Causes of cough in the morning in a child

Allergic cough

There is no cure at all with home remedies.
The only reliable remedy for it is good antihistamines or the complete absence of the allergen. It can be difficult to identify. If you cannot do this on your own, you need to consult with an allergist - he will prescribe a series of tests that will serve as a hint in which direction to search. If an attack of allergic cough occurs for the first time, and there are no allergy remedies at hand (although they should be in every home medicine cabinet!), you can use bronchodilators, for example, Broncholitin. They relieve irritation and spasms well and make breathing easier. Warm drinks and steam inhalation can do the same.

You can bring your baby into the bathroom by filling the bathtub with hot water. The moist steam will open the bronchi, and he will be able to breathe normally. But if the attack does not go away, and signs of suffocation appear, call an ambulance immediately!

Drug treatment

Often, the malaise disappears when external factors are eliminated or after measures are taken to stop the pathological process in the body.

A dry cough in the morning should be gotten rid of immediately after it occurs, since it is not beneficial and indicates the initial stage of infectious diseases. Treatment uses drugs that suppress the activity of certain parts of the central nervous system.

1. Mucolytic. They are used to dilute mucus, which greatly facilitates its removal. It is easier for a child to cough after taking the drug. Ambroxol or Lazolvan are often prescribed.

2. Expectorants. Prescribed to improve the process of mucus discharge. It is these drugs that help transform a dry cough into a wet one and fight infection. The most effective drugs in this group are “Mukaltin” and licorice root. The basis of the products are herbal components, which makes it possible to treat the cough that occurs in a child in the morning.

To dilate the bronchi, non-narcotic drugs are used, for example, “Gerbion”, “Glaucin” or “Broncholitin”. But self-medication can lead to serious consequences. If a child coughs in the morning, it is necessary to consult a doctor, since only a specialist can determine the cause and prescribe medications.

Cough after sleep in a child can occur for various reasons. They have their own characteristics related to age, body condition, and living conditions. The nature of the attacks is of great importance:

• with weak or copious sputum;
• dry or wet;
• with vomiting;
• deep or abrupt;
• hoarse, barking;
• with or without pain and sore throat.

To understand why a child is coughing, doctors also look at other symptoms: runny nose, body temperature, purulent discharge, general weakness, chest and throat pain.
If a child coughs after sleep, this is often a sign of a viral illness. Cough during ARVI can be of several types:

• Dry, barking, unproductive, when mucus from the throat is not coughed up. Often occurs at the initial stage of the disease. Accompanied by a general deterioration in health, hoarseness, and increased sweating. Also, a dry cough may be residual after treatment of the disease. The child simply coughs in the morning (this condition can last up to 1.5 months).
• Wet, or productive, when mucus is released from the respiratory tract, resulting in improved health. A severe cough in the morning with mucus discharge indicates a speedy recovery.

If a child has an acute respiratory viral infection, he may cough not only after sleep, but also during the day.
Cough after sleep in a child often occurs due to an inflammatory process in the upper and lower respiratory tract. Here are the diseases that force the baby to cough in the morning:

• Whooping cough. This is an acute infectious disease of the lower respiratory tract, which is characterized by attacks of a dry, exhausting cough. At the onset of the disease, the symptoms are similar to ARVI. At the second stage, the patient begins to cough especially severely at night and in the morning. In this case, the child’s face turns red, the veins swell, and a short-term cessation of breathing may occur. Residual cough after whooping cough sometimes lasts up to 2 months. Sounds similar to allergic or asthmatic.
• Bronchitis. The acute course of the disease is characterized by a chesty cough with periodic sputum discharge. The child begins to cough violently in the morning, because a large amount of mucus accumulates in the throat during the night. The disease is accompanied by weakness, malaise, elevated body temperature, wheezing in the chest, shortness of breath, and rapid heartbeat. In chronic bronchitis, such attacks are repeated throughout the year (at least 3 times in 12 months).
• Pneumonia. This is a serious infectious disease, especially dangerous in childhood. If after sleep the baby begins to cough, the attacks do not go away during the day, and are accompanied by high fever and shortness of breath, you should immediately consult a doctor. The spasm is initially dry, non-productive, and appears in the first days after infection. During treatment it becomes wet. Sputum from pneumonia consists of pus, mucus and blood clots. Sometimes it contains green veins. A child may cough obsessively, with a whistling sound. Sometimes there is a whooping cough in the form of attacks.
• Sinusitis. This is an inflammation of the sinus mucosa. It occurs as a complication of influenza, acute rhinitis, and other infectious diseases. Children may cough due to illness due to secretions flowing from the nasal cavity into the nasopharynx, as a result of which the cough receptors are irritated. Pathogenic microorganisms simultaneously infect the upper and lower respiratory tract. Spasms are worse at night and in the morning after waking up. At first the cough is dry, but after a few days it becomes wet. Its intensity determines the position of the body.
• Tracheitis. Accompanied by a dry, debilitating cough. The child begins to cough most severely at night when he is in a horizontal position. In the morning he coughs due to a large accumulation of mucus in the respiratory organs. The attacks are so severe that they cause vomiting. During the day the child coughs more.
• Pharyngitis. The child begins to cough due to inflammation of the upper respiratory tract. The cough can be dry or wet. Appears 2 days after infection, exacerbation occurs at night. The attacks last up to 10 minutes. In the morning, the child also cannot clear his throat quickly. With chronic pharyngitis, the attacks are obsessive, constant, and the baby tries to swallow from time to time.

