Suggest Treatment For Cough, Chest Congestion And Noisy Breathing In A Baby

Posted on Sat, 29 Jul 2017

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Sat, 29 Jul 2017 Answered on

Tue, 16 Apr 2024 Last reviewed on

Question : Hi .. my little one is 82 days old. She seems to have a congestion lately. Her breathing is noisy. She has dry coughs often. She also wakes up crying in the middle of the night. She doesnt have temperature.
What can i do to help her?

Answered by Dr. Diptanshu Das (53 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Give steam inhalation. Proper burping is important.

Detailed Answer:

Hi,

I have gone carefully through your query and understand your concerns. Most often such symptoms are due to viral infections. You need to give steam inhalation to your child. It helps in reducing the congestion. Just sit with your child on your lap and place the source of steam before you. The water vapor will be in the air and automatically the child will breathe it in. Water vapor will reach deep inside and would help in diluting the cough and thus would provide relief. Use Nasoclear Saline Nasal Drops in case of nose block.

Regarding her crying out while asleep, let me first ask whether the baby is exclusively breast fed or whether formula feeds are being given. Babies often get colics especially when on formula feeds. In such a case switching back to breast milk should provide relief. You should burp the baby for at least 15-20 mins after each feed. All you need to do is to hold the baby head end elevated for this duration. The extra air taken causes distention and hence colics. Proper burping will ensure its escape and the milk will not regurgitate back from the stomach to the food pipe, thus providing relief. You can otherwise continue to give Coliaid when needed.

Let me know if I could help further.

Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Kampana