Home Remedy for 15-Month-old Coughing (Phlegm)

Good old Vicks VapoRub does wonders. Rub a small amount on her chest, a good amount on her back before dressing her and then a generous amount onto the bottoms of her feet before putting her socks on. It does wonders for a wee one's cough!
D. N.

Do not give her any rice or milk that is the reason why she can not get rid of that have phelgm.

When a child have have phelm on their chest, you can not use home remdeies. She has to go to the doctor for antibotics. Because she can develop bronchitis

Use a warm mist vaporizer or humidifier, & Vicks Vaporub on the chest area. This is how I treated my girls, now 3 & 6. Also, try to cut out any milk or dairy. That will only make the problems worse. Only use the Tylenol if the baby has a fever. Other than that, More cuddle time & relaxing will help.

chicken soup-it's good also for a 15 mo old as it has vits & minerals.
Try probiotics for infants powdered formula added to her food to help her gfight the cold if thats what she has. I use homeopathic medicine as its all natural and little ones heal so much better w/ natural remedies. Pulsatilla is good for ear infections & discolored (yellow or green mucous). There's also coldcalm and other remedies be Bioron.

This is going to sound crazy, but my sister does swear by it, and uses it on her kids -

slice an onion (white) very thinly, place in a bowl or glass jar and sprinkle with sugar. The sugar will draw moisture out of the onion - that syrup is an exellent remedy for phlegm. The onion will keep, covered in the fridge, for 3-5 days. Because it's just onion and sugar, the only side effect is some funky I-just-ate-Italian breath.

Good luck!!

Cj M, I had the similar situaton with my son who now is 15 months and it happened when he was bout 13-14months. What my husband said for us to do to flush his system out especially the mucous, we gave him juicy juice and some orange juice constantly and gave him apple sauce and gave him oatmeal. We get regular dry oatmeal and cook it and made sure I made it really soft almost watery enough for him to get it down. If I didn't, it'll be hard to swallow if thick. I had leftovers since I made a lot because he is a big eater and it'll be ready for his next meal. I refrigerated the oatmeal and when I took it out, I added water in it to loosen it up and warmed it up in microwave in microwavable bowl and made sure the oatmeal was very soft to go down. Also, the nurse at the pediatrician's office said to give smaller portions more frequently so my son wouldn't throw it up and that was how I knew he had mucous. You really don't want to give tylenol because it's not going to help the mucous. Vegetable soup sounds good. But, my husband was saying you want to flush his system out and yeah alot of bowel movements but get the junk of their system is what you'd want. I hope this helped and any more questions just ask....you're a great mother!!!

Hi. My daughter is 25 months and we recently had the same issue but the cough went on for 6 weeks. First she was put on a antiboiatic and then she was finally given a neubulizer. The problem is that they can't get out the phlem and the last thing you want is it to turn into brochitis. I would definitely take her to the doctor or at least call the doctor and see what they say. Tylenol is not going to get rid of the cough and you can't give any cold medication these days. Hope she feels better soon.

give her lots of fluids and put a cold vaporizer in her room ( the warm air humidifers breed bacteria). Steam also helps. Turn on the shower in the bathroom and hang out in the steam for awhile - it helps everything run out. Also, if she has a stuffy nose you can use saline drops to keep things flowing. Fluids are really the most imp. thing though because if she gets dehydrated the mucous thickens and then starts plugging things up . . .like her airways.

Other than that, coughing is a good thing because it does eventually help bring everything up and out! Good luck - hope she feels better soon.

Tylenol is a great pain and fever reducer, but won't help with phlegm or coughing. She needs a good expectorant/cough syrup to help get rid of that. Call your family doctor and see what he/she recommends.

Using a vaporizer should help too. During the winter when all of us have our heat on it really dries out the air making it harder to breathe also. You may need to put more moisture back into the air in the house. If you don't have a vaporizer, try just putting a large pan of water on the stove and boiling it for a hour or so. Be careful not to let the water boil away completely though.

please know that the phlegm will not hurt her if she swallow it. it goes into her stomach. she may just get a little tummy ache. there's no reason to give her tylenol for a small fever. a fever is the body's way of fighting an infection. let her little body do it's job. give her not milky products, as mild and dairy products produce more phlegm. lastly, give her more water...but don't over due it. you can also give her organic soy milk if need be as well.
good luck and lay off the drugs.

Have you taken her to the doctor....if not don't procrastinate, take her and have her checked out...

My son is just getting over the croup which can be very dangerous and they can be hospitalized. You've received very good information from everyone that responded to you. My son had to go on steroids for 4 days and I was told to use a humidifer and steam up the bathroom and keep him in there for at least 10 min. I cut his milk where is was mostly water so it didn't produce phegm. They told me the cough can linger after the steroids. He still has a cough and a runny nose but the cough has improved so much. Croup is going around and can cause breathing problems. Definitely take your 15 month to the doctor.

My kid's pediatrician suggested buckwheat honey. When I googled it, I read about a new study that it was more effective than medicine for nighttime coughing. I use it at night and during the day when my daughter is sick. If the phlegm is yellow, she might have an infection, which I would check with the doctor. Good luck!

