It’s happening again: that time of year when your child comes home from daycare or school with a cough.
If your child is under six years old, you can’t give them most cough medicines, as recommended by Health Canada since 2009. With temperatures dropping steadily, brace for the fact that this will very likely not be the only cough you hear from your child this winter. And with COVID-19* and other viruses circulating, coughing is no longer a winter-only issue.
Coughing has been peaking. “This past summer’s trends in coughing were similar to what we observed last winter during the peak cough and cold season,” says François Leblond, senior brand manager with Norwell Consumer Healthcare, whose brands include Prospan by Helixia Kids, a natural cough syrup that Health Canada has approved for use in kids age 1 and older.
While you can’t give your child medication, there are ways to help alleviate the hacking, especially at night, and hopefully stop the symptoms before they spread to the whole family.
We partner with Prospan by Helixia to look at some top tips for managing children’s coughs this upcoming cold and flu season.
While you can’t necessarily turn to a decongestant-containing cough medicine for your child, you could try a natural health product such as Prospan by Helixia, a cough syrup that tastes like honey†. “There are two types of medications on the shelf,” says Duc Thang Nguyen, PhD, a scientific communication specialist in the drug information and pharmacovigilance department at Norwell, a Quebec-based pharmaceutical company. The first type is “natural health products, or NHPs, which include probiotics, herbal remedies, vitamins and minerals, and traditional medicines”.
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Prospan by Helixia, for example, is clinically proven to relieve cough and is also the #1 pharmacist-recommended Natural Cold Remedy in Canada for the last five years. Made from dried ivy leaf extract, it helps relieve cough by loosening mucus and phlegm, making it easier to cough out.
The other group of products falls under food and drug regulations and includes prescription and non-prescription pharmaceuticals. “And in cough products, those include antitussives and expectorants,” Nguyen says, essentially, cough suppressants or medications to help clear phlegm. These medications may not be effective in young children and will be labelled if not appropriate for kids under six.
Whichever option you reach for, it is a good idea to speak with one of the most accessible health professionals available — the pharmacist — about what’s best for your child or family.
READ MORE: Nighttime coughing? Here’s what you should and shouldn’t do
Parents and caregivers can also try home remedies to help with coughs, starting with evaluating your child’s hydration. “Fluids may help soothe an irritated throat, so honey, lemon, and juice or tea may help a dry hacking cough,” Nguyen says, noting that water or juice are best for children under one year of age, who shouldn’t have honey as there’s a risk of infant botulism due to clostridium botulinum spores sometimes found in pasteurized and unpasteurized honey.
A cool mist humidifier in your child’s room can also provide relief. For croupy, “barky” types of coughs, dress your child in warmer clothes and take them outside for a few minutes — the blast of cool air may help relieve their cough. Another trick is to take your child into a bathroom and turn on the hot water in the shower until the room gets steamy.
Do pay attention to signs surrounding the cough, such as the length of time a child has been coughing and other symptoms. “Call your doctor if the cough lasts longer than two weeks without other respiratory symptoms or if the symptoms become more severe or frequent,” Nguyen says. Other things to watch for are difficulty breathing, coughing up blood, breathing faster than usual or a blueish tinge to the face or lips.
“Also, if the child is younger than three months, call your doctor if they also have a fever, have been coughing for a few hours, make a ‘whooping’ sound after breathing or you see a change in mood or behaviour,” Nguyen adds. It might even be helpful to track their symptoms, the duration and medication, if any, in your phone or on a piece of paper to update your physician when you do speak with them.
*Prospan® by Helixia® is not indicated as a treatment for the virus that causes COVID-19.
†Does not contain honey.
READ MORE: Dry coughs, wet coughs, mucus: Everything you need to know about coughs and phlegm
To learn more about natural cough remedies like Prospan by Helixia, visit the Helixia website.