Respiratory infections such as flu or a common cold are known to affect toddlers younger than five years old an average of 10 times per year. Those who are sent to day care, nursery or pre-school have a much higher chance of developing colds. On the bright side though, the common cold or flu is their body’s way to ward off viruses and they recover, your toddler’s immune system would’ve developed antibodies againsts these familiar viruses.

Barring complications like severe sore throats, ear infections, high fever or pneumonia, toddler’s common cold or flu usually doesn’t require a consultation with the paedatrician. Viral infections can’t be cured medically. Parents will have to let their toddler’s cold run it’s course and bear with the symptoms. Your child’s body will heal itself. What you can do is to relieve your kids from the discomfort and here are some home care ideas to provide such relief:

• Make sure your child drinks plenty of water, herbal teas or fruit juices. Consume the liquids warm. It is important to keep your toddler from dehydration caused by fever, coughing, loss of appettite or diarrhea.
• Keep your child warm and comfortable.
• Reduce your toddler’s activity and encourage lots of bed rest.
• Warm and moist air in the room can provide comfort to your child. A warm bath provides excellent relief. When in the room, switch on the humidifier or vaporizer to moisten the air. An air-conditioner produces very dry air so avoid using it if possible. Dry air makes coughing worst as well.
• When lying down or sleeping, place an extra pillow to raise her head to a slight incline. This helps to reduce nasal congestion and secretion.
• It is safe to use saline drops or spray to loosen thick nasal secretion that is congesting the nasal path.
• Toddlers who aren’t old enough to blow their noses require nasal aspirator to help remove mucus from their nose. This helps reduce nose congestion, especially during bed time. Nosefrida makes a good external nasal aspirator which does not intrude into your toddler’s nasal path.
• If your child is feverish, over-the-counter children acetaminophen or ibuprofen can reduce fever and pain. Avoid aspirins for toddlers. Be aware that infants below 6 months of age must consult the doctor before any acetaminophen medications are given. This prevents overdosage which will be harmful to your child.
• What about over-the-counter cough remedies? This proves to be a tricky situation as more medical research and studies show over-the-counter oral cough and cold medicine to be ineffective and often end up being voluntarily recalled. A panel of expert advisors to the FDA recommended that most over-the-counter cough and cold medicines don’t work for children under 6. Some are even found to be harmful to toddlers. Hence, their use cannot be recommended. You are also advised against giving your toddler below 2 years old oral cough remedy.

  Try this instead. Before bedtime, rub some Vick’s Vapor Rub on the bottom of your baby’s feed. Then cover your baby’s feet with socks.