Surviving Baby's First Colds

Surviving Baby's First Colds

My baby was successful in avoiding any colds the first 6 months, but then the cold and flu season season hit.... and then my little one succumbed to his first cold.  We soon realized that the colds meant that we were going back to us being somewhat sleep deprived (but let's save that for another post).  I would often be doing google searches on what to do if your baby catches a cold, and we got a lot of tips from friends and family members.

We actually did not take our baby to the doctor's office but we would correspond with our pediatrician over email. It seemed to me that the consensus from a few experienced moms was that if your baby's temperature is 100 or below, you may not need to bring the baby in but just monitor and try some remedies to provide comfort to your little one. Of course this depends on how your baby is behaving - even w/ a cold, our guy still seemed to play and be active as usual.

Here's a recap of what we did for our baby's colds:

Baby's Cold Symptoms

• Cough
• Congestion
• Fever
• Runny Nose
• Sneezing

Remedies for Alleviating Baby's Cold

1. Nose Frida or Aspirator:  These are essential! I would say this is a must for the baby registry!
2. Humidifier:  Have the humidifier on while your baby is sleeping.
3. Steam sessions:  We tried 2 steaming sessions a day to help with the congestion and to loosen the mucus around the lungs.  We used one of those shirt steamers in the bathroom, and would sit in the tub with our baby.  Reading him books helped to pass the time - usually we aimed for 15 minute sessions. Tip: Right after the steam session, use a Nose Frida or aspirator to suck the snot out your baby's congested nose.
4. Vapor Rub:  You can buy the children's version and rub on baby's chest.
5. Saline Nose Drops:  Saline drops are to help loosen some of the mucus in your baby's nose.  We made our own saline drops with a mixture of 1/2 cup of water and 1/4 tsp of salt.  Use a dropper to gently insert these drops into the nostrils - wait a minute or so, and then use the Nose Frida right after to suck up the snot.
6. Elevation:  Propping up the crib on one side may help the baby be more elevated during bedtime and naps.  You can put pillows underneath the crib mattress to help get desired elevation.
7. Liquids: Even though babies may not want to drink or eat as much while they are under the weather, you should try to get them to drink as much liquids as possible - it's the same thing for us adults when we get sick.   I would make the solid foods a bit soupier than usual.  Soupy porridge seemed to go down a bit more easily.
8. Children's Tylenol:  We only used the tylenol if baby seemed very miserable and had a fever.

In general, it seemed to take about 2 weeks for our baby to recover from a cold.  Remember to wash your hands to prevent catching colds!!