Reflux esophagitis

An inflammatory process that is caused by the release of stomach contents into the esophagus and throat. This is a fairly rare pathology in childhood that requires observation by a gastroenterologist. Characterized by cough in the morning, regurgitation. In older children, in addition to coughing attacks, belching and heartburn appear.

If your baby has a dry cough after sleep, accompanied by the release of unpleasant-smelling mucus, most likely it is reflux esophagitis.
During the day, the child also complains of a burning sensation in the chest and throat, and frequent regurgitation is observed. Often, a similar problem occurs in newborns and goes away completely by the age of 10 months. No treatment is required during this period. If a child not only begins to cough, but also has difficulty swallowing food, hiccups that do not go away for a long time, high body temperature, black stools and vomit, you should immediately consult a doctor.

Allergy

Often a cough in the morning and evening in a child is a sign of an allergic reaction. It can be distinguished from various diseases by the following characteristics:

• There is no elevated temperature.
• The child, even if he coughs, behaves calmly and has a good appetite.
• The child begins to cough suddenly, the attack is not accompanied by sputum production.
• A runny nose with colorless discharge is often observed.
• The eyes turn red, the skin becomes covered with a rash, and begins to itch.

A dry, mild cough in the morning appears due to exposure to irritants (food and household) after contact with animals.
Allergies are often caused by laundry detergent, duvet and pillow fillers. Coughing can also be caused by passive smoking, polluted air, or taking certain medications.

Other diseases

If a child begins to cough dryly in the morning, this is a possible consequence of infection with worms. Unpleasant spasms are associated with blockage of the airways by larvae.

A dry cough in the morning in a child, accompanied by difficulty breathing and whistling, sometimes indicates bronchial asthma. If it is brown or yellow-green with sputum, it means that a serious inflammatory process is developing in the respiratory organs.

If a child begins to cough sharply after sleep, his breathing becomes noisy, whistling, his skin turns blue, there is shortness of breath, wheezing, perhaps a foreign object has entered his throat. In this case, immediate assistance is required.

Dust, dry air

A child's cough in the morning often occurs due to dry air in the room. As a result, immunity decreases, a runny nose and cough appear. Due to the dryness of the air, dust and other allergens do not settle on the surface, but move freely in the room, entering the human respiratory system.

The child begins to cough most severely for this reason in the winter, when the heating is on. If he coughs at night but not during the day, before going to bed you need to thoroughly ventilate the room and turn on the humidifier.

Summer heat and air conditioning also dry out mucous membranes. Being exposed to cool air for at least 15 minutes can cause you to get sick. Air conditioning is also dangerous because it causes the infectious disease legionellosis. These are pathogenic microorganisms that multiply in the humid environment of the cooling device.

Non-hazardous reasons

A wet cough in a baby in the morning is caused by physiological reasons, if it is without fever:

• The formula or mother's milk that he drinks at night does not completely pass through the digestive tract, as a result of which the residue ends up in the respiratory tract. Therefore, the child begins to cough after sleep. Even if the baby eats at night, he should be raised upright after eating.
• When a child coughs in the morning, it is often a consequence of teething. This process is almost always accompanied by increased salivation and runny nose. This cough is also not a pathology.
• In newborns, cough is a sign of adaptation to environmental factors. Excess mucus flows into the throat, causing the baby to start coughing.

The child also coughs after treatment for diseases of the lower and upper respiratory tract.
For example, after bronchitis, he may cough for another month. Antitussive drugs that act on cough receptors alleviate the baby’s condition. Children are prescribed:

• Sinecode;
• Libexin;
• Glaucine;
• Sedotussin;
• Levopront.

After the child begins to cough productively, mucolytics (Lazolvan, Ambroxol) are prescribed. They help to liquefy the secretion, which makes it easier to pass. Also, expectorants (Mukaltin, licorice root) are prescribed to remove phlegm. To dilate the bronchi, medications Bronholitin and Gerbion are used.

For allergic cough, antihistamines (Suprastin, Zyrtec, Zodak) are prescribed.

