All coughs are not created equal.

We know this, right? I mean, some kids cough so loud and hard that you’re fairly sure part of their lungs will come up, whereas others seem like they need a firm pat on the back and a lesson in “just cough it up already.” And there’s everything in between. As for my own kids, I have the two extremes: one child seems only able to muster up what I’d term as “half a cough” and I feel compelled to cough myself after I hear the lame attempt, and the other one tests my psychological stability with an ongoing cough that lasts for days and reverberates throughout the entire house.

So how do I distinguish various types of coughs and determine which ones are concerning?

And how do I handle the situation of “her cough is really loose and keeps getting worse?” Because this is what I see often in my practice. Allow me to share my classification scheme here in the hopes that it will provide some insight should you find yourself hearing that dreadful noise from your child’s room late one night.