My 7-year-old DD has bad congestion. What are your favorite daytime and nighttime medications and other fixes to get her congestion to lessen? Mrs. Grass chicken noodle soup only works so much. Thanks!
Humidifier at night
Steamy showers to steam up her sinuses.
Rinse out nose with warm saline using a neti pot
Gargle with salt water
Try home made chicken soup - that other stuff is full of salt.
Forget decongestants - they thicken the mucus and make it harder to expel.
Stick with expectorants - Mucinex or Robitussin.
I always keep some Elderberry extract and add it to my daughters (and my own) drinks when we get congested. It works very well for us to loosen and get everything out without feeling stuffed up.
There is also Elderberry syrup for colds that you can find in any health food store. This also works well.
Mucinex and lots of water.
Saline spray is my fave. If you use a Neti pot instead, be sure to boil and cool the water first. That brain-eating amoeba has recently turned up again in a municipal water supply, so our water is not necessarily safe to use unless boiled. People have contracted it by doing nasal irrigation (I'm not anti-Neti--my hubby uses one--I just think it's good to boil and cool).
My grandson is 7, and has learned to use a neti pot to rinse his sinuses. Really clears out his head during the day and before bed. He likes the results so much he actually jumped up the other day and irrigated his nose by choice.
We use Children's Tylenol Cold. Hot showers are good, or we go sit in the hot tub and the steam room at the Y.
Saline solution used daily helps a lot? I I need to use meds, my first choice is Mucinex kids.
Are you able to get liquid Actifed in your area?
(that was what an ENT told me for my son years ago - when his hearing test came back from the school and we went to another site for another test and they wanted to put him in classes at X dollars ...went for the 2nd opinion to the ENT - who said kid had congestion, give 1/2 tsp for a week, which worked! ENT was almost whispering to kid and kid could hear him well enough, just one side was mostly congested then)
Updated
Are you able to get liquid Actifed in your area?
(that was what an ENT told me for my son years ago - when his hearing test came back from the school and we went to another site for another test and they wanted to put him in classes at X dollars ...went for the 2nd opinion to the ENT - who said kid had congestion, give 1/2 tsp for a week, which worked! ENT was almost whispering to kid and kid could hear him well enough, just one side was mostly congested then)
I go to a family style pharmacy and ask the pharmacist to order me some children's liquid Sudafed. Not the fake stuff, it doesn't work.
I make sure they order the right stuff.
We have allergy issues and when we're congested or stuffy I get 2 bottles per month and it costs less than $10.
Also, taking a good soapy shower with a lot of steam, closing the bathroom door and maybe putting something in front of the bottom of the door to keep out a draft, then let her stay in for a bit. The water will wash off allergens and the steam will loosen the goo in her sinuses and in her lungs too.
She should do as many showers per day as she wants if it helps.
If it is allergies, wash her hair every night. It made a huge difference with our kids. We also use kids Allegra. The saline works great too, for a cold or allergies. Drinking more water, as well as raising the end of her bed so she sleeps with her head elevated a bit might help, too.
