Your toddler's tucked in bed, and you're settling in on the couch for a dark of sitcoms and snuggling. Then, from out of nowhere, your child's soft, sleepy purrs all of a sudden turn into loud, raucous coughs. You drop the remote and go to her side to come across what's incorrect.

Only as you comfort her, you lot wonder: Does my child have a mild cold or is something more serious going on?

Wonder no further. Decode the cough with this handy guide, and be certain to call your pediatrician for a proper diagnosis or if you have any questions or concerns.

The mucus-filled coughing

A phlegmy cough, that sounds equally if mucus is rattling in her pharynx. Your child may too take a runny olfactory organ, sneezing, and a balmy fever.

The likely cause:

A cold. In some kids, the coughing may exist the first sign of the cold, and in other kids, the runny nose or sneezing may come on showtime. Beyond the usual cuddles, soothing words, and accommodating TLC, attempt these tactics to make her feel better:

  • Give your child lots of liquids. Water is all-time, but toddlers ages 1 to three can besides have upwards to 4 ounces of juice a day. (Don't give juice to babies under one.) Warm decaffeinated tea may also assist ease the tickle that sets off the cough. Only if your child refuses to drinkable, cool Popsicles may tempt her — and they can likewise soothe a sore throat.
  • Run a absurd-mist humidifier in her room at nighttime (a warm humidifier may pose a danger in your kid's room if she gets as well shut to it). This will fill up the air with moisture, which will soothe an inflamed, scratchy throat, and it will loosen upwards the mucus and ease congestion.
  • Try using nasal drops and a bulb syringe to clear out mucus in the nose.
  • Offer a spoonful of honey before bed to glaze her pharynx and alleviate soreness. (Only requite honey to kids older than one. In babies younger than one, love can cause botulism, a life-threatening illness.)
  • Don't give your toddler cough or common cold medicines. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) don't recommend cough and cold meds for young kids. They aren't constructive, and what's worse, they tin can put your toddler at adventure for dangerous side effects.

The barking cough

A barking sound accompanied by a high-pitched squeak when inhaling. Other symptoms include fever, hoarseness, and difficulty swallowing or breathing.

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The likely crusade:

Croup, typically a viral infection, occurs when the voice box and windpipe become inflamed, causing the airways to swell and become narrow. To relieve this toddler coughing:

  • Take your kid into the bathroom, get a hot shower running, and shut the door. And then stay in the steamy bathroom for xv to 20 minutes. The warm moist air should ease the inflammation in the airways. Or try cool moist air past taking her outside into the cool dark, or past opening the freezer and having her breathe in for several minutes.
  • Once your exhausted tot stops coughing, keep a cool-mist air humidifier in her room for the next few nights (croup generally lasts three to 7 days).
  • If at any point your kid has a high fever, struggles to exhale, or develops a bluish hue around her mouth, get medical help correct away.

The wheezy cough

A phlegmy cough accompanied by high-pitched whistling or wheezing sounds when your toddler breathes. Your child may also vomit, accept a fever, exhibit shallow or rapid animate, and she may be lethargic.

The likely cause:

Bronchiolitis, an infection that results in swelling and inflammation in the tiny airways (bronchioles) of the lungs.

What starts out resembling a common cold — fever, runny olfactory organ, and cough — can turn into more severe problems, such as difficulty breathing and a rapid heartbeat — and in some cases (though not most), this can crave hospitalization.

The almost common crusade of bronchiolitis is respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), but other viruses, such as the common common cold and the flu, tin also crusade bronchiolitis.

Though RSV and bronchiolitis tend to be more dangerous in infants, it tin be serious in toddlers besides. To nip this wheezy toddler cough in the bud earlier information technology gets out of mitt:

  • Telephone call the pediatrician or on-call doctor correct away for a phone or in-person date.
  • Offer your kid lots of liquids, such as water, juice, or warm decaf tea to soothe her throat and prevent aridity.
  • Run a cool-mist humidifier in her room at night to fill up the air with moisture. This volition help relieve the swelling in the bronchioles, and it will loosen fungus in the airway to ease the cough and congestion.
  • Try using nasal drops and a seedling syringe to clear out fungus in the olfactory organ.
  • If your child too has a high fever, labored breathing, blue lips or fingernails, or shows signs of dehydration (cracked lips, sunken eyes, tearless crying, and a subtract in urination), get her to a doctor or urgent care facility quickly.

The continuous cough

A cough that won't quit, night afterward night, along with wheezing — but no cold symptoms.

The probable crusade:

Asthma, a chronic lung status in which airways bang-up, spasm, and become clogged with mucus. What to do:

  • Bring your toddler to the doctor to exist evaluated for asthma. It'southward of import to get a proper diagnosis and treatment (she may need inhalant medications).
  • In addition to the medications the physician may prescribe, assistance ease symptoms past offering your kid liquids and by running a cool-mist humidifier in her room at night.

The labored-breathing coughing

A phlegmy cough along with labored animate, a high fever, aches, chest pain, vomiting, chills, and/or sometimes a blue color around the lips.

The likely crusade:

Pneumonia, an infection that causes lung tissue to become inflamed and filled with pus. Information technology unremarkably comes on the heels of a viral or bacterial infection. To care for information technology:

  • Call your pediatrician — your toddler needs medical attention correct abroad.
  • Help your child feel better by offering her liquids (to avoid aridity), and running a common cold-mist humidifier in her room.

The cough with a whoop

Dry coughing attacks — multiple coughs in a row — along with a high-pitched whoop audio when your child inhales.

The likely crusade:

Whooping cough, a bacterial infection likewise known as pertussis. Though outbreaks of whooping cough have been failing, your toddler is virtually at risk if she didn't go the DTaP vaccine (the P stands for pertussis). To treat the cough:

  • See your pediatrician — your child needs antibiotics.
  • To help your toddler feel better, encourage her to drinkable every bit much as she tin can (to avert dehydration), and run a cool-mist humidifier in her room to soothe her breathing passages.

Toddler cough remedies

Toddlers should never be given over-the-counter cough or cold medicines for their coughs.

Instead, offer toddler cough remedies like a cool mist humidifier running in your little one's room, steam from the hot shower, liquids similar water, juice or warm decaffeinated tea, saline drops in the olfactory organ using a seedling syringe to take the fungus out, and a teaspoon of dearest if your child is older than 1.