how to make a congested babe comfortable?

[Ldogg]

My poor DD (7 months) has another cold. She's been congested all day, and is now asleep in her crib, though she keeps waking up on and off - probably because she's so darn uncomfortable. I wish I could just have her sleep with me - unfortunately she would get even *less* sleep - so how do I make her comfortable? Here's what I know, but I'm open to more suggestions... I feel so bad for her!

- humidifier : we don't have one yet, going to get one tomorrow. any recommendations as to brand?
- used the nosefrieda to suck out some mucus, didn't seem to get a lot though
- we did give her a bit of acetominophen before bed, hoping that would help
- lots of nursing : though this is hard to do when you can't breathe. and I think she's swallowed enough mucus that she ended up projectile vomiting a lot of it back up a few hours ago.

If anyone else has any tips, I'd love to hear them...

[3xMama]

Try propping up one side of the crib mattress with a pillow underneath. Go for just a slight incline. That should help keep her airways a little clearer. For my DD, it just kinda made her roll down to the other side, but it helped for a little bit. Otherwise, it sounds to me like you've got just about everything under control.

I hope she feels better soon!!

[PatioGardener]

We are doing saline drops in the nose too.

nak

[woodchick]

As far as nursing is concerned, I've found that nursing frequently, but for short bursts of time has been helpful when my LOs have been congested. It seems they end up with more in their bellies because they aren't spitting it back up.

Also, have you tried nursing her in a sitting up position? As in, you sitting upright and her sitting on your lap tummy to tummy. I have to hold my breast with one hand and the back of their head with the other, but it seems to be easier for them to breath when they're sitting up insead of in the cradle position.

Some time in a steamy bathroom might help with the congestion as well.

[lach]

Can you get her to sleep in a swing or a carseat? I know she's probably way past swing age, if you ever used one, but I did haul mine back out for a few particularly nasty colds. Sleeping upright can really help them drain out. I've also heard you can try to prop up one end of the crib mattress by putting something underneath it.

[Casey44]

Have you tried using the saline drops before you use the nosefrieda? That should help you get more of the mucus out.

And inclining the mattress helped us too. We actually just used a towel because a pillow made it too steep of an incline.

Hope she feels better soon.

[Addie]

Originally Posted by Ldogg

My poor DD (7 months) has another cold. She's been congested all day, and is now asleep in her crib, though she keeps waking up on and off - probably because she's so darn uncomfortable. I wish I could just have her sleep with me - unfortunately she would get even *less* sleep - so how do I make her comfortable?

This is us right now, exactly. It stinks, huh? DS has slept ok the past two nights, but he's definitely more restless and I can tell he's not getting the quality sleep he usually gets.

We use a humidifier, I'm not sure it helps too much but it doesn't hurt. Our ped specified a cool mist humidifier.

I agree with a previous poster about nursing more frequently.

We do a nightly bath, and I've been going in the bathroom a few minutes before and running the hot shower, so the bathroom gets all warm and steamy. Seems to help a bit.

Also, I've noticed that his nose seems to clear a bit when we've been outside. Tomorrow I think we'll try a walk before nursing.

[snoopy5386]

we have both a warm mist and a cool mist humidifier and the warm one is soooo much better. Incline the mattress, use saline or breastmilk in the nose before the nosefreda.

[CrunchyChristianMama]

In a glass bowl beside her bed, put two drops of each of these essential oils: eucalyptus, lavender, and tea tree. Then pour some boiling water on them. The steam of the the water will fill the room with the scent from the oils, so be sure to keep the door shut to hold it in. This will ease the congestion, help clear her breathing, fight of the infection, and she will sleep much easier.

You can also do this mixture in a tablespoon of sweet almond oil or vegetable oil in a pinch, and rub some on her chest.

This works great for coughs too.

[RiverandJulie]

During his last cold, I took ds (10 mo) into the shower with me. He loved it and it really cleared him up, so he could sleep. I know when I am sick, a shower feels good. The steam really clears you up and the heat feels good.

