Q: My 18 months old daughter gets a cold, cough and phlegm formation consistently. She gets fever occasionally mostly along with the above symptoms. Most of the time, her appetite is normal. She eats well and is very organised - no junk foods at all. We hardly expose her to any polluted places, etc. But still she gets cold, cough and phlegm at least once in 2 months. The doctor prescribed antibiotics after observing her for 2 days. How can I prevent her from falling sick? The doctor says her growth pattern is fine. Please advise.

A:Your child like many other children in this age group has allergic coughs and cold, which is also referred to as hyper reactive airway disease. Most of these babies outgrow these by the age of 6 - 8 years. Most of these episodes are not infections and do not need antibiotics. These recover either spontaneously and may not need lot of medicines except mild anti-allergic syrups. I don’t think you are doing anything wrong, which is causing these symptoms. You don’t need to worry, especially if she is growing well.