Parents held nebulizing devices, engulfing their children's faces in a billow of steam delivering medication to ease their congested airways.
More lined up awaiting treatment.
Toxic smog has been choking the 11 million residents of Pakistan's second most populous city for weeks, as a thick haze blocks the sun and shrouds streets with fog at night.
The air pollution problem here becomes more severe in cooler months, as temperature inversion prevents a layer of warm air from rising and traps pollutants closer to the ground.
Once known as the city of gardens, Lahore last year claimed the title of world's worst for air quality.
Health officials estimate there has been at least a 50% rise in pediatric patients presenting with respiratory issues exacerbated by poor air quality in the last month.
Dr Maria Iftikhar has seen the problem spiralling.
"If our OCD (outdoor patients department) was for instance of 10,000 in the last month, from them like around 6 to 7,000 patients presented to us with the complaint of upper respiratory tract to lower the respiratory tract infection."
The U.N. children's agency says globally outdoor air pollution contributed to 154,000 deaths of children aged below five in 2019.
In Pakistan it is one of the top five causes of death among the entire population.
Provincial health minister Dr Javed Akram said hospitals were on high alert with beds and ventilators set aside for extra emergency cases.
"Our pediatric hospitals they are overwhelmed with burden from the respiratory issues. In any case the most common cause of infant mortality -- obviously we are struggling to meet sustainable development goals here -- the neonatal fatality is mainly driven from gastrointestinal disease and then respiratory disease."
Four partial lock downs have taken place since the start of November as well campaigns to promote masks in an effort to alleviate strain on health services.
Officials point to crop burning as a major contributor to the toxic cloud, where farmers set light to fields to remove remnants of rice crops to make way for wheat, as well as poor quality fuel in vehicles and construction and industrial activity.
Without costly investments in specialized equipment for farmers, burning could not be fully curbed without risking food security.
The provincial government has reached out to authorities in India on how to improve the quality of air blowing across the border and consulted with experts in China.
