Many things can cause your child’s voice to become rough, raspy, or hard to hear. Having a cold or a sinus infection, yelling or talking too loudly, being exposed to smoke, or breathing dry air can cause a hoarse voice. Your child also can have voice problems from pollution and allergies.

Call Your Doctor If: Trouble breathing or swallowing occurs. Hoarseness lasts more than 2 weeks. You think your child needs to be seen. Your child becomes worse.

Hoarseness (dysphonia) is when your voice sounds raspy, strained or breathy. The volume (how loud or soft you speak) may be different and so may the pitch (how high or low your voice sounds). There are many causes of hoarseness but, fortunately, most are not serious and tend to go away after a short time.

Common Causes of Hoarse Baby Voice Excessive crying can lead to swollen vocal cords and a raspy voice. Once infants rest their voices, the hoarseness can diminish. Many infants outgrow phases of heavy crying on their own. Acid reflux.

Hoarseness in infants has a number of causes. One of the most common is overuse. If a baby is crying too much, this can strain their vocal cords. This is no different than when you spend too much time cheering at a concert or sporting event.

If your baby sounds hoarse after extended bouts of crying, you can blame the crying. Ditto for a cold or cough: a post-nasal drip and phlegm can affect those vocal folds and lead to hoarseness.

Excessive crying can lead to swollen vocal cords and a raspy voice. Once infants rest their voices, the hoarseness can diminish. Many infants outgrow phases of heavy crying on their own.

Common Causes of Hoarse Baby Voice Many infants outgrow phases of heavy crying on their own. Acid reflux. Gastroesophageal disease, or acid reflux, is common in babies, and severe or frequent attacks can lead to a raspy voice.

#1 Baby crying excessively, especially while being fed One of the most common signs that your baby has a sore throat is excessive crying while your baby is being fed.

There is no standard definition for “excessive” crying, although it is normal for infants to cry for up to two hours per day. Infants without colic cry, although generally less frequently and for a shorter time than infants with colic.

Colic is the reason for your newborn’s crying if he cries more than three hours per day on more than three days per week for at least three weeks. The cause of colic is unknown since babies that cry because of colic are thriving.

GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease): The continued acidic effect of the reflux can affect the vocal cords causing hoarseness. If this is diagnosed your child will be given a treatment regime to deal with the GERD. There may also be a treatment needed for the hoarseness if the condition has persisted for a long period of time.

Encourage your child to get closer to the person they want to speak to instead of yelling across distances.

They may be frustrated, sad, angry, or have separation anxiety (especially during the night) and use crying as a way to communicate those feelings. Teething pain is also a big reason for crying in older babies. Most babies sprout a first tooth between 6 and 12 months.