Main reasons

Cough is an alarming symptom for parents; most often it is a symptom of a cold, but in some situations it can accompany a completely different disease. Please note that everything in a child’s body is interconnected. A cough appears when fast receptors that respond to chemical and mechanical influences are irritated. If a child under one year of age coughs rarely, this is normal. Cough is a visible manifestation (symptom) of a huge number of diseases. Moreover, with some of them, the patient may not even associate this reflex action directly with the existing illness. Only with a cold or acute respiratory viral infection, bronchitis, this act is observed throughout the day. But even with these diagnoses, by the evening the reflex action becomes stronger and may even resemble an attack. In principle, the only type of cough that cannot be present at this time of day is associated with alcohol intake. This type of symptom is observed only in the morning or immediately after the person wakes up.

Cough after sleep in children: causes, possible diseases, treatment methods and prevention (9 photos)

Coughing is a natural reaction of the body, which is aimed at removing foreign substances from the respiratory system, as well as restoring their normal patency. A controversial point is the appearance of cough after sleep in children. Parents need to understand the root causes to understand whether this process is physiological or pathological. If a child has mild, jerky exhalations, and there are no accompanying symptoms, then this is considered normal. However, you may need to consult a doctor in order to find out the nature of the development of the unpleasant manifestation and eliminate the possibility of serious pathologies.

Causes of cough after sleep in a child
Cough is not considered to be an independent disease; it is just a symptom indicating existing health problems.
It can have a varied nature, depending on the etiology of the disease, time of appearance, presence of sputum, and intensity. In cases where a child coughs after sleep, and during the day absolutely nothing disturbs him, we can talk about the normal process of the body getting rid of the remnants of mucus that accumulated during the night and foreign objects. Most often, such a cough is wet and is accompanied by the release of a small amount of sputum, is not prone to progression, and subsides fairly quickly. If there is no fever, then a physiological cough in a child in the morning after sleep may occur against the background of certain factors. Change in body position
A sudden change in body position after the child wakes up.
A certain amount of pathological secretion penetrates the trachea, causing the child to develop a wet cough in the morning. The developing reflex exhalations, however, are short-lived. Teething
This period is characterized by activation of the function of the salivary glands, the secretion of which accumulates during night sleep in the projection of the throat. Accordingly, after waking up, the child has a need to clear the passages of the respiratory system with the help of coughing.

Breastfeeding (or bottle-feeding)
A small amount of liquid food can flow into the tracheobronchial tree, resulting in an expectoration reflex.
To avoid the development of an unpleasant symptom, it is recommended to slightly support the baby's head during feeding. After feeding has been completed, the baby should be placed in an upright position and held for a while. This will free the esophagus from food debris and accumulated air. Dry air
Unhumidified air in the room where the child sleeps provokes increased production of sputum by the mucous membranes in order to moisturize the upper respiratory tract.
During the night, sputum accumulates in the nasopharynx, as a result of which the child begins to cough after waking up. When a cough first appears after sleep in children, it is important to observe the child and pay attention to whether there are accompanying symptoms that may indicate the presence of a disease. Psychosomatics
Also, morning cough can develop under the influence of psychosomatic factors. In such cases, the symptom may indicate the child’s desire to attract increased attention from parents or to express his disagreement (for example, reluctance to go to school or kindergarten). In what cases should a child have a dry cough after sleep?

Sign of pathology
If the child’s condition begins to deteriorate, and the intensity and frequency of coughing attacks increase, additional clinical symptoms appear, it becomes necessary to consult a doctor. It is necessary to promptly and competently diagnose the pathological disorder in order to prevent chronicity of the disease and the development of adverse consequences. Causes of pathological cough:

1. A wet cough after sleep in a child may indicate an ENT pathology. Morning manifestations of the symptom can occur in a child as a result of the localization of pathogenic microflora, for example, Haemophilus influenzae, in the ENT organs. Under the influence of infectious agents, the secretion of nasal secretions increases, which is discharged naturally during the day. When the child is in a horizontal position, the secretion begins to flow down the posterior laryngeal wall, causing irritation of the receptor endings of the cough center. What does a child's barking cough after sleep indicate?
2. Whooping cough. This infectious disease is characterized by a unique character of coughing: the disease begins with the appearance of a frequent and dry cough, over time it begins to acquire a paroxysmal character. The attacks occur one after another, each of them ends with a deep breath and a whistling sound. Crises are systematic and appear throughout the day, but in the morning they are most pronounced.
3. Gastroesophageal reflux disease. The pathological condition is caused by the reflux of stomach contents into the digestive canal, resulting in damage to the lower esophagus. Symptoms of the disease are as follows: white coating on the tongue, shortness of breath, dry throat, chest pain, vomiting, heartburn, cough, which manifests itself mainly in the morning.

