Question
What should I do when my nine-month-old baby has phlegm in the throat but can’t cough it up? The baby might have a low fever due to catching a cold, and after taking fever-reducing medicine, the fever has subsided, but there’s still phlegm in the throat that the baby can’t cough up, making the baby uncomfortable and crying. What suggestions do you have for handling this situation?
Answer
This situation is relatively common. It is often due to weak spleen and stomach, leading to a weak constitution and insufficient Qi, which causes moisture to stagnate and condense into phlegm. A baby with weak spleen and stomach may be related to improper milk intake, food staying in the stomach causing damage to the spleen and stomach, or eating cold food, which may lead to moisture stagnation and the accumulation of phlegm. It is recommended to find out the cause of the baby’s coughing so that it can be properly treated: respiratory bacterial infections can be treated with antibiotics; respiratory viral infections should be treated with antiviral drugs; chronic coughs are often allergic coughs, so attention should be paid to resolving the allergic inflammation of the respiratory tract.