Cold medicine for children can be in the form of prescription drugs from the doctor. However, there are also some treatments that you can give your little one as a natural cold remedy. With this treatment, it is hoped that your little one will recover quickly from a cold and return to their normal activities.
Colds in children are a common condition, especially in the rainy season. Not only the nose that constantly blows out mucus, a runny nose can also be accompanied by sneezing, coughing, and nasal congestion. This condition can cause children to become fussy and have difficulty sleeping.
When your little one has a cold, you can try home remedies first. This method is considered quite effective and safe to relieve cold symptoms in children. That way, your little one can feel better and more comfortable.
How to Treat Colds in Children at Home
Here are treatments that you can do as a child's cold medicine at home:
1. Let the child inhale the warm steam
One of the most common symptoms that children experience when they have a cold is a stuffy nose. To relieve these symptoms, inhaling warm steam or taking a warm bath can be effective.
In addition to making the body more comfortable and relaxed because of the warm water temperature, the moist air from the water vapor will also make the mucus in the nose easier to come out. To help get moist air, you can also put humidifier or vaporizer in the little one's bedroom.
2. Keep children away from pollution
When your little one has a cold, it is also important to keep them away from various sources of air pollution, both indoors and outdoors, such as cigarette smoke, smoke from burning garbage, dust, and vehicle fumes. This is because pollution can trigger the recurrence of symptoms of colds, ARI, and sinusitis in children.
Many studies show that clean and pollution-free air plays an important role in maintaining the function and health of a child's respiratory system, as well as reducing the risk of developing allergies, coughs, colds, asthma, and bronchitis.
3. Giving the child honey
Coughing is the body's natural response to help clear the airways of mucus, dust, germs, and viruses. However, when your child has a cold, he or she can have a nagging cough.
As a safe alternative, you can use honey to relieve a cough and help your little one sleep better. However, remember. This child's cold medicine can only be given if the Little One is over 1 year old.
For children aged 1-5 years, give honey as much as teaspoon. Meanwhile, for ages 6-11 years is 1 teaspoon and ages 12 and over is 2 teaspoons.
In addition to giving honey directly, you can also mix honey with warm water, ginger water, or lemon water.
4. Give the child a warm drink
One of the children's cold medicine that is also no less effective is to give them enough water to drink, especially warm water.
In addition, chicken gravy or soup, ginger water, and warm tea can also be alternatives. However, this drink can only be given to children aged 6 months and over, yes.
Warm drinks can help thin mucus in the nose and throat, as well as prevent and treat dehydration when your child has a cold. In addition, in infants or toddlers, colds can also be overcome by breastfeeding or formula milk as often as possible.
5. Elevate the child's head position
In children aged 1 year and over, elevating the position of the head while sleeping or resting on the bed can help him breathe more comfortably. Mothers can add a thin towel or pillow to the baby's head when he sleeps with a cold.
6. Clean the child's nose with sterile salt water
Mothers can also deal with colds in children by cleaning the nasal cavity with sterile saline or salt water. This fluid can make the mucus in the nose thinner, making it easier to expel.
To make it easier, you can use a neti pot or injection tube that has been removed from the syringe to spray sterile salt water into your little one's nose.
If your child has a cold with a fever, you can also give over-the-counter fever relievers, such as paracetamol.
However, if the use of the various children's cold medicines above is not effective and your child still has a cold or his condition is getting worse and accompanied by other symptoms, such as shortness of breath, vomiting, weakness, and infrequent urination, you should check with a doctor so that can get the right cold medicine.