   

4. Bronchial asthma. It is characterized by a short paroxysmal cough that causes discomfort throughout the day and especially in the morning. Early forms of the disease are accompanied by a cough with slight sputum production. Over time, the patient's condition worsens, and with it the nature of the cough. Attacks become more pronounced and frequent, and copious sputum production occurs. The child's throat, abdominal cavity and chest area begin to hurt.
5. Allergy. One of the forms of allergic manifestation is cough. It can occur on bed linen, feather pillows, animal hair, and dust. If the morning cough attacks get worse after changing the bedding, you can judge the reaction to the fabric softener or detergent. Pediatricians advise parents to use special hypoallergenic household products when washing children's underwear and clothes.
6. A cold of bacterial or viral etiology can provoke a wet cough in a child after sleep. In the initial stages of the disease, the child begins to be bothered by a dry cough. If there is no adequate treatment, he begins to feel worse, the cough appears more often, and its intensity intensifies. The child experiences a sore throat, sore throat, runny nose, and general malaise.

   

There are quite a few diseases that can be accompanied by an intense cough in the morning. The cause of its appearance may be pneumonia or chronic bronchitis. In this regard, it is necessary to consult a doctor to exclude the possibility of serious pathologies and prescribe adequate therapy. What to do when children cough after sleep? Advice from pediatrician Komarovsky
E. O. Komarovsky is a fairly well-known practicing pediatrician, whose opinion is listened to by many parents. He advises parents, before using pharmaceutical drugs to treat cough in children, to conduct a preliminary analysis of the factors that can cause the child to develop a cough in the morning, as well as changes that have occurred in the room in which the child sleeps. This will probably make it possible to trace some relationship.

Perhaps the child began to sleep in a new crib, play with a new toy, and the parents began to use a different powder for washing things.
Most often, the problem can be solved by simply maintaining cleanliness, sufficient air humidification, frequent walks in the open air, and normalizing the diet. The pediatrician is inclined to compare the occurrence of a morning cough with an inflammatory process affecting the nasopharynx - nasopharyngitis. Pathology develops if there are favorable factors in the form of dry air in the room, hypothermia of the child’s body, decreased immune activity, the presence of ENT diseases of infectious etiology, and unfavorable living conditions. A child may often cough after sleeping without fever. Posterior rhinitis
Posterior rhinitis may also develop upon contact with allergenic agents. A non-standard reaction may occur if there is contact with pollen from indoor plants, dust, or pet hair. Treatment of pathological conditions should begin with identifying and eliminating the irritating factor. After all, treatment, if the root cause is not eliminated, will not have an effect.

Recommendations
Positive dynamics can be achieved if parents adhere to the following recommendations:

1. It is necessary to carefully and systematically carry out wet cleaning in the rooms where the child is located.
2. It is important to provide your baby with plenty of fluids to prevent dehydration and, as a result, drying out of the nasopharyngeal mucosa.
3. Choose the most suitable complex of vitamins and minerals for your child.
4. Monitor the humidity level in the rooms. The optimal indicator is 60%. Using special humidifiers, which can be purchased at almost every household appliance store, will help maintain air humidity at the proper level. An alternative would be to hang wet towels on radiators during the heating season.
5. It is important to ventilate the premises at least 2 times a day.
6. It is necessary to provide the child with systematic exposure to fresh air.
7. It is recommended to treat the child's nasal passages using saline solutions or specialized nasal preparations, for example, Marimera, Humera, Aquamaris.
8. Review your child's diet and choose a diet for him. You should limit your consumption of fatty, salty, spicy and fried foods rich in spices. It is better to focus on steamed dishes, low-fat broths and rare porridges.

If the accumulation of muconasal secretions causes a deterioration in the child’s breathing quality, parents should use a special nasal aspirator or available available means, for example, a pipette, a bulb, a syringe without a needle).

Conclusion
You should be more attentive to the child’s health condition and under no circumstances resort to self-medication. It is easier to prevent any pathological condition than to treat it later. Only a qualified otolaryngologist and therapist can identify the cause of a child’s cough after sleep and choose appropriate treatment methods. Qualified assistance to the child should be provided even with minor deviations from the norm. We looked at what a cough after sleep means in a child. Treatment has also been described.

Material taken: Here

Why does a child cough after sleep?

All parents know that a cough is a symptom of some disease, but not necessarily a cold. Young mothers often make the same mistake: when this symptom appears in their baby, they immediately begin to panic and run to the pharmacy for medicine. If a child has a short cough after sleep, which does not cause him discomfort and does not appear during the day, then it may be physiological and not dangerous to health.

That is why, before giving children expectorants and antitussives, it is necessary to consult a doctor, otherwise they may cause harm to health.

Sometimes morning coughing attacks may not pose any threat to the baby's health. They can be caused by mucus accumulated in the respiratory tract overnight. Very often this process occurs in infants, because during feeding some part of the food enters the trachea and thereby provokes a cough.

When babies start teething, they produce excess saliva, which can also trigger a cough reflex. If a child coughs periodically after sleep, then do not worry, perhaps it is physiological, but consulting a doctor is necessary in any case.

