Reasons for newborns to cough and sneeze

As the saying goes, nine out of ten babies cough! Because the baby's respiratory tract is still fragile and not fully developed, the baby will often develop respiratory diseases at the slightest disturbance. Coughing is a protective physiological phenomenon of the baby. But if the coughing is too severe and affects diet, sleep and rest, then it loses its meaning of protecting the baby. Let’s take a look at the reasons why newborns cough and sneeze.

One reason

1. Postnasal discharge caused by colds irritates the throat and respiratory tract, causing coughing;

2. After the virus infects the respiratory tract, its sensitivity increases; and the baby's respiratory mucosa is weak and lacks effective self-protection and defense functions. It is more sensitive to external stimuli than adults and is more likely to induce coughing.

3. The baby's systemic and local immune functions are insufficient, the respiratory tract and lungs are not fully developed, and coughing is prone to recurring.

Symptom identification

1A baby's cough can be broken down into four actions: short and deep inhalation; glottis closing; diaphragm and intercostal muscles contracting, increased intrapulmonary pressure; glottis opening, and the high-pressure air in the lungs being squeezed and ejected under the rapid contraction of the diaphragm. It is these four consecutive actions that combine to form a complete "coughing" process, and at the same time determine that coughs have different natures, rhythms, sounds and characteristics.

2 Nature of the cough: Dry cough or irritating cough: more common in upper respiratory tract infection, tracheitis, pneumonia, bronchial foreign body and other diseases. Wet cough or phlegm cough: more common in diseases such as bronchitis, bronchiectasis, lung abscess, tuberculosis, etc.

3. Rhythm of cough: Single cough: common in diseases such as laryngitis and tracheitis. Paroxysmal or spasmodic cough: common in diseases such as tracheal foreign body, whooping cough, bronchial asthma, etc. Periodic cough: common in diseases such as chronic bronchitis and bronchiectasis.

Three-family relief

Home relief options

1. Keep your baby’s head elevated at night

If your baby keeps coughing while sleeping, you can raise his head and the coughing symptoms will be relieved. Elevating the head is helpful for most coughs caused by infections, because when lying flat, the baby's nasal secretions can easily flow down the throat, causing throat itching and causing the cough to worsen at night. Elevating the head can reduce the backward drainage of nasal secretions. You should also change your sleeping position frequently, preferably alternating between the left and right sides, which is conducive to the discharge of respiratory secretions.

Kind reminder: Do not let your baby, who is coughing, lie down to sleep immediately after feeding to prevent vomiting and aspiration caused by coughing. If accidental aspiration and choking occur, you should immediately put the baby in a low-head and high-feet position, pat the back gently, encourage the baby to cough, and cough out the inhaled material.

2. Steam cough relief method

For babies who keep coughing, the symptoms will be relieved in an environment with room temperature around 20℃ and humidity around 60-65%. If your baby has a severe cough, let him/her inhale steam; or hold your baby in a steam-filled bathroom for 5 minutes. The humid air will help clear mucus from your baby's lungs and calm his/her cough.

You can take corresponding measures to relieve your baby's discomfort according to the cause and condition of your baby's illness. You must pay attention to the coughing and sneezing of the newborn. The newborn is still relatively fragile and the immune system is not so strong, so you must protect the newborn well.