Proclinique, Mother & Child Care Clinic

Hello, everybody, I am Dr Rahul Yadav, a paediatrician. Today we'll be discussing a very important topic - home remedies related to children regarding cold.

So now, as you all know cold and chest congestion is very common among children and it might occur as many times as six to seven times every year. This is pretty much normal for each and every kid. If you have a child , you would have definitely experienced the agony of the child having cold and chest condition during any time during his childhood.

So, first of all, I would like to give you one piece of warning. A child with cold and chest congestion having sneezing, which might be increased intensity of sounds when the child is breathing in or out, signs of respiratory distress which might be increased, work of breathing increase rate or breathing or difficulty in even uttering normal words. In that scenario, you have to rush the child immediately . Go to the nearest doctor or to an emergency or hospital near your home.

Another scenario would be if your child is suffering from asthma. In that scenario, I would advise you to take proper precautions and follow the instructions of your doctor regarding inhalers or nebulizers before trying any of the home remedies.

So what actually can become very indiscreet - home remedies can treat a child suffering from cold with no signs of respiratory disease with a few gurgling sounds while breathing.

Is it actually useful? Actually Yes - home remedies might even be better than medicines for any common day-to-day cold and chest congestion. So what can home remedies do? One of the easiest would be to start with honey. Honey has natural immune boosters which you can easily stage.

Can it be given to each and every child?

Yes, it can be given to each and every child but do not use it for any child less than one year of age. The reason behind it would be because of the incidence of bottling improxim in the honey which can be very deadly for less than one year of age.

You can even mix the honey with a little bit of lemon juice or ginger paste to make the child accept honey well. With honey, you have to just pick up the caution in case of a diabetic child and that you should not be over giving the honey. But otherwise, you can give honey as many as times as you want. Maybe 1 tsp every three to four hours.

Another home remedy that you can try out is humidification. Humidification can be done by either a cold humidification or humidification. Cold humidification is safer. Warm humidification is by steam. Steam is very dangerous in a child as it can lead to burns also. So a better way is to close all the doors and windows of the house and then put the steamer in one corner of the room and let the whole room be humid, that will help the child a lot.

Another thing that you can do is to use normal sign nasal drops to keep the nostrils of the child clean. As the child's nose remains clean, the child will be able to breathe easier and would be much more comfortable and would even respond better to other measures. You have to remember that cold in a child is ninety-nine percent because of viruses and that it generally takes seven to ten days for the treatment. It's a natural course of the disease. So you have to wait for that time and should be patient.

These are the common remedies that you can do which will elevate most of the symptoms that your child would be suffering from.

In case you have a concern or query you can always consult an experienced Pediatrician in Gurgaon & get answers to your questions!