When a baby coughs, many parents immediately give cough medicine to the baby. Though the use of cough medicine in infants should not be arbitrary. Not all cough medicines are safe and are recommended to be given to babies. Let's identify any cough medicine that is safe to use for babies.
Coughing is a normal reaction and forms the body's mechanism to clear mucus, germs, and dirt from the respiratory tract and lungs. Coughing usually occurs when the throat, trachea, or lungs become irritated, inflamed, or infected.
Cough Medicine for Babies Safe
Coughs in babies are most often caused by a viral infection or irritation to pollution or dirt (eg dust and smoke) in the air. Coughing because of these two things will usually subside on its own.
Complaints that occur quite often do not really need to be too worried if they are not accompanied by other complaints, such as fever, shortness of breath, and the baby looks weak.
Cough in infants is quite overcome by increasing the intake of breast milk and rest. However, if your child has a cough accompanied by a fever or if he becomes more fussy, consider giving the following medication:
Fever Reliever
The types of fever reducers that are safe for babies are paracetamol and ibuprofen. For babies, generally paracetamol and ibuprofen are available in syrup form. However, the administration of both drugs has rules, namely:
- Paracetamol
Paracetamol can be given when the baby is 2 months old, provided that he is born after 37 weeks of gestation and weighs more than 4 kg. Paracetamol can relieve fever and pain due to inflammation in the throat that causes the baby to cough.
The appropriate administration of paracetamol is every 4-6 hours, and no more than 4 times of administration within 24 hours. So that the dose of paracetamol given is appropriate, use a dropper or medicine spoon in the appropriate bottle.
Giving too much paracetamol can cause liver damage. Therefore, make sure to always comply with the recommended dosage given. Paracetamol tends to be safer for the baby's gastrointestinal tract than ibuprofen.
- Ibuprofen
However, the administration should not be more than 3 doses in a 24 hour period and the time interval when giving this drug should also not be too fast (less than 6 hours). Compared to paracetamol, ibuprofen tends to make the baby's stomach uncomfortable, so he can experience side effects such as nausea or vomiting.
Saline solution
If your child's cough is not accompanied by a fever, you can give a saline solution that you can buy at the pharmacy. Apart from being in the form of drops, saline which is a sterile saline solution is also available in the form of a spray (spray).
This saline solution functions to thin thick mucus, making it easier to expel, relieves the baby's breathing, and moistens the airway due to air that is too dry or dirty.
Mothers can drip saline solution into the baby's nostrils, then suck the mucus using a mucus suction device that looks like a pipette.
It should be understood that paracetamol, ibuprofen, and saline solution are only used to make the baby feel more comfortable and can rest until the cough subsides on its own.
Mothers should also not choose cough medicine for babies or adults on the market, such as phlegm thinners or cough suppressants, which are usually found in cold medicines. These drugs are not safe for consumption by children under two years of age, including infants.
In addition, the use of antibiotics is also not always needed to treat cough in infants. Antibiotics are only used if the cough in infants is caused by a bacterial infection.
To determine whether a baby's cough is caused by bacteria or not and to determine what type of antibiotic is suitable for your child, the doctor needs to do an examination.
However, if you are alone at home with your baby and cannot take him to the nearest hospital, you can use the Alodokter application to consult a pediatrician directly.
Natural Ways to Overcome Cough in Babies
In addition to giving cough medicine for babies, coughs can also be overcome with the following simple steps:
1. Increase fluid intake
More fluids can reduce mucus and make the airways smoother. Babies under 6 months should only be given breast milk, so give your little one more milk when he is coughing. While babies over 6 months can be given warm water interspersed with breast milk.
2. Take advantage of warm steam
Moist air can keep the inside of the nose from drying out and keep it moist, as well as clearing the airways.
If the air is dry around the crib, use it humidifierto make the air in the room more humid. If the tool is not available, the steam coming from a basin filled with warm water can also relieve your little one's breathing.
3. Giving honey Based on research, giving two teaspoons of honey (10 ml) to a 2-year-old child who suffers from a respiratory infection can reduce the frequency of coughing and help children sleep better. However, honey is only recommended to be given to children over the age of 1 year. Avoid giving honey to babies because it can cause botulism, which is poisoning due to bacteria Clostridium botulinum. A cough that does not make the child fussy or is not accompanied by other complaints is actually not a condition that needs to be watched out for. But be careful if the cough in infants appears along with other complaints, such as high fever, decreased appetite or refusal to breastfeed, wheezing, shortness of breath, nausea and vomiting, or cough that does not subside in more than 7 days. These symptoms could be caused by pneumonia or infection with the Corona virus (COVID-19). If the baby coughs along with these complaints, you should consult a pediatrician.