Whooping Cough Home Remedies to Cure Your Toddler

What Is Whooping Cough?

Whooping cough, also referred to as pertussis, is a bacterial infection and is characterized by unmanageable coughing spells and difficulty in breathing. If left unattended it turns into severe coughing spells. It is highly contagious and spreads through coughs and sneeze of the infected person. It mainly affects babies and toddlers, but teenagers and adults can also be infected. Once infected with the bacteria it takes about a week for the symptoms to appear. Initially it appears like a common cold—mild coughing, sneezing, running nose and slight fever.

Children younger than 6 months are at a greater risk of contracting the cough and in such cases may need hospital care. If left unattended it ends up in coughing spells with a particular whoop sound as the person tries to breathe in air. Though antibiotic treatment and vaccines have been developed to combat whooping cough, it is still prevalent even in developed countries. Read: Government replaced Pentavac (5-in-1) Vaccine with DPT vaccine .

Symptoms Of Whooping Cough:

Symptoms are usually mild at the start and get severe with time. The actual symptoms start appearing close to a week after exposure. Sometimes it may take as long as 10 days or even 3 weeks. It begins with mild coughing, sneezing, a running nose and a low temperature. With time, patients usually experience severe bouts of coughing, accompanied by a whooping sound which is made due to breathing followed by the cough to take in air. In some cases it could cause dehydration and vomiting making hospitalization necessary.

Is Whooping Cough Contagious?

As already mentioned, yes. Sneezing or coughing spreads the bacteria. Anyone in close contact with the person suffering from whooping cough will, in all probability, contract it too. Children under 6 months, who are yet to be vaccinated are at serious risk of contracting it from an adult. Adults with a weak immune system can contract it too.

Home Remedies:

The best way to prevent whooping cough is to get yourself vaccinated with the pertussis vaccine. It is available even for adults. However, if your child has already contracted it, the best way then is to try some home remedies to ease the symptoms and even shorten the duration of the infection. Here’s a list of home remedies that you can try:

Ginger:

• Freshly extracted ginger juice mixed with honey in equal quantities (1 tablespoon each), twice a day for a few days, is quite effective
• You could even mix equal quantities of ginger juice, lemon juice and onion juice and take 1 tablespoon of this mixture 2 to 3 times a day

Turmeric:

• 1 tablespoon of honey with ¼ or ½ teaspoon of turmeric can be taken twice a day
• Warm milk with ½ teaspoon of turmeric twice a day also helps

Garlic:

• 1 teaspoon of fresh garlic juice, 2 to 3 times a day for a week
• 1 teaspoon of garlic syrup works wonders too (a pound of ground garlic mixed with 2 cups of apple cider vinegar and distilled water. This should be allowed to rest for 4 hours. Strain the mixture in cheesecloth and add 1 ½ cups honey)

Radish/Onion/Carrot juice:

• Extracted juice of radish (1 teaspoon) with equal quantity of honey mixed together, a little salt, 3 times a day
• Freshly extracted onion juice with honey. This should be left for 4 hours and 1 teaspoon of this must be consumed every day
• 1 tablespoon of freshly extracted carrot juice mixed with honey and warm water, a couple of times for a few days

Saffron:

Your child can have 6 strings of saffron steeped in hot water for 5 minutes every day for a week.

Almond:

• Make a mixture with 5 drops of essential almond oil, 10 drops each of onion juice and ginger juice. This can be had 3 times a day for some weeks
• Soak 5-7 almonds overnight, remove skin, grind and mix with a teaspoon of butter. This can be had 3 times a day
• You can massage your child’s chest with almond oil mixed with 4-5 drops of camphor and eucalyptus oil for relief

Lemon:

• A tablespoon of lemon juice extract in warm water and honey can be had a couple of times a day for several days
• Slice the lemon and sprinkle salt and pepper over a slice and make your child suck this to ease irritation and prevent persistent cough

Honey:

• 1 tablespoon of honey in a glass of warm water can be had a couple of times in a day
• Before going to bed, mix 1 teaspoon of honey with ½ teaspoon of cinnamon powder and make your child have this mixture
• You can mix radish juice in a teaspoon of honey, add a bit of rock salt to it. This can be had three times in a day

Besides, these home remedies, make sure your baby gets plenty of Vitamin C. Children less than 6 months get their regular requirement of Vitamin C from breast milk. For older children, it has to be supplied through the diet. Make sure your child is hydrated at all times. Watch out for dry chapped lips and infrequent urination. Avoid dry flaky foods for children suffering from whopping cough. Soups are ideal. In case of excess difficulty in breathing or vomiting, consult your doctor immediately.

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