Ugh....sick sibling with newborn

[pacifica]

I need some advice Mamas!! I have a sick 7 year old and an 8 day old baby in the house. I'm making my son was his hands every second I can, trying to keep him in his room as much as possible and away from baby, and trying to keep germs from spreading by cleaning/disinfecting. What else can I/should I do?

Anyone have experience with a newborn getting sick? I really hope that doesn't happen. A few days ago dh's boss and his wife came over to meet the baby and 2 days later she said she had a sore throat on facebook. Now one of my son's has a sore throat. She held the baby while here. She didn't hold my 7 year old, lol, and he got it. I'm worried sick that my little new baby is gonna get sick.

[Llyra]

Chances are it won't happen. A breastfed newborn is the best protected member of the household, when it comes to ordinary illnesses. The baby has all the benefit of the antibodies you passed on from colostrum, and all the continued benefit of the antibodies your milk is passing on. If you're caring for your older child, you've been exposed to the illness and are producing antibodies, and those antibodies are going into your milk to protect baby.

So I wouldn't worry too hard about it. Some handwashing can't hurt, but I don't think you need to do anything else.

Does your older DS have any other symptoms, besides the sore throat? I only ask because a strep infection is extremely contagious, and you might consider antibiotics if strep was confirmed with a throat swab.

[Galatea]

This happened to my sister's second son and she said he got very stuffy and had a hard time nursing, so she kept squirting milk into his nose and then aspirating it with a bulb to try to open it up.

I am sorry you are dealing with this... one of the bad parts of late summer babies is that the back-to-school germs are everywhere.

[pacifica]

Thanks for the replies. I'm trying very hard not to stress over all the germs in my house . Now my other son has it and my dh is getting sick.

So far baby girl and I are fine.

I love mdc....helps me through so many parenting hurtles. I feel much more confident about the situation after reading these posts.

[Banana731]

dd1 had a cold when dd2 was born. I didn't keep them apart, that didn't seem fair, and I figured if it was in my house then there wasn't much I could besides practice good hygiene.

dd1 was only 3.5 so she got those " I can't really blow my nose/clear this stuff out of my lungs" lingering 2 week colds. dd2 did get a case of minor sniffles around 4 weeks, which was early, but it was very minor. I just used a bulb syringe when need be. It wasn't too bad

[mediumcrunch]

You wash hands, keep them apart as you can etc.....either the baby will get sick or won't. There is only so much you can do.
I lived the worst case scenario this year. My baby was born and a couple of my older children had a virus. headache, fever...some ibuprofen, fluids, and some rest and they were fine. Well, baby caught it and he had viral meningitis and we spent 72 hours in the hospital on a monitored unit. :P He was an exclusively breastfed, healthy full term neonate. No bacterial infection but I'm glad we were in the hospital anyway as he stopped nursing for two days as he was just too sick, he didn't even open his eyes. :cry
He is 2 1/2 months old now and fat, happy and developmentally normal.

[pacifica]

My baby girl is sick now! I'm trying hard not to worry, but it's my nature. What can I do to make her more comfortable? She's pretty stuffy, dh is going to the store to buy a better asperator (ours is a hard plastic bulb that's not very gentle). I've been holding her upright to breathe easier. She hasn't had a fever yet. She's coughing and the coughs are nice and strong. She is nursing, but not like she was, a lot less interest. Is there another place I should post to get more info/advice?

[Banana731]

You can try to post in Life With A Babe.

If she seems congested, you can turn on your shower really hot and hang out in the bathroom for the steam, or you could just take a good long warm shower with her and it will do the same thing. Saline drops in her nose will help her to sneeze stuff out. You can buy them in the store in the baby section, or make your own.

I hope she is over it quickly!