“How can I treat my son's bronchitis at home?”

Plenty of fluid. Obvs for difficulty in breathing, wheezing.

Before providing any at home treatments for potentially serious illnesses, it's important to know what's causing the illness. Appropriate treatments vary for different causes, and, in children, to just treat symptoms without a diagnosis sometimes can be dangerous. "Bronchitis" is the term that means "inflammation of the bronchi," but doesn't tell you what is the cause. The vast majority are caused by respiratory viruses, and symptomatic treatment is indicated, but it's important to exclude bacterial causes, pneumonias, asthma, etc. See your pediatrician for a diagnosis first, to be on the safe side.

Shelley C. Springer, MD, MBA, MSc, JD, FAAP