<s>[INST] baby is four months old has heart defects pulmonary stenosis, asd and vsd and has the cold, just a slight cough is due to have surgery for the pulmonary stenosis in one weeks time, how can i help get rid of cough before this time. Anesthetic evaluation is on Friday 18th March 2011. Looking foward to a detailed answer. [/INST] Hi...Thank you for consulting in Health Care magic.Cough and cold are viral 95% of the times in children. For cold you can use anti-allergics like cetirizine and for nose block, saline nasal decongestants will do. Paracetamol can be given in the dose of 15mg/kg/dose (max ceiling dose 500mg) every 4-6th hourly, that too only if fever is more than 100F. I suggest not using combination medicines for fever, especially with Paracetamol.For cold you can use Cetrizine at 0.25mg/kg/dose every 12 hourly for 3 days.For nasal block, plain saline nasal drops will do, every 4-6th hourly to relive nasal congestion.Hope my answer was helpful for you. I am happy to help any time. Further clarifications and consultations on Health care magic are welcome. If you do not have any clarifications, you can close the discussion and rate the answer. Wish your kid good health.Dr. Sumanth MBBS., DCH., DNB (Paed)., </s>