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By: Ikedi Ani-okoye

Coughs and breathing

Colds and coughs are very common in young children but they are not usually a cause for concern, and home remedies can generally provide relief. Occasionally, however, a child may experience severe difficulty in breathing: this constitutes an emergency and you should call an ambulance immediately. Causes of breathing difficulty range from asthma to choking, and some childhood infections, such as bronchiolitis. Breathing difficulty can be life-threatening and is alarming for both parent and child; never hesitate to call for help.

Cough

All too common in childhood, coughs and colds are rarely serious. Sometimes the type of cough may give clues to what is causing it. A barking cough and hoarse voice is characteristic of croup, a viral infection affecting fhe larynx and vocal chords. The noise can be very alarming, sounding somewhat like a seal barking. Humidifying the atmosphere with steam can help.

A cough that comes in paroxysms so that at the end of the coughing fit, the child has to take such a deep breath that they make a "whooping" noise, is characteristic of whooping cough. Vomiting with the coughing is common with whooping cough. However, this condition is less common since she advent of the whooping cough vaccine.

Noisy breathing

Children may make all sorts of noises when they breathe, but noisy breathing does not necessarily indicate difficulties with breathing. The type of noise they make may help to pinpoint what the problem is likely to be.

Wheezing

Usually heard when a child breathes out, wheezing is a rather musical noise, often said to be similar to a seagull's cry. Most people associate wheezing with asthma, but wheezing can also be due to viral infections, principally a Viral infection called bronchiolitis. This is mostly seen in infants under 1 year and may require hospital admission if they have feeding problems, but is usually self-limiting. They may go on to develop asthma but many not.

Noisy in-breaths

A harsh noise made as a child breathes in ("stridor") comes from the upper airways. It is caused by the airways being blocked or narrowed. Croup causes this type of noise, but it may also be due to inhaling a foreign body or very rarely due to a bacterial infection called epiglottitis.

Grunting

This noise can indicate serious breathing difficulties in a baby, and often pneumonia in an older child.

Snuffling

Babies will often snuffle when they have a cold. They then find it difficult to sleep and feed, which disturbs both them and their parents. However, most babies manage to find a way over this temporary problem without too much difficulty.

Asthma

Childhood asthma can be hard to recognize - for example, it often show itself as sudden coughing fits or night-ime coughing rather than wheezing. Children with asthma may cough, wheeze and, in severe attacks, have extreme breathing problems that require hospitalization. As asthma is potentially life-threatening it is essential to Recognise symptoms that need hospital treatment.

A child who has been diagnosed with asthma will have one or more inhalers, which normally keep the condition well controlled. Occasionally, maybe in the summer when the pollen count is high or if the child has a bad cold, the asthma does not respond to the normal treatment and breathing difficulties develop. This may mean that it is necessary to make a reassessment of the medication that the child is taking.