Cough attacks that occur in the morning can be caused by diseases such as:

• ARVI;
• laryngitis;
• pharyngitis;
• bronchial asthma;
• pneumonia;
• tuberculosis.

With the development of these diseases, the unpleasant symptom will torment the baby throughout the whole day, and not just in the morning. In addition, other symptoms of the disease will be observed, such as fever, sore throat, loss of appetite, and weakness.

Very often, in the morning after sleep, a cough appears in children who are prone to allergies. It can be triggered by dust, indoor plants, feathers in the pillow, pet hair and other allergens. But it is worth noting that if this process continues throughout the day, then parents should definitely show the child to an allergist.

Also, a morning cough sometimes appears due to mucus in the stomach; it can enter the esophagus or settle on the back wall of the throat. Naturally, when a child wakes up, he tries to get rid of mucus and coughs it up. This phenomenon in infants is called regurgitation, and in older children - reflux esophagitis.

What to do?

If your baby has a morning cough, parents should not immediately panic. First you need to monitor the child’s condition

If the cough does not last long in the morning and the child feels well during the day, then perhaps there is no reason to worry.

More often, periodic weakly expressed jerky exhalations without accompanying symptoms are considered to be the norm. Consultation with a specialist is necessary in order to determine the nature of the appearance of the unpleasant symptom and eliminate the possibility of serious violations.

Cough is not an independent disease, but a symptom that indicates existing health problems. The nature of cough reflexes depends on the etiology of the disease, intensity, sputum production, and time of manifestation.

Feeling a slight discomfort in the throat after sleep is normal; the body needs time to “switch” to active mode and begin full-fledged work. But the norm is a slight soreness before the first sip of water or brushing your teeth. Anything more than this is one of the first signs of illness.

Cough is a natural reaction of the nasopharyngeal mucosa to irritation, mainly of the following types:

• dry (nothing comes out of the throat and no coughing);
• wet (discharge from the throat is present);
• paroxysmal (can be either wet or dry, differs in frequency).

It is quite simple to determine what specific cough is tormenting a child - by sound. A dry cough sounds “barking”, dull and quiet. Wet - loud and booming. Also, with a wet cough, children are less likely to choke on it, the average attack lasts no longer than 10 seconds (excluding diseases where the frequency of coughing is high).

It also matters how long the cough lasts. A child may begin to choke even from the wet type if it continues for some time and has irritated the throat for a long time.

In any case, the parent should pay attention to the morning cough, and then to other symptoms - in order to compare them and promptly identify the disease that caused it, if it exists. However, you should not immediately rush into worries and invent diagnoses, as well as self-medicate.

Perhaps the child simply suffers from a dry throat in the morning and stops experiencing discomfort immediately after brushing his teeth or eating breakfast. Young children may fake coughing because they see it as getting parental attention. Cunning and older children can use a cough as an excuse not to go to kindergarten or school.

Cold

The most common and common cause of cough is the consequences of hypothermia. The child might have gotten his feet wet on the way home, or you might have forgotten to close the window at night. Children quickly catch colds because they have weak immunity.

A cold cough is accompanied by rhinitis, sometimes with a slight fever. At first glance, it is difficult to distinguish a cold from a more serious illness, so you should not ignore the child’s condition. If symptoms continue for more than 1-2 days in the presence of isolation at home and the availability of warm drinks, take the baby to the doctor or call him at home.

Allergy

This factor should be taken into account if a child has a dry cough in the morning during the warm season. Allergies are characterized by a dry cough, even if there are no other symptoms. At night, the child is mainly in one position and steadily inhales the air in the room. It is possible that you open the window in the nursery for air circulation, because plant pollen and other allergens are constantly entering the room.

Typical childhood diseases that any parent inevitably faces. They are caused by contact with other carriers of the disease, which necessarily happens if the child goes to kindergarten or school.

Other signs of ARVI:

• pain and sore throat (long lasting);
• increased body temperature;
• runny nose;
• lethargy and weakness.

The cough during ARVI is not paroxysmal - the child will constantly cough with varying strength. even while sleeping. The first actions of a parent are to isolate the child at home, take preventive measures for themselves and prevent the baby from hypothermia. ARVI does not in any way interfere with the development of a cold, and these two diseases can develop simultaneously.

Pneumonia

Pneumonia or pneumonia is not the most common reason why a child usually coughs in the morning, but not to miss its development is one of the most important tasks for a parent. Pneumonia is incredibly dangerous for a child. The disease requires hospitalization and, if completely untreated, can be fatal even in adults.

The most important symptom by which you can distinguish pneumonia is a wet, productive cough, lingering and severe in nature. The disease does not occur with a dry cough.

The symptoms of pneumonia resemble ARVI, only in a more severe form:

• chest pain during coughing (an important difference in which ARVI can be excluded);
• a strong increase in temperature (from 39 degrees, depends on neglect;
• sweating;
• weak and lethargic state, constant desire to sleep;
• cough with phlegm;
• decreased appetite and pale skin.

