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Our baby is coughing (wet) and sneezing , hence wanted to know what home remedies one can apply to her? Also I heard that there are not many general medicines for infants below 3 months.

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At that age, we had the best luck with steam. Close the bathroom door, turn on the shower at its hottest and let the room steam up. Sit in there with her for 10 or 15 minutes, or until the coughing eases.

I've also had luck with pediatric tunia massage; it hits pressure points that are connected to the cough centers in the brain. However, before doing anything like this, always check in with your pediatrician.

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Valkyrie is right. Steam was most definitely the best way to help alleviate coughing at that age. There are basically NO over-the-counter medicines for children at that age. Around 6 months some doctors feel comfortable prescribing Benadryl just to help them dry out a little bit which can help with drainage and coughing sometimes, and at 1 year you can start giving honey or honey-based elixirs to help with coughing, but at 3 months you're left to basic home remedies.

We've had some success with laying our infants flat across our lap on their tummies and rubbing their back somewhat forcefully or patting to help break up any congestion in their chest. Obviously, you don't want to hurt your child by doing this.

A cool mist humidifier is helpful for controlling coughing. Since you're baby is 3 months old, if you're in the States you can try Vicks Vapo-Rub for Babies. It's a different formulation than adult Vapo-Rub using lavender, rosemary, and eucalyptus instead of camphor. Some people aren't comfortable using Vapo-Rub on their small babies. Supposedly putting Vapo-Rub on your kid's feet and putting socks on over it is supposed to help. It sounds ridiculous, but I have so many friends who have tried it and it swear by it. If you don't want to put it on your child, you can also put some in a scented wax-warmer and let it diffuse through the air. The point is that your child needs to inhale the vapors and it doesn't really matter how.

You might try elevating the head of her/his bed a little. If he/she's coughing from drainage then putting a small pillow under the head of his/her bed may keep the drainage from running down the throat.

That's all I got! Hope your baby feels better soon!

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The reason the VapoRub on the feet, with sock on over it, works, is because babies are so small that the fumes from their feet are close enough for them to inhale, but their feet are least likely to end up rubbing on a body part that may rub the face. The socks don't block the fumes, but they do keep the VapoRub from getting on the crib/blankets, which is a danger because the baby may end up rubbing their face in it as the roll around. – CreationEdge Jan 20 '15 at 2:17

In addition to the methods already mentioned, here are things we've done with success:

  • Using a cool mist humidifier that has some Vicks VapoRub (although we buy a generic brand) dissolved inside the water. You can also purchase dissolvable tablets for humidifiers, such as eucalyptus tablets.
  • We run a small HEPA air purifier inside his room

The air purifier is mostly preventative, but may provide some relief to children that already sneezing.

We bought it because the apartment we lived in when my son was born was very old, very dusty, and the AC unit was of questionable cleanliness. We've moved to nicer places since then, but we continue to run the purifier when my son sleeps.

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