At home

• The best preventive measure is practicing good hygiene. A sick child and people in the household should wash their hands frequently.In general, the more intimate physical contact (such as hugging, snuggling, or bed sharing) that takes place with an ill child, the greater the risk of spreading the infection to other family members. Parents must balance this risk with the need to comfort an ill child.
• Influenza is the only viral respiratory infection preventable by vaccination. All children aged 6 to 59 months should receive a yearly vaccination, as should older children with certain medical disorders.Additionally, children whose immune system is compromised (including children with human immunodeficiency virus [HIV] infection and those undergoing chemotherapy) could receive the vaccine. All these children could also be considered for vaccinations based on the doctor’s advice.
• In infants and young children, congestion may be relieved somewhat by using a cool-mist vaporizer to humidify the air and by suctioning the mucous from the nose with a rubber suction bulb.

Going to School

• Children should stay home from school or child care until the fever or discomfort is gone and they feel well enough to attend
• They need additional rest and should maintain normal fluid intake

Helping Your Child Breathe Easier

In terms of childhood disease, the respiratory system is the most critical. Problems in their age group range from colds and flu to asthma, allergies, pneumonia, bronchitis and bronchiolitis, and cystic fibrosis.

Here are some tips to help your child breathe easier:

Drinking plenty of fluids will reduce respiratory discomfort for a child with flu or a cold.
Increased body temperature and rapid breathing often accompany such illness, and that leads to fluid loss, or dehydration. Dehydration tends to make respiratory secretions (mucous) thicker, drier, and therefore much more difficult to expel. Fluids will keep the secretions thinner and easier to cough up.

To keep energy levels up during bouts with colds and flu, make sure your child continues to get proper nourishment.
Colds and flu cause the nasal membranes to swell, narrowing air passages and making breathing more difficult. This condition is part of the reason why we tire so readily when we are sick, we have to breathe harder through smaller airways, and that takes greater energy.

If any minor illness becomes prolonged or occurs often, talk to your doctor.
Only a trained medical expert can recognize the importance of seemingly small irritations that may lead to bigger health problems. A physician, especially a respiratory tract specialist may provide medication and therapy that may ease or open narrowed airways and remove abnormal mucous.

Allergies are quite common in children. Some people are born more sensitive to certain substances than others; they react strongly to very small amounts of these substances. Exposure to such “allergens,” “antigens,” or “irritants” can cause the muscles of the respiratory system to contract, narrowing the airways. Breathing through these narrowed airways can produce a wheezing sound. Other forms the allergy may take are sneezing, a runny nose, and watery, itchy eyes.

Some common irritants can be eliminated from the child's home environment altogether.
Air conditioners with special filters can cut down on the presence of some allergens. These include dust, carpeting, fur, feathers, and stuffed animals. Since stuffed toys can be filled with everything from crushed nuts to feathers or fiber, it is best to check the contents label or to buy only hypoallergenic stuffed animals for the highly allergic child.

Tobacco smoke from other family members can have a serious effect on the respiratory health of youngsters.
One study shows that children in the age group below two years, whose parents smoke, suffer twice the rate of bronchitis and pneumonia as children of non-smokers.