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Cold Remedies for Kids

When your child has a cold, it is often a miserable experience for both you and her. As colds are viruses, antibiotics used to clear up many infections and illnesses are not an effective treatment for your child's cold. You have other options to treat the symptoms of a common cold to help keep your child more comfortable.

  1. Home Remedies

    • Home remedies often cure many common cold symptoms. Give your child plenty of clear fluids, such as water or juice, to prevent dehydration and break up chest congestion. Offer a warm bath, heating pad or massage to ease discomfort. Rub menthol on a congested chest. Take your child into a steamy bathroom or run a humidifier to ease congestion. Have your child gargle with warm salt water or suck on a hard candy to help relieve a scratchy or sore throat. Encourage your child to eat and offer chicken soup to help control mucus and inflammation. Place your child on his side to sleep to help prevent nasal mucus from falling into the throat.

    Medication

    • Consult her pediatrician or family doctor before giving your child any cold medication. Cold medications often treat the symptoms of a child's cold but sometimes have side effects or may make the cold worse if your child uses it for a prolonged period of time. In addition to common decongestants, certain antihistamine medications provide relief from many symptoms of a child's cold but also have side effects. You may choose to give your child a pain reliever such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen to reduce her discomfort. Avoid giving children of any age aspirin for a cold, as it increases the chance for contracting Reyes syndrome, a condition that can be fatal.

    Young Children

    • Treating a cold in a child under the age of 2 requires special consideration. Young children should not be given over-the-counter cold medication, hard candy or honey for a sore throat. Parents may treat a young child's cold with an appropriate dose of ibuprofen or acetaminophen to reduce a fever and discomfort. Use a cool mist humidifier to make breathing easier. Suction mucus from your child's nose using a bulb syringe. Treat nasal congestion with saline spray or drops that prevent them from getting stuffed up and help keep your child's nasal passages moist. Consult with your child's doctor for other safe treatment options.

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