Common Cold in Children

Common cold, as the name itself suggests, is the most common illness found among children. Colds are caused by viruses of many kinds and are contagious.Within first 2 years, a child is likely to have 8 to 10 colds. Colds easily affect children because their immune system is not well developed and they cannot resist the cold-causing viruses. Moreover children do not take care to wash their hands or sneeze/cough covering their mouth and nose, thereby increasing the chances of the viruses being spread from one to the other in the day-care centre or at school or to their younger sisters or brothers at home.

Symptoms

• Runny nose
• Nasal congestion
• Sneezing
• Sore throat
• Cough
• Decreased appetite
• Slight fever

These symptoms will last for about 5 to 7 days during which time they gradually decrease, if the cold is a typical one and not complicated. The complicated or serious cold condition is shown by more than the usual mild symptoms of cold as follows:

• Difficulty with moving breath in and out and noisy breathing
• Clear mucus becoming thick, runny and green
• Lips or nails turning blue
• Persistent cough, lasting for more than one week
• Temperature above 102 degrees Fahrenheit
• Pain in the ears
• Excessive sleep

In very young babies under 3 months old, cold has the possibility of developing into more serious illnesses like bronchiolitis, pneumonia, or croup. Therefore, once you see the first signs of cold in your young baby, immediately take her to a paediatrician. For babies above 3 months old, you need to go to a doctor, if the symptoms seem to be serious as given above. Even if the symptoms are not serious, a blocked nose will cause difficulty for your baby in nursing or drinking from a bottle. This can lead to dehydration. In such cases, immediate treatment is necessary.

How the child is infected

Viruses causing common cold enter your baby’s body through her nose or mouth. When someone who has cold sneezes, coughs or talks, the virus spreads from them to your baby. If the person having cold touches his own mouth or nose and then touches your baby’s hands, virus spreads from the sick person to your baby’s hands. From her hand, virus passes on to her nose or mouth when she touches these parts of her body, thus causing cold in her. Sometimes viruses stay alive for hours over any surface. When your child touches such contaminated surfaces, virus passes on to her and causes cold.

Treatment

There are no antibiotics for common cold - a viral infection, for antibiotics have no effect on viruses. (They are effective in bacterial infections). The virus will however run its course for 1 or 2 weeks based on the kind of virus infecting and the resisting capacity of the child’s immune system. So, all you can do is to make your child get extra rest with increased amount of fluids and make her comfortable. Let the fluids you give her be quite warm. Your paediatrician may recommend giving her paracetomol or ibuprofen, if she has fever. Never give any other kind of cold remedy without consulting your paediatrician.

If nasal congestion causes trouble in nursing, you can use a rubber suction bulb to draw out the mucus which has blocked the nose and hampers the free-breathing. (You can get the guidance of your doctor about how to use the suction bulb.) You may be asked by your doctor to use nasal saline drops to liquefy the nasal secretions if they are particularly thick. Use of nasal saline drops followed by suction bulb treatment can be done before each feeding. Place just 2 drops of nasal saline in each nostril 15 to 20 minutes before feeding, and follow it immediately with suction bulb treatment. Suction bulb can be used for babies under 6 months. Older babies will fight the bulb and not allow suctioning the mucus. Using a vaporizer in your child’s room is one of the remedies to keep the nasal secretions more liquid. However, the vaporizer should be cleaned and dried every day to prevent any kind of contamination.

Video on Relieving Baby's Stuffy Nose

Cough medicines should not be considered for children below 3 years, unless prescribed by your paediatrician. Cough need not necessarily be suppressed because it is a protective mechanism to clear the mucus from the lower part of the respiratory tract, and will disappear along with other symptoms of cold. Sore throat too needs no specific treatment and it will get cleared by itself along with other symptoms gradually, most probably in a week.

Video on Treating for Cold in Children

Prevention

• Keep your baby away from those who have cold. Do not allow anyone who is sick to visit your newborn. It is advisable to avoid public gatherings or public transportation with your newborn.
• Wash your hands with soap and water, before handling your baby for feeding or any other chore. In situations where you don’t get soap and water, use a hand wipe or hand sanitizer to kill germs.
• Instruct children to cover their mouth when they cough or sneeze away from others and to use a tissue, which prevents spreading of cold.
• Provide a clean surrounding to your child and keep her playthings also clean.
• Breast feeding is a protective measure to keep your baby away from colds, for breast milk contains the necessary antibodies to fight infections.

Video on Preventing Children from Catching a Cold