Your Child's Cough: Part 1

Your Child's Cough

According from an article in KidsHealth.org, coughs are one of the most common symptoms of childhood illness. Although a cough can sound awful, it's not usually a sign of a serious condition. In fact, coughing is a healthy and important reflex that helps protect the airways in the throat and chest.

But sometimes, your child's cough will warrant a trip to the doctor. Understanding what different types of cough could mean will help you know how to take care of them and when to go to the doctor.

"Barky" Cough

Barky coughs are usually caused by a swelling in the upper part of the airway. Most of the time, a barky cough comes from croup, a swelling of the larynx (voice box) and trachea (windpipe).

Croup usually is the result of a virus, but can also come from allergies or a change in temperature at night. Younger children have smaller airways that, if swollen, can make it hard to breathe. Kids younger than 3 years old are at the most risk for croup because their airways are so narrow.

A cough from croup can start suddenly and in the middle of the night. Often a kid with croup will also have stridor, which is a noisy, harsh breathing (often described as a coarse, musical sound) that occurs when a child inhales.

Whooping Cough

Whooping cough is another name for pertussis, an infection of the airways caused by the bacteria Bordetella pertussis. Kids with pertussis will have spells of back-to-back coughs without breathing in between. At the end of the coughing, they'll take a deep breath in that makes a "whooping" sound. Other symptoms of pertussis are a runny nose, sneezing, mild cough, and a low-grade fever.

Although pertussis can happen at any age, it's most severe in infants under 1 year old who did not get the pertussis vaccine. Pertussis is very contagious, so your child should get the pertussis shot at 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 15 months, and 4-6 years of age. This shot is given as part of the DTaP vaccine (diphtheria, tetanus, acellular pertussis).

The Tdap vaccine (which is similar to DTaP but with lower concentrations of diphtheria and tetanus toxoid for adults) is given to children at 11-12 years and once again in adulthood as a part of one of the tetanus boosters. Adults are recommended to receive this pertussis vaccine since immunity to pertussis lessens over time. By protecting yourself against pertussis, you are also protecting your kids from getting it.

Since pertussis is very contagious, it can spread from person to person through tiny drops of fluid in the air coming from the nose or mouth when people sneeze, cough, or laugh. Others can become infected by inhaling the drops or getting the drops on their hands and then touching their mouths or noses.

Cough With Wheezing

If your child makes a wheezing (whistling) sound when breathing out, this could mean that the lower airways in the lungs are swollen. This can happen with asthma or with a viral infection (bronchiolitis). Also, wheezing can happen if the lower airway is blocked by a foreign object.

Nighttime Cough

Lots of coughs get worse at night. When your child has a cold, the mucus from the nose and sinuses can drain down the throat and trigger a cough during sleep. This is only a problem if the cough won't let your child sleep.

Asthma also can trigger nighttime coughs because the airways tend to be more sensitive and irritable at night.

Daytime Cough

Cold air or activity can make coughs worse during the daytime. Try to make sure that nothing in your house — like air freshener, pets, or smoke (especially tobacco smoke) — is making your child cough.

Cough With a Fever

A child who has a cough, mild fever, and runny nose probably has a common cold. But coughs with a fever of 102º F (39º C) or higher can sometimes be due to pneumonia, especially if a child is weak and breathing fast. In this case, call your doctor immediately.

Cough With Vomiting

Kids often cough so much that it triggers their gag reflex, making them vomit. Also, a child who has a cough with a cold or an asthma flare-up might throw up if lots of mucus drains into the stomach and causes nausea. Usually, this is not cause for alarm unless the vomiting doesn't stop.

Persistent Cough

Coughs caused by colds due to viruses can last weeks, especially if your child has one cold right after another. Asthma, allergies, or a chronic infection in the sinuses or airways also might cause persistent coughs. If the cough lasts for 3 weeks, call your doctor.