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How To Cure Cough At Night In Children

By Shabana

The monsoons are lashing all across the country. While the weather spells a disaster for us working parents, the kids surely know to enjoy a gloomy rainy day.

The rains pose a lot of health problems for both the adults and children alike. But the children suffer the most due to their still-developing immune system.

ways to cure cough in kids at night

Do you often hear your child suffering from bouts of cough at night times? It not only keeps them awake but you as well. Coughing in children may be frequent and difficult to get rid of. Nevertheless, it is important to keep your child cough free, as it may hugely impact his/her day-to-day activities.

Coughing is a normal function of the throat when it tries to keep the air passage free from mucus. Our mucous membranes present in the nose start secreting excess mucus in order to fight off an infection. This mucus sometimes travels down the air passages, compelling our throat to try and get rid of it through coughing.

Coughing can also be triggered by an allergy or irritants in the nasal cavity. What makes it so annoying is the fact that the coughing episodes of your child increases after they go to bed. That is because when we are lying down, the mucus from the nose travels to the throat, giving rise to frequent bouts of coughs.

Although there are many over-the-counter medications available for cough, they do not give a permanent relief. In fact, most of the cough syrups are laden with sedatives, making the kids sleepy. Moreover, these syrups also do not treat the root cause of the problem, i.e., eliminating the mucus.

Therefore, more mothers are relying on natural remedies to solve the problem. Given below are some effective remedies which can reduce your child's coughing at night and give your child and you a peaceful sleep.

  • Mustard Oil And Garlic Massage
  • Honey And Black Pepper
  • Apple Cider Vinegar
  • Lemon And Basil Tea
  • Aloe Vera

1) Mustard Oil And Garlic Massage:

We mothers instantly tend to reach out for vaporizers at the first sign of our kids coughing. Vaporizers work by loosening the mucus and making its elimination easier. But applying too much of it may harm your child. A natural concoction of garlic and mustard oil works wonders in such cases.

Ingredients:

3-4 cloves of peeled garlic

2 tablespoons of mustard oil

Method:

1) Heat the mustard oil until it is hot and remove from fire.

2) Chop the garlic cloves into small pieces and add it to the hot mustard oil.

3) Let the garlic infuse into the oil for some time.

4) After 15 minutes, your natural decongestant is ready to use.

5) Apply the oil on the chest and gently massage.

6) You can store the mixture in an air-tight container for future use.

2) Honey And Black Pepper:

Honey is excellent in treating cough in children. Surprisingly, its sticky nature will help the body eliminate mucus effectively. It works by increasing the production of saliva in the mouth, which helps in thinning the mucus. Black pepper acts as an antimicrobial agent, which helps kill the bacteria causing the infection.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of honey

2 pinches freshly ground pepper

Method:

1) In a bowl, take the honey.

2) Add the pepper powder to it and mix well.

3) Store the mixture in a clean container.

4) A quarter teaspoon of this mixture should be consumed every two hours once until the cough subsides.

3) Apple Cider Vinegar:

Apple cider vinegar does wonders to our body. It is just like a magic lotion which helps cure all our skin and health problems. Just when we thought that it couldn't do any more, it does!!! ACV's antibacterial properties help kill the problem causing bacteria in the throat and eliminate the mucus.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon of crushed ginger

1 teaspoon honey

Method:

1) Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl.

2) Feed this mixture to your child, preferably half an hour before bedtime.

4) Lemon And Basil Tea:

Hot drinks are excellent in treating a cough. In this recipe, lemon is full of antibacterial vitamin C which helps fight cough effectively. It also helps increase your kid's immunity against further infections. Basil is another excellent natural herb, which relieves cough symptoms.

Ingredients:

A handful of basil leaves

1 teaspoon of lemon juice

1 cup of boiled water

Method:

1) Add the basil leaves into a fresh cup of boiling water and let it steep for 15 minutes.

2) Strain the mixture and then add the lemon juice.

3) Cool down the mixture to warm before giving it to your child.

4) This tea should be consumed after dinner and before going to bed.

5) Aloe Vera:

Wondering how your child will react to tasteless aloe vera pulp? Don't worry. This recipe includes honey as well. Keeping aside its inedible taste, aloe vera is known to ease up the cough symptoms and help in expelling mucus. It also soothes up the throat.

Ingredients:

Half teaspoon fresh aloe vera pulp/1 tablespoon of aloe vera juice

A tablespoon of honey

A pinch of cinnamon powder

Method:

1) Mix the aloe vera pulp or the juice with honey.

2) Add the cinnamon powder and mix everything well.

3) This remedy will instantly stop cough. It should be had right before going to bed.

Story first published: Wednesday, June 13, 2018, 11:44 [IST]
Read more about: cough kids remedies