I wouldn't necessarily do this because of one cold/cough incident, but after a few of them we ended up at the ped getting a nebulizer with inhalable albuterol.

Zarbee's rub and Zarbee's cough syrup (we have the one for 12 months and up). I was super skeptical, but the syrup helped a lot with a bad overnight cough.

Before bed, rub Vicks on the bottom of his feet and put on socks. I learned this on DCUM years ago and it works!

We did the zarbees with the melatonin added into it. The zarbess is essentially honey which kinda helps soother the throat, but the melatonin would help them sleep more soundly through some of the lighter coughing.

when my kids were little, I would put the Vicks Vapo Shower into a very hot shower. Then I would strip us both down to our underwear and we would play on the bathroom floor taking in all of the steam and vapors

Hot cocoa (with water, not milk) and cough drops.

Zarbee’s can be used with babies and young kids.

If they're over one yo, a big spoonful of local honey will soothe their throat, suppress coughs as good as or better than otc suppressant, and boost their overall immunity

Humidifier and a lot of water during the day (less milk than usual). 2yo recently had RSV and the humidifier alone made a huge difference.

I don’t know how old he is, but would any of these work?

gargling with warm salt water (recommended by pediatrician)
lozenges, or even sucking on hard candy (I’ve heard marshmallows are also good, but I don’t like marshmallows, so haven’t tried them myself)
spray cough medicine that I think just acts locally
Vick’s plug-ins or patches
Warm beverages - chicken soup/broth, my mom used to make me jello - but I liked drinking the “jello water” before it gelled, these days I like Bigelow’s I Love Lemon tea with honey (you could use another sweetener, or do without, but I don’t know if it would be as good for coughs)
popsicles
My kids used to like eating the frozen strawberries in sugar syrup (thawed)

I remember my great-grandmother talking about how they used to boil onions to make cough medicine, but we just used OTC products, so again, I’m not sure how effective it would be

weak cooled chamomile tea

Rubbing their feet and chest with Vicks Vaporub does help

We usually use Maty's All Natural Vapor Rub plus nasal spray, take warm bath and breathe in the steam, gargling with lukewarm salt water also help. We try not to use humidifier since it can get moldy easily.

Poor guy! Prop him close to upright in bed and just give lots of warm fluids (not milk). Not much else you can do.

What do you use to help your younger kids relieve a nasty cough or sore throat, if they aren't old enough yet for OTC cough syrup? My oldest has a cold (yay not COVID) but he's miserable with the cough. We use the humidifier, prop up his pillow, but he hates honey so I can't really do honey drinks for him. And it sounds pretty nasty and keeps him up at night.