Hi Cj

I agree with the other mom and recommend you get the baby to a pediatrician. It's important to get the mucus out before it settles and creates a bacterial infection in her sinusus or chest(Note: I have no medical training so simply speaking as a mom). Two days is a long time for a little person so I recommend you reach out to a doctor sooner than later.

In the interim, just give water - no juice or dairy (milk) products. Saline solution (purchsased from your local pharmacy) and a suction bulb will help get it out her nose. Little noses is good but ensure you DON'T use any type of cough suppressant. You want her to get the phlegm out. I typically take my guys into a steamy bathroom by running hot water in the shower to steam the room up. It helps moisten and break it up so they can cough or sneeze it out. Don't stay in the bathroom more than 3-5 mins and keep her covered with a sheet except her face. This limits the opening of her pores so she's not so exposed when you come out into the regular temperature of the house.

Also, mucenex is the best but check with your pediatrician as giving over-the-counter meds is a highly controversal topic relative to their actual effectiveness in small children.

Good luck and absoultely let us know when she gets better. -A.

steam up the bathroom by turning on the shower HOT~ put her on your knee, face down and cup your hand and whack her on the back - she'll cough it out and will feel lots better. Do this at least once a day for like 20 minutes or so until the cough gets better.

Hi- I'm not a medical doctor, but I have heard that dark honey (such as buckwheat honey) is a great homeopathic remedy for a cough, assuming your child is not allergic to honey. Try giving your child 1/4 to 1/2 tsp about 30 min before bed. Here's a few studies to support use of honey to relieve coughing:

http://health.usnews.com/usnews/health/healthday/071204/h...

http://www.drgreene.com/21_2206.html

FYI, just a reminder to others with little ones that honey is not recommended for children younger than 1 year old.

Good luck!

Juices and Milk increase the phelm. Make an immediate ENT appointment, give WATER only...also go to the pharmacy and buy a bottle of Phillips (childrens laxative) give it to the baby with lots of water to get that phelm out of her system. (TYLENOL is NOT good to give to a child that is not sick) Dr. Stacy Silvers ###-###-#### is our ENT (referral from the family of Gabrielle Campbell) Also ask Dr. Silvers about Allergy Testing. You don't just want to find a remedy (a mask) for the PHELM, you want to know and treat the ORIGIN of the problem...Please keep in touch and let me know the outcome. WE LOVE DR. SILVERS!!!!!!

Happy New Year...CC

Get the Vick's vaporizer. It costs about $25 and the oil is about $10. I got this about a year ago and I wish I had bought it sooner, IT IS A LIFESAVER. I put it in my room when I am sick. It helps so much!!! I hope she feels better quick.

When my son had whooping cough I had to suction the mucus out of his throat/mouth with an aspirator. Other than that it was removed through a nasal-gastric tube while hospitalized.

Can she spit it out? Perhaps her pediatrician can recommend an expectorate that will thin the mucus such as robitussin.

Continue with lots of clear fluids - broth, popsicles, water. Orange juice always clears mine up.

Try and get a cool mist humidifier and use with vicks plug-ins.

Stay strong, she'll be better soon.

I haven't had a chance to try this yet but I just read about people who have sworn that putting vicks on their childs feet and cover with socks at night before they put them to bed works like a charm. I guess it can't hurt to try since vicks is totally safe on the chest. Good Luck!!

Hi CJ,
Your little one most likely has drip that is going down the back of her throat causing her to cough. Two things that will help are if you put some saline in her nose especially before bed. 2 drops in in each nostril and suction with a bulb syringe and then just add 2 drops of saline to keep moist. You can also try some loratidine syrup OTC from Walmart. 5mg and give her 1/4 - 1/2 tsp - before bed once a day. Be sure to ask the pharmicist to tell you exactly the dose. That should help her greatly. If it does not then she should see the Dr.
M. (nurse) and grandma of and 18 month old

Hi-
My son was hospitalized with pneumonia and the nurses taught me how to break up the phlegm in his chest. They called it chest PT. (maybe you can look it up online?) Lay her on her back/side, cup your hand and "beat her" (lol, that's what we joked they were doing during chest PT.) You do it kinda hard, the sound it makes seems strong but that's just from your hand being cupped. It sounds brutal but they love it, like a massage.) You only work where the ribs are, you don't want to injure any organs. They did it on the front too but not on the left side where the heart is. They would start at the bottom of the ribs and work up. Afterward, the baby will cough up the phlegm. It is ok if they swallow it, it will come out in the diaper! They also said belly laughs & crying are good too because it forces the lungs to work out the phlegm as well. Good luck.

I would use Vick's Vaporub cream on her chest and get a cool mist humidifier that you can add Vick's to. Also prop the head of her crib up to about a 45 degree angle and/or bring her into the bathroom with the shower running, the steam works wonderful. If this doesn't work call your pediatrician, he/she may be able to order something or give you some other suggestions. The big thing is to head it off now before she gets worse and needs to go on antibiotics.
Hugs,
T.

try not giving her any milk, try lots of water...

I have found many homeopathic remedies to be helpful; and my pediatrician has fully supported and educated me about the various things out there. I usually start at the local health food store, get names and ingredients of things then run them by my pediatrician. I fully support the natural way of "medication" rather than the lab manufactured ones. However, you need to trust you own instincts.
Good luck and feel better soon.