If pneumonia is suspected, the pediatrician will definitely refer the child for additional examinations, after which it will be possible to say for sure whether the fears are confirmed. Pneumonia can be either unilateral or bilateral.

Bronchitis

Bronchitis is considered a “mild” disease compared to the previous one, but children endure it hard and for a long time - the disease can not only weaken the baby and force him to endure more than one unpleasant week, but also confuse parents with a long leave to care for the child.

The main danger of bronchitis is that it progresses. If your child's morning cough has signs of a bronchial cough, contact your pediatrician immediately - warm drinks and cough drops will not help.

Symptoms of bronchitis:

• lethargy, weakness, low energy in the morning;
• shortness of breath is added to pain in the sternum (behind), which is evidence of already developed bronchitis;
• a characteristic prolonged chill is added to the elevated temperature (up to 39 degrees);
• The cough itself not only causes pain, but also interferes with breathing.

It is very difficult not to notice bronchitis; parents often confuse it with pneumonia or ARVI in the early stages. If it comes to chest pain, then bronchitis is advanced - when going to the pediatrician, be prepared for possible hospitalization.

Few people know that asthma, which has been a fear for parents for decades, is just a type of allergic reaction. Unfortunately, this reaction is so dangerous that in the absence of proper treatment and constant monitoring of the child, death is possible.

Asthma doesn't just appear. Most often it occurs as a result of advanced respiratory tract disease (for example, bronchitis). The standard type of the disease, known to everyone because of asthma attacks, has nothing to do with this - a dry cough in the morning in your child is caused precisely by the “cough” subtype of asthma. Children forced to live with this disease cough almost constantly and need different therapy than standard therapy.

Is a morning cough normal?

Depending on the causes of the cough, it has a different character. This reflex act in itself is a symptom, and not a separate disease. It is often accompanied by fever and runny nose, swelling of the nasopharyngeal mucosa. The type of cough allows you to identify the cause of its occurrence.

Thus, a cough that occurs in the morning, as well as at any other time, is divided into physiological and pathological. In the first case, it is just a reflex and does not need treatment. Its appearance in the morning is due to the fact that in this way the body clears the airways of accumulated mucus.

Thanks to this physiological reflex, the respiratory system is cleansed and the body is protected from bacteria. It is acceptable that a physiological cough can be sharp and barking, it depends on the air in the room. It is usually mild and goes away after a short time.

It has the following distinctive features:

• short duration;
• weak expression;
• periodicity;
• absence of painful symptoms;
• frequency.

The causes of physiological cough in children are different. It can be caused by inhaling polluted or dusty air. Infants also often experience a cough reflex. This happens because during feeding, food enters the trachea and this reaction occurs.

In addition, a physiological cough in infants may appear after heavy crying. Most often, a child’s cough after sleep occurs due to mucus accumulated in the respiratory tract during the night. The cough reflex in infants is also provoked by teething. During this period, profuse salivation occurs, which is what causes this symptom.

You can make sure that your cough is not caused by an illness by regularly measuring your body temperature. The general condition of the children will also help determine possible pathology. So, if the baby is active, plays and has fun, and does not refuse food, then the cough should not be a cause for concern. And, conversely, if a runny nose appears, body temperature rises, or diarrhea begins, then the child should be shown to a doctor.

If the cough is not accompanied by painful symptoms, there is no need to worry

When cough is a symptom of illness

It also happens that a seemingly harmless morning cough in a child is actually a sign of a developing disease. This symptom may indicate various diseases. Therefore, it is very important to diagnose the disease correctly and on time.

• A light and dry cough after sleep can be an allergic reaction to household dust, down pillows, powder that parents use to wash children's bedding, as well as pet hair.
• If a child, in addition to coughing, has a fever, a runny nose, and feels weak, this is a classic picture of ARVI.
• In the morning, foul-smelling mucus is coughed up, and during the day the baby often spits up or complains that he has a burning sensation in his throat or chest. This is how reflux esophagitis usually manifests itself (this is when gastric juice is thrown into the esophagus and ends up in the pharynx).
• If the cough is paroxysmal, dry, similar to a dog barking and brings the baby to exhaustion, it is most likely whooping cough.
• In rare cases, a latent form of pneumonia is diagnosed in a child who coughs in the morning in the absence of other symptoms.
• A dry cough, along with whistling and difficulty breathing, may indicate obstructive bronchitis or bronchial asthma. A wet cough, which produces yellowish-green or brown sputum, indicates a serious inflammatory process developing in the respiratory system.
• With helminthiasis, a child may also cough immediately after waking up. To exclude this diagnosis, you will need to undergo certain tests as directed by your doctor.

A cough in children that bothers them after waking up may be a sign of not only the diseases listed above, but also a number of other ailments. In many cases, independent determination of the cause is impossible. This means that treating a child without consulting a specialist is unlikely to be effective.

