After entering the winter, the weather is dry and cold, and many children start coughing again after getting cold. For children around the age of 1, they cannot cough up sputum like adults, coupled with their own trachea, bronchi are relatively narrow, which makes it easy for sputum and germs to accumulate into the trachea and lungs. So, what should I do if my baby coughs phlegm and can't cough up? To this end, Li Zengqing, chief physician of the Child Respiratory Specialty of Guangdong Provincial Maternal and Child Health Hospital, gave parents a support to help children cough up sputum in the following five ways.
1 Drink plenty of water
"Drinking more water can not only keep the mouth and nasal mucosa moist and relieve discomfort, but also dilute sputum, which is conducive to the discharge of viscous sputum, so when the baby coughs, parents can give their children more water." Li Zengqing said, "In addition, breast milk, formula milk, liquid foods (such as porridge, soup), etc. are all ways to rehydrate, but attention should be paid to eating less sweets and cold drinks." In traditional Chinese medicine, sweets and cold drinks are more likely to produce phlegm. ”
2 Pat sputum
When your baby coughs and has phlegm, he can be picked up vertically and patted on the back to discharge phlegm. When patting the back, the parents will hold one hand into an empty fist, and then slap the baby's front chest and back (that is, the position of the left and right lungs) from bottom to top, especially in the place where the sputum under the baby's back and chest is more likely to accumulate, and pat it appropriately and vigorously, through vibration, to promote the release of sputum in the baby's lungs and bronchi and discharge into the atmospheric tube, so as to achieve the purpose of sputum discharge.
Experts remind that when patting the back, parents should pay attention to keeping the hands empty, appropriately with some force, each side for 3-5 minutes, 2-3 times a day. Immediately after the sputum is coughed up, wipe the sputum around the mouth. If the baby does not cough up the sputum, but swallows it, there is no need to worry too much, because there are many digestive enzymes and acidic fluids in the human digestive tract, which can also sterilize and remove foreign bodies.
3 pad height
If the baby coughs non-stop when he falls asleep, parents can raise their heads slightly higher and rotate to sleep on the left and right sides, which is conducive to the discharge of respiratory secretions and relieve cough symptoms.
4 Humidify
When your baby coughs badly, you can use water vapor inhalation to relieve cough, and use moist air to help clear the mucus from the lungs to calm the cough. If the indoor air is relatively dry, you can put a basin of water indoors or hang a wet towel. Humidifiers can also be used appropriately, and care should not be too long when using humidifiers.
5 Atomization
Nebulization therapy is a common method in the treatment of respiratory diseases in children, it is the drug is dispersed into mist particles or particles suspended in the gas through the inhalation device, and the drug is precipitated in the respiratory tract by inhalation, compared with oral medication, nebulization inhalation therapy reduces the dosage of the drug while directly reaching the affected area, reducing the systemic side effects of the drug, and the effect is significant. In the treatment of respiratory diseases, nebulized inhalation has become an important adjunctive treatment measure.
Experts pointed out that if there is more sputum and the baby cannot cough up, some drugs with expectorant effects can be used appropriately under the guidance of the doctor, so that the sputum adhering to the bronchial mucosa is diluted, and with the help of coughing action, so as to achieve the effect that sputum is easy to cough up.
Finally, Li Zengqing reminded that if the child has a hoarse, barking cough when coughing, or coughing a lot of coughs continuously at one breath, and can also hear the sound of "ho-ho" when inhaling, you should be vigilant that the child may suffer from laryngitis, and take the child to the hospital in time to ask a professional doctor for treatment, so as not to delay the condition. (Reporter Zhang Hua Correspondent Lin Huifang)
Source: Yangcheng Evening News