What to Do When a Two Month Old Has a Cough

A cough is your 2-month-old baby's natural way of clearing away phlegm, mucus and other fluids from her throat, lungs and nasal passages. However, as Evan Forster states in "American Baby" magazine, children who are younger than 4 months old do not cough very much unless it's a serious problem or illness, so it's imperative to understand why it occurs and what you can do about it.

Determine the Cause

Evaluate your baby's symptoms to determine the cause of his cough. A cough accompanied by sneezing, a low-grade fever, itchy eyes and a runny nose sometimes signals a common cold. If the cough does not go away and is accompanied by mucus drainage, your baby more than likely suffers from allergies or asthma. Your baby may have respiratory syncytial virus, RSV, if his cough worsens over time or is accompanied by difficulty breathing. Croup sounds barky and tends to worsen at nighttime.

Relieve Symptoms

Squeeze a few drops of saline solution into your baby's nose and then suction the mucus out with a bulb syringe. This will help relieve a cough by thinning out trapped mucus and removing it from the nasal passages and throat. Elevate your baby's crib by rolling up a few towels and placing them beneath the head of your infant's mattress. Alternatively, lay your baby down to sleep in her car seat or in his swing to keep fluid from draining down his throat and triggering a cough. Give your baby a warm bath to soothe and moisten her breathing passages.

Call Your Baby's Doctor

Contact your pediatrician if your baby's cough is accompanied by difficulty breathing, a fever, rapid breathing, extreme irritability, noisy or musical sounding breathing or wheezing. Call for emergency services if your baby starts to cough up blood, shows signs of dehydration or has a dusky or blue tinge to his tongue, face or lips. These symptoms could be signs of a serious complication or illness such as pneumonia or whooping cough.

Prevent Reoccurrence

Because lack of sleep lowers the immune system and makes your child more susceptible to illness, make sure that your baby sleeps approximately 18 hours every day. Lay your infant down for frequent naps during the day and implement a quiet and comforting sleep environment at bed time. Cover the windows with curtains to block out any street lights or moonlight and play soothing music or a white noise machine. Keep your house clean by disinfecting counters, door handles and toys often with antibacterial wipes or bleach.