Therefore, as soon as the child starts coughing in the morning, you need to carefully monitor his condition. This will help the doctor make the most accurate diagnosis.

Cough in the morning of a pathological nature

If the baby coughs in the morning, this may occur as a consequence of the accumulation of mucus that “comes” from the gastric cavity. The baby sleeps, and the contents of his tract can return to the esophagus and remain in the posterior laryngeal wall. When the baby wakes up, he simply coughs up the accumulated mucus. This process may also be called regurgitation in small infants or esophagitis in older children. In both cases, the disease is caused by dysfunction of the esophagus, so at first it is worth showing the baby to a gastroenterologist.

Also, the child often coughs in the morning if there is a tendency to an allergic reaction to the pathogen. The irritant may be the pillow filling, dust accumulated in the room, or plants outside the window. This type of syndrome can have a long course in the absence of measures taken to eliminate the allergen. In this situation, the child should be shown to an allergist. After all, the morning phenomenon can turn into coughing in the morning and evening, and then even last constantly.

If the baby coughs up often enough, this may indicate a number of pathological processes. For example, we can talk about pharyngitis, sore throat, sinusitis, whooping cough and other diseases of inflammatory and bacterial nature.

One of the reasons for a child’s cough may be a sore throat.

In this case, the phenomenon occurs not only in the morning, but throughout the entire daytime and evening period. If your baby greets you with coughing every morning, you shouldn’t rush to the clinic or pharmacy. Just observe his behavior for a few hours and then a couple of days. And only in case of serious changes can you contact an ENT specialist.

How does a child's cough manifest?

Cough is the first symptom that parents notice in a child. They call a pediatrician, who often makes false diagnoses. Parents buy all available medications at the pharmacy, but there is no improvement. The main task will be to determine what the baby’s body wants to get rid of during a cough. Most often, the reason lies in the pathological cough reflex.

• A productive cough is accompanied by a loud cough; something may gurgle inside the lungs. Gradually the sound increases when
• Moist cough. The child coughs several times in the morning, at approximately the same time. Usually, this symptom does not recur during the day.

Next, you need to ask the ENT specialist to determine whether there is mucus in the child’s respiratory tract. If it is not there, the cause of the cough lies in irritation of the back wall of the throat. In this case, you need to take your baby to a gastroenterologist.

What to do

You can start to worry if your child coughs after sleep for several days in a row. But there is no need to panic. First of all, you should measure the temperature and also carefully examine the baby’s body to see if there is a rash or redness.

You can ask an adult child if he has a sore throat, headache, weakness, nausea or chills. If the answers to all these questions are negative and nothing else bothers him, it is permissible to observe him for a few more days. It is quite possible that the body reacts to some allergen in this way.

To confirm or exclude this hypothesis, you need to conduct an audit and maintain order in the nursery. Floors should be washed and dusted daily or at least every other day. If possible, you should get a humidifier and turn it on every night. Bedding must be replaced immediately.

If parents notice that every time the child wakes up is accompanied by a cough, they must first find out the cause of this phenomenon, and only then take action. This should be done by a doctor. When examining the baby, he will definitely inquire about the nature of the cough:

• After which: on what day did the first attack of morning cough appear and what preceded it.
• Which one: wet or dry; barking type, strong or slight cough; with or without sputum production.
• When: exclusively after a night’s sleep or a day’s sleep too; Is there any coughing in the middle of the night or during the day?
• Associated symptoms: quality of sleep, fever, snot, baby's activity, appetite.

The more detailed the answers to these questions are, the more accurately the doctor will make a diagnosis. Accordingly, the treatment will be competent and effective.

Productive cough

It's wet, it's cough with phlegm

What it looks like. The child coughs loudly; you can even hear something gurgling inside him while he coughs. Usually the sonority gradually increases, after which the cough stops - “the sputum disappears.”

Morning wet cough. The child coughs only a few times and only in the morning. After the sputum is discharged, the cough stops until the next morning. The most likely cause of such a cough is expectoration of mucus, which accumulates somewhere very shallow - in the throat and nasopharynx.

What to do. See an ENT doctor and ask him to carefully examine the child’s nose, throat and especially the nasopharynx - using a special nasopharyngeal speculum. And after the inspection - definitely! - ask if he saw mucus in the nasopharynx or mucus flowing down the back wall of the throat. Because this very mucus is the cause of the cough.

But what happens if the ENT doctor says that everything is clear in the nose or nasopharynx? It's okay - this is exactly the same symptom as the presence of mucus. Then all we have to do is ask whether the doctor saw irritation or redness on the back wall of the throat. And if it is, then our path lies with another doctor - a gastroenterologist.

