Your toddler'due south tucked in bed, and you're settling in on the couch for a night of sitcoms and snuggling. So, from out of nowhere, your child's soft, sleepy purrs suddenly turn into loud, raucous coughs. You drop the remote and become to her side to see what's wrong.

But every bit you condolement her, you wonder: Does my child take a balmy cold or is something more serious going on?

Wonder no farther. Decode the cough with this handy guide, and be certain to call your pediatrician for a proper diagnosis or if you have any questions or concerns.

The mucus-filled cough

A phlegmy cough, that sounds as if mucus is rattling in her throat. Your child may as well accept a runny nose, sneezing, and a mild fever.

The likely cause:

A cold. In some kids, the cough may be the first sign of the common cold, and in other kids, the runny nose or sneezing may come up on kickoff. Across the usual cuddles, soothing words, and all-around TLC, attempt these tactics to brand her feel better:

  • Give your child lots of liquids. Water is best, but toddlers ages 1 to 3 can also accept upward to 4 ounces of juice a day. (Don't give juice to babies under 1.) Warm decaffeinated tea may also aid ease the tickle that sets off the cough. But if your child refuses to potable, cool Popsicles may tempt her — and they tin can also soothe a sore throat.
  • Run a cool-mist humidifier in her room at night (a warm humidifier may pose a danger in your child's room if she gets too shut to it). This will fill the air with moisture, which will soothe an inflamed, scratchy throat, and information technology will loosen up the mucus and ease congestion.
  • Try using nasal drops and a bulb syringe to clear out mucus in the nose.
  • Offer a spoonful of beloved before bed to glaze her throat and convalesce soreness. (Just give honey to kids older than one. In babies younger than one, beloved can crusade botulism, a life-threatening illness.)
  • Don't give your toddler cough or common cold medicines. The Food and Drug Assistants (FDA) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) don't recommend cough and common cold meds for young kids. They aren't effective, and what'south worse, they can put your toddler at take a chance for dangerous side furnishings.

The barking coughing

A barking sound accompanied by a high-pitched squeak when inhaling. Other symptoms include fever, hoarseness, and difficulty swallowing or breathing.

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The probable cause:

Croup, typically a viral infection, occurs when the vocalization box and windpipe become inflamed, causing the airways to swell and become narrow. To salvage this toddler cough:

  • Have your child into the bathroom, become a hot shower running, and close the door. Then stay in the steamy bathroom for 15 to 20 minutes. The warm moist air should ease the inflammation in the airways. Or endeavour cool moist air past taking her outside into the cool night, or by opening the freezer and having her breathe in for several minutes.
  • Once your wearied tot stops coughing, continue a cool-mist air humidifier in her room for the next few nights (croup generally lasts three to seven days).
  • If at any point your child has a high fever, struggles to exhale, or develops a blueish hue around her mouth, get medical help right away.

The wheezy coughing

A phlegmy coughing accompanied past high-pitched whistling or wheezing sounds when your toddler breathes. Your child may also vomit, accept a fever, exhibit shallow or rapid breathing, and she may be lethargic.

The probable cause:

Bronchiolitis, an infection that results in swelling and inflammation in the tiny airways (bronchioles) of the lungs.

What starts out resembling a common cold — fever, runny nose, and coughing — can plow into more severe bug, such as difficulty breathing and a rapid heartbeat — and in some cases (though not nigh), this can require hospitalization.

The virtually common cause of bronchiolitis is respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), but other viruses, such equally the mutual cold and the flu, can likewise cause bronchiolitis.

Though RSV and bronchiolitis tend to exist more than dangerous in infants, it tin exist serious in toddlers besides. To nip this wheezy toddler cough in the bud before it gets out of mitt:

  • Call the pediatrician or on-telephone call medico correct away for a phone or in-person date.
  • Offer your child lots of liquids, such equally h2o, juice, or warm decaf tea to soothe her throat and prevent dehydration.
  • Run a cool-mist humidifier in her room at dark to fill the air with moisture. This will help relieve the swelling in the bronchioles, and information technology volition loosen mucus in the airway to ease the cough and congestion.
  • Try using nasal drops and a bulb syringe to clear out mucus in the nose.
  • If your child likewise has a high fever, labored breathing, blue lips or fingernails, or shows signs of dehydration (cracked lips, sunken eyes, tearless crying, and a decrease in urination), become her to a doctor or urgent care facility rapidly.

The continuous cough

A cough that won't quit, night later nighttime, forth with wheezing — but no common cold symptoms.

The likely cause:

Asthma, a chronic lung status in which airways smashing, spasm, and become clogged with mucus. What to practice:

  • Bring your toddler to the doctor to be evaluated for asthma. Information technology's important to get a proper diagnosis and handling (she may need inhalant medications).
  • In improver to the medications the doctor may prescribe, assist ease symptoms by offering your child liquids and by running a cool-mist humidifier in her room at night.

The labored-breathing coughing

A phlegmy cough forth with labored breathing, a loftier fever, aches, chest hurting, vomiting, chills, and/or sometimes a blueish color around the lips.

The probable cause:

Pneumonia, an infection that causes lung tissue to get inflamed and filled with pus. Information technology usually comes on the heels of a viral or bacterial infection. To treat information technology:

  • Phone call your pediatrician — your toddler needs medical attention right abroad.
  • Help your child feel better past offer her liquids (to avoid dehydration), and running a cold-mist humidifier in her room.

The coughing with a whoop

Dry out coughing attacks — multiple coughs in a row — along with a high-pitched whoop sound when your kid inhales.

The likely cause:

Whooping coughing, a bacterial infection also known equally pertussis. Though outbreaks of whooping cough have been declining, your toddler is most at chance if she didn't become the DTaP vaccine (the P stands for pertussis). To treat the cough:

  • See your pediatrician — your kid needs antibiotics.
  • To help your toddler experience ameliorate, encourage her to drink as much as she can (to avert dehydration), and run a cool-mist humidifier in her room to soothe her breathing passages.

Toddler coughing remedies

Toddlers should never be given over-the-counter coughing or common cold medicines for their coughs.

Instead, offering toddler cough remedies like a cool mist humidifier running in your little one'southward room, steam from the hot shower, liquids like water, juice or warm decaffeinated tea, saline drops in the nose using a bulb syringe to take the mucus out, and a teaspoon of honey if your child is older than 1.