More Understanding Cough with phlegm in infants

Various diseases are susceptible to being experienced by babies, and the other is cough with phlegm. Although not an alarming condition, cough with phlegm can make the baby feel uncomfortable and fussy. Therefore, parents need to understand how to properly handle cough with phlegm on the baby .

Viral and bacterial infections are the main cause of phlegm cough that is often experienced by babies. Some examples of infectious diseases that can attack the baby's respiratory tract are whooping cough, cough, bronchiolitis, and pneumonia. In addition to infection, cough with phlegm in infants can also be caused by several conditions, such as asthma, allergies, irritation of the airways, rising stomach acid, exposure to pollution such as cigarette smoke, or due to ingesting certain objects.

Lung and Throat Cleaning Efforts

Cough is the body's natural reflex to cleanse the respiratory tract of mucus, dust, or food debris that is still stuck in the throat. Cough alone can be divided into two types, namely dry cough and phlegm cough.

Dry cough is the body's effort to relieve itching in the baby's throat. Meanwhile, phlegm cough is the body's effort to remove mucus from the lungs and throat. This condition often occurs if the baby has a cold or mucus from the nose to the throat ( postnasal drip ).

Not infrequently, coughing in a baby is accompanied by fever, sore throat, loss of appetite , stuffy nose, and red eyes, which makes the baby fussy.

Various Ways Relieve Cough with phlegm In Babies

Although phlegm or mucus contains white blood cells that function to help fight germs, if the cough with phlegm on the baby is left continuously, then the sputum will collect in the baby's throat which disrupts his breathing. Therefore, parents need to know how to relieve phlegm cough in infants. The trick is as follows:

• Increase your baby's fluid intake. When a baby has a cough with phlegm, you should provide enough fluid intake. This step is to dilute phlegm and to help the baby's body fight infection that causes phlegm cough.
• Get enough rest
  A sick baby will easily become fussy and have trouble resting. When you have this, the baby will suffer from a longer cough with phlegm. Therefore, try to get the baby to rest enough, so that his body is strong enough to fight the infection causing phlegm cough.
• Moisten the air around
  In addition to the two methods above, you can relieve coughing phlegm on the baby by moisturizing the surrounding air. This method is believed to be able to reduce the mucus in the throat and help breathe the child.
  
• Keep the baby away from pollution
  When the baby is coughing, it's important to keep it away from pollution, such as cigarette smoke or dirty air. This is to prevent further worsening of the irritation and cough that is experienced, as well as helping the child to rest properly.
  

Keep in mind, avoid giving free drugs without a doctor's prescription. In addition, avoid giving honey to infants under one year of age to relieve coughing. This is to avoid the possibility of the baby having botulism.

Even though you don't need to worry too much about cough with phlegm in your baby, be aware that sputum starts to turn green, yellow, or brown with a smell. The colored and smelly phlegm can indicate the occurrence of infection and require immediate medical treatment.

In addition, consult a pediatrician if the cough with phlegm in the baby does not improve after five days, coughing gets worse, difficulty breathing, there is wheezing cough makes the baby difficult to eat and drink, or accompanied by a fever of 38 degrees Celsius for babies under three months, and 39 degrees Celsius for babies under 6 months.

There is no need to overreact to cough with phlegm in infants, but still monitor the condition so that you can take the necessary steps to handle it quickly.

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