Bronchitis is an inflammation of the lining of your bronchial tubes, which carry air to and from your lungs. Generally it is caused by a virus or a bacteria and may last several days or weeks. The most evident symptoms of bronchitis in children are persistent cough, difficulty in breathing, general malaise and, sometimes, fever.

Bronchitis is a very common disease in children. It is less frequently in babies, being more frequent the bronchiolitis. Bronchitis can be spread easily from one person to another by just coughing or sneezing.

Liip Smart Monitor helps you know if your baby suffers from a respiratory problem, such as bronchitis. By monitoring the vital constants that may be affected in these types of pathologies, especially the blood oxygen saturation.

The symptoms of bronchitis in children usually appear a few days after being infected. It starts as a common cold with sore throat, malaise, nasal discharge and later on other symptoms appear:

• Dry and persistent cough at the beginning with yellow or transparent mucus in later stages. It is also possible that the cough may cause nauseas or vomiting. 
• Nasal congestion that makes it hard to breathe and the baby will be exhausted more easily. 
• Chest pain.
• Wheezing when you breathe.
• Lack of appetite because the child gets tired while eating.
• Fever, usually mild fever, and it only occurs in some cases. 
• Irritability and fatigue because they do not rest well at night and they wake up more often during the night.

The child will look tired, weak and with a general malaise. The symptoms usually last from 7 to 14 days but sometimes can last up to several weeks. Normally, wheezing gets better after the first 7 days, however the nasal congestion and cough can last up to 2 weeks.

Treatment of bronchitis in children

If you observe that your child has any of these symptoms of bronchitis in children that we have recently presented, follow these tips that will help you relieve them:

• Give him lots of liquids, make him nasal washes and use humidifiers in order to reduce mucus and nasal congestion. 
• Avoid tobacco and smoky environments to prevent the airways from irritation. 
• In case of fever, you can give your child acetaminophen or ibuprofen when the pediatrician recommends it. 
• In order to reduce fatigue, feed him more frequently but with lower quantity. 
• In general, bronchitis in babies is caused by a virus, so antibiotics should not be used. In case of being a bacterial infection the pediatrician will prescribe you antibiotics for the baby. 
• The pediatrician can also prescribe bronchodilator to open the baby’s airways.

If the symptoms do not improve and you observe that your baby is far from getting better, breathes with difficulty, does not want to eat and presents a general malaise, you should go to the Hospital or visit the pediatrician.

In order to define the previous recommendations we have followed the Spanish Society of Pediatric Emergency Medicine (SEUP) and Liip’s pediatric team action protocols. We hope they will be helpful!