Cough or choking at night in children aged 5 to 8 years

This is an automatically translated article.

The article was consulted with Master, Doctor Nguyen Nam Phong - Pediatrician - Department of Pediatrics - Neonatology - Vinmec Phu Quoc International General Hospital.
Like many parents, you may be concerned about your baby's sleeping condition, such as choking, or a nighttime cough that's keeping your baby from sleeping well. There's nothing like the relaxing feeling of finally getting your baby to bed for the night. That feeling can be dismissed easily when you start to hear them start coughing or choking.
Children between the ages of 5 and 8 cough more at night, which can keep the whole family up at night. Let's take a closer look at the common reasons your toddler might be coughing or choking at night and how to treat a cough or choking in your child.

1. Why do 5-8 year olds cough at night

If your child frequently coughs or chokes while sleeping at night, it could be a sign of sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a serious, even potentially fatal, sleep disorder that is sometimes caused by enlarged tonsils and adenoids (glands in the throat just behind the nose) that block the upper airway during the night, making it difficult to breathe. breath.
When your baby's throat muscles relax at night, these glands can temporarily block air from reaching your baby's lungs. Sleep apnea is common in children between the ages of 5 and 8, when the tonsils and adenoids are at their largest relative to the child's airway.
Coughs can also be a symptom of certain medical conditions such as asthma , allergies, a cold or another illness, especially when they are frequent, persistent and cause pain in a child. pain.
In the case of coughs that make it difficult for a child to breathe for more than a week or come suddenly, are accompanied by a fever, or when the child is choking on something, parents should immediately take the child to the emergency room. medical facilities for timely examination, diagnosis and treatment to avoid unwanted complications.

2. Common types of cough or choking in 5-8 year olds

Parents know when they can handle it at home and when to take their child to medical facilities. The most common types of cough or choking for 5-8 year olds include:
Severe cough : Severe cough usually occurs due to damage to the upper respiratory tract. Most of the time, the coughing fits are caused by chest pain, swelling of the larynx and trachea. Young children often have smaller airways, and swelling can make breathing difficult. That is also the reason why children under 3 years old have the highest risk of lung cancer among the target groups because their airways are very narrow. A bronchial cough can start suddenly, often in the middle of the night. Most children with thoracic outlet will also have a wheezing sound when they breathe in. Whooping cough disease. Whooping cough is an upper respiratory tract infection caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis. Children with whooping cough will develop persistent coughs that prevent them from breathing in between coughs. At the end of the cough, the child will take a deep breath and make a "cough" sound. Other symptoms of whooping cough are runny nose, sneezing, mild cough, and low-grade fever. Whooping cough can occur at any age, but is most serious in children younger than 1 year of age who have not received the pertussis vaccine, which is part of the DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus) vaccine , whooping cough). Whooping cough is very contagious, so all children should be vaccinated against whooping cough at 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 15 months, and 4–6 years of age. Cough accompanied by wheezing. If the child makes a wheezing sound like a whistling sound when exhaling, this means that the airways below the lungs have been damaged. This symptom can occur with asthma or with viral bronchiolitis. Wheezing can also occur if the lower airway is blocked by a foreign body. A child may start coughing after inhaling something such as food or a small toy so parents should pay close attention to the child and promptly take the child to medical facilities if sick. Some foreign bodies block the airway.

Cough at night. Many coughs are worse at night. When a child has a cold, mucus from the nose and sinuses can run down the throat and cause a cough while sleeping. This can be a problem if the cough is keeping your child from sleeping. Children with asthma can also cause a cough at night because the airways tend to be more sensitive and easily irritated at night. Cough during the day. Cold air or other activities can make daytime coughs worse. Try to make sure that nothing in the house — like an air freshener, pets, or secondhand smoke (especially cigarette smoke) — can cause your child to cough. Cough with fever. Your child's cough, low-grade fever, and runny nose may be due to the common cold. However, coughs accompanied by a fever of 39°C or higher can sometimes be caused by pneumonia, especially if the child is weak and breathing rapidly. In this case, take the child to medical facilities immediately. Cough accompanied by vomiting. Children often cough so much that they trigger the gag reflex, causing them to vomit. In addition, a child with a cough due to a cold or an asthma attack may vomit if a lot of mucus flows into the stomach and causes nausea. Usually, this is not a cause for concern unless the child vomits incessantly. Persistent cough. A cough caused by a cold caused by a virus can last for weeks, especially if your child has one cold after another. Asthma, allergies, or a chronic infection in the sinuses or airways can also cause a persistent cough.

3. Diagnosis of cough or choking in children 5-8 years old

If you are worried about your baby's cough, you can call and consult the doctor. Depending on the type of cough, other symptoms, and how long it lasts, your doctor may prescribe several methods to make an accurate diagnosis for your child.
Currently, there are many public or private hospitals or private clinics that provide telemedicine, which can save parents a lot of time. Video calls allow doctors to see and hear a child's cough, and often this is enough to diagnose or rule out one or more serious problems. Hearing the cough will help the doctor decide if it needs to be treated.

4. What to do when a 5-8 year old coughs or chokes at night

If parents think that their child is suffering from sleep apnea syndrome, they should discuss and consult with doctors to have a suitable solution. Your baby will likely need to be observed and treated by a sleep specialist, who will assess your child's tonsils or tumors together with an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist for tonsils or tumors. whether they cause serious health problems.
If your child coughs or chokes at night because of illness, try putting the child on higher pillows or giving cough medicine that the doctor prescribes. Giving children extra water to drink and turning on a humidifier when the child sleeps is also an effective method that parents can consider applying. If your child's cough is unusually persistent - a sign of asthma, take your child to the doctor to have his asthma diagnosed.
Cough is one of the most common symptoms that occurs when a child is sick. Many parents feel extremely anxious every time their child has a cough, but this is usually not a sign of a serious health condition. In fact, coughing is a natural reflex of the body that helps protect a child's airways, throat and chest through coughing movements to expel phlegm, drool or dirt from the child's airways.

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Articles refer to sources: babycenter.com, kidshealth.org, mom.com