My baby's sick...what do I do?

[Truckerdoo]

My 12 wk old has caught a cold! Massive phlegm, sneezing, coughing...its so sad! No temp. What do I do to make him more comfy? I have humidifier and saline squirts.

How long do colds stick around in babies?

[nina_yyc]

s Libby got a few colds when she was really young and they sort of ran their course on the same kind of time frame that an adult cold would. Just keep cuddling and nursing and he will get immune support from the breast milk. I don't really know what else to do...to be honest I've been lucky and have had relatively healthy kids so I haven't had to learn much. Watch for the signs of ear infections which can develop easily in babies with colds. I know some mamas on here are really knowlegeable about natural remedies, I hope you get some more replies!

[Ruby2]

Mine too Truckerdoo! Exact same age too...it is so heartbreaking. She started getting sick on Thursday and I think is finally just about over it today.

I slept sitting up with her on my chest for three nights in a row...actually she slept, I didn't. If she laid down for any period of time, she had to cough and cough to clear her throat, so I just stopped letting her lay down. I nursed with her as close to a sitting position as possible (never tried that before - ouch.).

We got a lot of use out of the bulb syringe. Suctioned her noce a lot for the first few days and even her cheeks during big coughing spells.

Dr. Sears says that a vaporizer is better than a humidifier and to keep it close to the baby. We didn't have one and just kept the humidifiers going full strength.

It does get better! Hang in there and the cold will run its course!

[justmandy]

Yeah, that is so hard! We jsut cuddle and use the humidifier. Taking a bath together can be good. I'm not a fan of giving babies anything at this age, natrual or not. Of course if baby is miserable or seems to have an infection that may call for something.

[carmel23]

we've had good luck with infant's saline drops. Keep the nose clear and nurse a lot.

[Truckerdoo]

Turns out he has RSV - poor little man!

[carmel23]

Originally Posted by Truckerdoo

Turns out he has RSV - poor little man!

oh no my dd was hospitalized with rsv at 6 weeks... that sucked. hope the little guy is okay!!!!!!

[Ruby2]

Truckerdoo - how did they diagnose it? Is there a test of some sort? I'm wondering if that's what dd has, she had a low-grade fever for 2 or 3 days...

She seems fine during the day now except for occasional congestion, but choked on mucus three or four times last night. It's so sad. :-(

[carmel23]

yes, they can test for RSV, but it isn't totally reliable. It typically has tons of snot of mucus... but my DD didn't have a lot, she just had retracted breathing and a low pulse-ox.

[Truckerdoo]

they did a test at the dr's, not sure how they did it. he is on qvar (a steroid) and anothre med called ambutr-something, both in inhaler form. he is making progress tho his cough is still pretty bad!

[sonicfrost]

My little guy is just starting to get over a cold. His nose is/was congested and it sounded like he had a hard time breathing, and he's sneezing and coughing. I've been suctioning out his nose with the bulb syringe but I haven't taken him to the doc but I assume its just a cold. What is RSV and is it serious?

[Truckerdoo]

Originally Posted by sonicfrost

What is RSV and is it serious?

It is a pretty common virus that can have serious consequences. Av's seems to be managed well by the breathg meds, but I have heard in some babies it can lead to hosp. or even death. I felt bettr going to the dr so they could tell me what was going on and what to look for, since I am a clueless new mom. Plus I am a fan of dr's (a minority here, I think!) but I feel very comforted by an authorotative opinion and explicit directions.