On a side note: since then he has stopped taking baths and exclusively takes showers....more because baths are a huge challenge since he loves the water so much, he tries to 'swim' and play and jump around. But, he will sit in the tub while I take a shower. So much easier.

[beebalmmama]

We use a vaporizer during colds. I also put eucalyptus or sage oil in the vaporizer "cup" where the "vicks" stuff would normally go.

Nurse a lot, upright does help sometimes.

Simply saline or other saline drops.

The nose sucker when necessary.

I have slept with my little ones on my chest at night when they've been especially congested. I've also propped a pillow under the mattress to incline it a bit, if they're really sleeping poorly.

[Tattooed Hand]

Originally Posted by beebalmmama

We use a vaporizer during colds. I also put eucalyptus or sage oil in the vaporizer "cup" where the "vicks" stuff would normally go.

Really helped us at night.

[Ldogg]

Thanks for all your great ideas, mamas! We inclined her crib (though instead of a pillow we just propped up one side with a couple of books) and got a humidifier. I used the nosefrieda (after saline) a few times today, but she hates the everloving daylights out of that thing, so I just did saline before bed since that seems to help.

The oils are a good idea... as well as using them in the vaporizer. Though I'd rather not go out and buy something else, so perhaps just the bowl with some boiling water will work for us!

And we took her into the shower today, too... she totally loved it! I had forgotten how much she loved being in there since we've done mostly baths lately. Might have to do the showers more often - congestion or not - cause they're so fun!

As for the nursing more frequently... I swear, I have the only baby who gets MAD when I offer the boob pretty frequently. If it hasn't been 2-3 hours (or sometimes more), she gets angry. What the?! She's always had a strong personality, though, and lets me know when I offer the 'wrong' thing. Toddlerhood will be interesting...

[SeattleRain]

Try some kind of vapor bath as well. We use the Johnsons and Johnsons one, but I think California Baby makes one as well if youre more naturally inclined.

[Jane91]

With the saline drops and nosefrida, a friend recommended using them while the baby was upright (we had been doing it on the changing table), preferably with the head tipped down towards the toes, and I think that position really helped us get more gunk out.

Also our ped recommended giving the baby just a sip or two of water after nursing. Milk can bond in a gunky way with the drainage down the back of the throat, and a little bit of water can help baby cleanse that down a bit.

For colds the ped also recommended a cool mist humidifier as being better. Warm mist is evidently better for croup? Also, there is the potential safety issue with the warm mist once baby is more mobile.

[neonalee]

Originally Posted by Addie

We do a nightly bath, and I've been going in the bathroom a few minutes before and running the hot shower, so the bathroom gets all warm and steamy. Seems to help a bit.

This is what we do as well as leaving the shower running with just hot water during his bath (we have a hand held shower & can hold it out of the way). We've actually used up our entire water tank on occasion keeping the room hot and steamy, and use the nose freida right after the bath.

[aphel]

I can be kind of a clod, so I generrally do not like to take the babe into the shower with me, but when she's snotty, I put DD in a bouncy on the floor of the bathroom while I or DH shower and shut the door. It all works fairly well, untill the dogs push the door open and realize that baby is right at kissin' level . . . . Ha!

Hope your little one is feelin' better soon!

[texmati]

we found this product

http://www.amazon.com/PediaCare-Vapor-Plug-Unit-Nightlight-Refill/dp/B000SIDJ16/ref=sr_1_12?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1288132929&sr=1-12

at tom thumb in around 11pm at night when my son had a cold. he slept better than he had in a week! I was very skeptical (and desperate) when I bought it, but I can't recommend it enough.

ETA, we also put the baby in a smaller room with a lower ceiling (he was in our room with us), to help the humidifier/vaporizer work better.

[NiteNicole]

We use in the Gentle Vapors plug in for my daughter, too. I am stocking up for the fall and winter because we both have allergies and sinus issues that are made worse by central heat. As the poster above me says, I can not recommend them enough! They are WONDERFUL.

It says not for use with babies under three months, but in looking at the ingredients I'm not sure why. We used a different brand before and it didn't work NEARLY as well. Breathe Right strips are also great for older kids but I can't imagine they make one small enough for the under three crowd.