摘要:To evaluate alternative practices of care by parents of infants and preschool children with asthma treated at a hospital in Cartagena. Descriptive study. 354 parents of infant and child preschool with asthma living in Cartagena, attending or accompanying consultation during hospitalization was population. A sample size of 214 caregivers was considered. For data collection sheet field research test IMCI No 2, prior informed consent was applied. We used Microsoft Excel for descriptive analysis of data. 205 parents of asthmatic children were participants. The most widely used biological alternative practice (23.0%) was the combination of onion, garlic, aloe, and sweeteners for coughing and wheezing, the combination of eucalyptus, brown sugar and sweeteners for dyspnea (20.0%). The main reason for using alternative practices was the grandmother’s recommendations (33.5%). Most parents in this study conducted biological alternative practices, complementary to conventional medical treatments. The substances more used are onion, garlic, aloe, eucalyptus and sugar.