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Cough or cold in a baby or child: what helps, the medicine ages, and when to call
For anyone looking after a baby or child with a cough, a runny or stuffy nose, or a cold: a parent, a grandparent, a foster parent, an aunt or uncle. This page passes on, by name, what one page of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and four pages of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say: what a cold looks like and how long it lasts, what helps at home, the ages below which cough and cold medicine is not given, the lines about the youngest babies, and the signs that mean a call or an emergency. It builds the questions to ask. Take only what you need today.
Right now
- Trouble breathing? CDC’s page on being sick with a respiratory virus says: if you have an emergency warning sign (like trouble breathing or chest pain), seek emergency medical care immediately. Ours: if your child is struggling to breathe, or the lips are blue, call 911.
- Blue lips, or working hard to breathe. The FDA’s list of signs to call a doctor includes blue lips, and labored breathing: nostrils widening with each breath, wheezing, fast breathing, the ribs showing with each breath, or shortness of breath. CDC’s list of when to seek medical care has trouble breathing or fast breathing.
- A fever of 100.4°F or higher in a baby 2 months or younger: the FDA says to call a doctor. Ours: for a cough in a baby in the first three months, call the provider and ask.
- A fever of 102°F or higher at any age, a severe headache, not eating or drinking with signs of dehydration, excessive crankiness or sleepiness, persistent ear pain, or a child who is getting worse: the FDA says to call a doctor. A fever that lasts longer than 4 days, or symptoms that improve and then return or worsen: CDC says to seek medical care.
- No cough and cold medicine for the youngest. The FDA does not recommend it for children younger than 2; the labels say not under 4; CDC says it is not recommended for children younger than 6. No honey for a baby younger than 1 year old (CDC).
If you cannot reach a provider and you are frightened for your child, go to an emergency room or call 911. That line is ours. This page is not for emergencies.
Changed on October 9, 2026. This box first gave lines from encyclopedia articles we should not have used. They are out; what is here now is the FDA’s, CDC’s, or marked ours. The note at the bottom of the page says what changed.
More help
- A fever with it: Fever in a baby or child: when to call, and what helps.
- Ear pain, which CDC lists among the things a respiratory virus may lead to: Ear infection in a baby or child: what helps, and when to call.
- Wheezing or asthma: When it’s hard to breathe. Hives or swelling: When it might be a severe allergic reaction.
- Not drinking, or throwing up: Vomiting and diarrhea in a baby or child: fluids, and when to call.
- Writing down what happened and when: Symptom diary.
- For a visit: Get ready for your appointment. No insurance: When you need a doctor and can’t pay.
- Smoke at home: When you want to quit smoking.
- All our free tools.
A cough, a fever or trouble breathing, and not sure this is the right page? The pages on this site for a cough, a fever or trouble breathing, on one list.
Looking after a baby or child? The pages on this site for a baby or child, on one list.
Other guides on this site that go with this page
Free to read. We chose these ourselves; no professional did. Each guide was written with AI and has not been reviewed by a professional. They are general information, not advice.
- Pregnant, or with a new baby: the CDC’s urgent warning signs, health coverage, WIC and diapers, and your rights at work.
This page and its wording were written with AI (Claude) for Scarlet Beast (our AI policy). No doctor or nurse has reviewed it. The facts were read on October 9, 2026 on two government websites, every page in English and in Spanish. On fda.gov, the Consumer Update Should You Give Kids Medicine for Coughs and Colds? (content current as of November 7, 2024). On cdc.gov, four pages: About Common Cold (reviewed February 19, 2026), Manage Common Cold (updated March 11, 2026), Hygiene and Respiratory Viruses Prevention (reviewed August 18, 2025), and Preventing Spread of Respiratory Viruses When You’re Sick (reviewed August 18, 2025). One line, on aspirin, is from another CDC page, Ear Infection Basics (reviewed April 17, 2024). The page says whose words it is passing on, and what is marked “ours” is our own. Changed on October 9, 2026: when this guide was first published, earlier the same day, most of its lines came from four articles of a medical encyclopedia carried on a government website. Those articles are licensed text, and their publisher’s notice does not allow them to be reused this way, including by AI. We had decided not to lean on such articles and then did; that was our mistake. Every line from them is out. What is no longer here, because no page we may pass on says it: the list of signs for calling 911 and the list for the emergency room (the emergency line is now CDC’s, with its two examples, and the 911 line is ours); the line about a cough in a baby in the first three months (it is now given as ours); a longer list of reasons to call about a cough; how long a cough or a runny nose can go on after a cold; what the color of mucus means; on which days a cold spreads most; how long to wash hands; smoke in the home; salt-water rinses for a sore throat; an age for hard sweets; supplements; breastfeeding; and a list of questions for the provider (the questions are now our own). Who the pages were written for: the FDA page is about infants and children; the CDC pages are written for everyone, with lines about children, and the page says so where it uses them. Where the sources differ, the page gives each: the FDA does not recommend cough and cold medicine under age 2, the labels say under 4, and CDC says it is not recommended under 6; the FDA says a cool mist humidifier and not a warm mist one, and CDC’s list has steam from a bowl of hot water or a shower; the FDA says to call a doctor for labored breathing, and CDC says to seek emergency medical care immediately for trouble breathing. Numbers are the named page’s own; the FDA gives its fever numbers only in Fahrenheit. What we left out or did not read: the name of any cough or cold medicine, every brand name, and the amount of any medicine (acetaminophen, ibuprofen and aspirin are named because the pages’ own lines about children name them); CDC’s lines for adults; the names of the viruses that cause colds; antiviral treatment beyond what is passed on here; CDC’s fact sheet, its handwashing pages and the rest of its Respiratory Virus Guidance, which we did not read; croup and whooping cough, which these pages do not cover; and school or child care rules, which they do not give. We called no number. It saves nothing and loads no tracking.