how do you help babies with colds

[Shanghaimum]

HI there
My son, who will be one in a week, has his first cold. For the past 3 days he has been suffering. During the day he seems okay - a little needy and off his food, but not too miserable. I just nurse him every hour and try and keep him distracted.
During the night it is a different story - the past two nights he has been up crying and crying and crying. Nothing seems to make him feel better.

Do you have any advice - I hate seeing him so upset and we are all getting very tired.

Sleepy Worried Emma

[oceanbaby]

Well, for me it kind of depends on the crying. If it's crying like he's in pain, then I usually break down and give him some tylenol. I'm not a big fan of medication, but if it has been quite awhile I take pity on the poor guy. Otherwise, I do two things: If he is congested, I express some breastmilk, use a medicine dropper to squirt it up his nose, and then suction it out. He hates this, but it is the absolute best decongestant I have ever seen. And I find most of his misery when he has a cold is due to either not being able to nurse due to congestion, or getting woken up by his clogged nose. Second, I usually spend at least part of the night sleeping sitting upright while ds sleeps on me. This really seems to help him when he is sick. He gets the comfort of sleeping on mama, and also it keeps his head raised a bit.

Good luck - ds has only been sick twice in his 16 months, but it is the absolute worst when it happens!

[Marlena]

I second with Oceanmama said about sitting up during the night and letting your baby sleep with his head and upper body raised on you - it made all the difference in the world at night when dd was really sick last winter. good luck!

[cobluegirl]

Are you sure he doesn't have an ear infection?

We gets colds all to often...I usually run the humidifier and put some vicks on his chest if I think he needs it. We have also used honey cough syrup from hylands, royal jelly, collostrum, echinacea, and Vit C to boost the immune system.

I hope your little guy gets better soon.

[Sumobabe]

Make sure there's sufficient water in your DS's environment, both internally, from getting plenty of fluids, and externally, by using a humidifier or vaporizer.

A hot bath often helps loosen congestion and might be soothing before bed. You might try the Johnson & Johnson's vapor bath; we've used that with good success. Or for a more natural alternative, put a few drops of eucalyptus oil in some very warm water and put DS in the same room to get the aroma. I would NOT, however, but DS into a bath with eucalyptus oil; it's too volatile for baby skin.

Sleeping with DS's head elevated will also help, as well lots of extra hugs from Mommy, which I'm sure he's already getting!

Here's hoping he's feeling better soon!!

Stephanie

[Dragonfly]

To expand on the eucalyptus idea:

You can make a great "steam bath" by putting a few (I usually use about 10) drops of eucalyptus oil on a washcloth, hanging the washcloth in the bathtub (on the faucet, for example), and turning the shower on as hot as it will go. Just close the door and sit in the bathroom. It's great for relieving congestion

Dragonfly

[Shanghaimum]

Thank you for the great suggestions. Last night my dh put loads of pillows on the bed to make an angle. I slept reclined with ds on my chest - he slept much better. We have also turned up the humidifier.

Hopefully he will be better soon ... unfortunately now I seem to be getting sick... ugh

Emma