like he was going to vomit. It was totally the taste/smell of the menthol in his throat. I wiped it off and aired out his feet, and he calmed down and was fine again. Maybe it was just his reaction, but I think I would advise a little on the chest first to see how your kids react. That may have been where I went wrong... he'd never used Vapor Rub before or even smelled it!
Hot tea (decaf) with honey & lemon really helps my little ones.
The cool mist humidifier is your best bet for overnight.
If the kids are having a coughing fit, where they just keep coughing, grab them and step outside for a minute, or open the freezer door and stand there for a minute. In a bad coughing fit, the passageways may be a bit swollen, and inhaling the cold air will help with that inflammation (like putting an ice pack on swelling). It is a VERY temporary fix - it won't last long, but it's simple and easy in the middle of the night, and should last just long enough for your little ones to calm down (since kids tend to panic when they cough like that), and hopefully fall back to sleep.
I second the suggestion to put something under the mattress to prop up their heads. That will help with the drainage.
The three-year-old needs to drink lots of water or clear juice (think apple, instead of orange). If the kids are well-hydrated, the mucus will be a little thinner, and easier for their bodies to deal with. All that drainage may result in a sore throat, too - warm up the apple juice just a little bit, and it will feel good on that sore throat.)
Honey to soothe the throat and help with the cough. Vicks Vapo Rub on the chest and back, as well as the bottom of the feet, covered in socks. Also make sure you have some type of moist air (humidifier or vaporizer) and put the special liquid medicine made to put in them, to help, as well. I normally do all of this together and it really helps to ease the coughing at night.
ETA - the baby should not have the honey, as stated by other posters. I should've specified that!
For the three year old I recommend a couple of homeopathic medicines that work really well. For the cough, Zarbees is awesome! It's similar to giving your child honey (over 1 year old) but with added vitamins as well, and with melatonin in the nighttime version, which really helps my son sleep. For congestion, Similisan works really well at loosening mucus and easing symptoms from congestion. Go to their websites and you can usually find a coupon as well as a list of stores they're carried in (I've bought them in Walgreen's and Albertsons).
For both kids, I second the recommendations that you take steam showers with them, elevate their heads while sleeping (put a folded blanket under the mattress) and use a humidifier. It will help.
Good luck.
