If your child has a cold, you will want to help him or her feel more comfortable. Luckily, several simple home remedies can relieve the symptoms of a cold. You can help your sick child feel better faster by trying the following techniques:

• To relieve a stuffy nose, a stuffy chest, or a mucus-producing cough, place a humidifier or cool-mist vaporizer in your child's room. These types of appliances help your child experience relief from cold symptoms.
• To relieve a stuffy nose or chest, your child can breathe steam from a bowl of hot water or a running shower. Always help your child with this activity, because young children can burn themselves if left alone. Be aware that breathing hot steam temporarily relieves cold symptoms, but is not considered by doctors to be an effective cold treatment.
• Help your child use a salt water nasal rinse. This remedy will help relieve a mild stuffy nose.
• If your child's nostrils are raw or sore from blowing the nose, help coat nostrils with a thin layer of petroleum jelly to protect sensitive tissues.
• To soothe a sore throat, give your child ice chips, sore throat spray, or throat lozenges (such as cough drops). Younger children should not use throat lozenges. Children should always be supervised when using ice chips because they could choke on them.
• To relieve ear, nose, or sinus pain, help your child place a warm washcloth or towel over the affected area.
• If your child is feeling achy or feverish, a warm bath can help. Always check the water temperature before placing your child in the bath. Hot water can burn your child.

   

  Sources: Centers for Disease Control (www.cdc.gov)
  National Institutes of Health (www.nih.gov)