Why? Because mucus can accumulate in the throat after a night not only because it drains from above - in the same way it can come from below, from the stomach. When a child lies down, gastric contents can enter the esophagus, and along it (albeit in small quantities) reach the back wall of the pharynx. In children under one year old this is called regurgitation, in older children it is called reflux esophagitis.

Why this name? Yes, because reflux is a movement in the opposite direction, and esophagitis is because the esophagus primarily suffers from such movement. Well, if we know that the child’s gastrointestinal tract is not doing well, it’s all the more necessary to go to a gastroenterologist. Because in fact, a very common cause of cough is reflux esophagitis.

To summarize: a morning wet cough is the coughing up of mucus that has accumulated overnight in the child’s nasopharynx and throat. Such mucus can flow either from above - from the nose (this is to the ENT) or from below - from the stomach. With this you need to go to a gastroenterologist. If you first went to the pediatrician and found out that the lungs are clear, you need to look for the problem in the nose or stomach, but don’t start giving your baby cough syrups - it still won’t help.

Main causes of morning cough

Coughing is a response to irritation - a reflex attempt to clear the airways.
However, sometimes babies experience strange seizures after waking up. If this phenomenon recurs periodically, you should consult a doctor to identify the cause and eliminate the cough syndrome. Let's look at some of the most common causes of children's cough in the morning, which will require the intervention of specialists.

Allergy reaction

A sleeping baby is irritated by many factors that can cause an allergic cough. If you can identify the irritant: a smell, feather filling in a child’s pillow, a flowering tree near a window, it is enough to simply eliminate it. Sometimes you have to use antihistamines. However, even after eliminating the problem, you should not neglect consulting a specialist so as not to miss the development of allergies in your child.

Accumulated mucus in the nasopharynx

Sometimes, during the night's rest, mucus accumulates in the baby's nasopharynx. It can be produced in the nose or in the stomach, entering the pharynx area during prolonged horizontal position of the body. To find out the origin of the mucous mass, you should contact your pediatrician, who, after conducting an examination, will refer you to either an ENT specialist or a gastroenterologist.

If a child develops bronchitis or pneumonia, he will also be bothered by a wet, productive cough in the morning. In this case, suspicions will be confirmed by a high temperature, the presence of which should be a reason to consult a doctor.

A morning cough can also be a residual cough after an inflammatory lung disease. This symptom does not pose a threat to the child's health.

Air humidity is below normal

In a situation where the baby’s room is characterized by too dry air, his coughing after a night’s sleep will be a common reaction to the unfavorable environment. It is necessary to get a humidifier to maintain optimal humidity in the room. If the problem has existed for a long time, the child must be shown to a doctor to examine the nasal mucosa.

General recommendations

To alleviate the condition of a child who coughs in the morning, you can try some of the valuable recommendations:

• Eliminate salty, spicy and sweet foods from the children's diet.
• Feed oatmeal with added butter for breakfast. If the child desperately protests against this porridge, cook another one that he likes.
• Give your baby the famous “grandmother’s” remedy – grated black radish with honey.
• Lunch and dinner should be supplemented with vegetable salad dressed with vegetable oil.
• Give the child boiled water. It is also good to give jelly, fruit drinks, compotes, and decoctions of medicinal herbs. Drinking should be plentiful.
• Massage the chest with warming ointment. The method is contraindicated for allergies and for infants.
• Do inhalations using a nebulizer. You can add a little baking soda or antitussive syrups to the device - Lazolvan, Prospan or Ambroxol. Please note that medications can only be used with the permission of a doctor.
• Give your child a good vitamin and mineral complex to strengthen the body's defenses. You should select strictly according to age.

All recommendations given should in no case be part of self-medication. They are of an auxiliary nature. They can be used in addition to the main therapy or without it, if the doctor considers that this is enough to eliminate the cough.

After the fact

If parents are concerned about a child’s cough in the morning, first of all, it is necessary to find out its cause. It is possible that this is normal physiology that does not require intervention.

If you hear a slight cough after waking up, you should not immediately stuff your baby with pharmaceutical tablets and syrups. First, you need to carefully monitor him, tracking the frequency, duration and nature of the cough, body temperature (you need to measure it several times a day), and the presence of additional symptoms.

Regardless of whether the child is sick or not, there is no need to worry too much. The most important thing is not to self-medicate at random and consult a doctor in time with pre-collected information, which will be very useful for diagnosis.

Causes of cough after sleep in a child

Cough is not considered to be an independent disease; it is just a symptom indicating existing health problems. It can have a varied nature, depending on the etiology of the disease, time of appearance, presence of sputum, and intensity.

In cases where a child coughs after sleep, and during the day absolutely nothing disturbs him, we can talk about the normal process of the body getting rid of the remnants of mucus that accumulated during the night and foreign objects. Most often, such a cough is wet and is accompanied by the release of a small amount of sputum, is not prone to progression, and subsides fairly quickly.

If there is no fever, then a physiological cough in a child in the morning after sleep may occur against the background of certain factors.