5 Month Old with a Summer Cold

If you are bf'ing you can try and squirt bmilk in the nose instead of going out and buying saline drops.

My daughter had a pretty bad cold starting at 3 months. Her symptons were runny nose and raspy cough.

Her pediatrician told me to give her saline nose drops every 30 minutes (meaning often). The saline will break up the mucous. I, also, gave her 4 oz. of water a day to help break up the mucous in the back of her throat. The doc did tell us not to use the bulb to clear her nose because it could damage the membrane in her nose.

You will not notice any immediate results like you would if you took medicine. It took a while for my daughter to get over this but she was too young for medicine. I think it took my daughter over a month to get over the congestion.

She is now 7 months old and has a minor cold again. I am doing the same thing with the saline drops.

FYI: saline is salt water. The brand I used was Ocean.
FYI2: I am breastfeeding.

I wouldn't worry about it until it has been over 10 days and still not better. By that point they should be showing some improvement. That was the rule of thumb my dr gave me with my son.

My oldest son went through several rounds of colds the whole first year of his life. Here are a few things that helped us

1. Saline solution up the nose and then suction it out. He hated it, but could breath afterwards and it helped get rid of the muscous before it went down his trhoat causing the sore throat and cough. I use Little noses brand

2. Elevate his head to sleep, it will help with the drainage in the throat and breathe easier, so cough less.

3. Baby Vicks on the chest, the vapors helps them sleep better and help the cough. It is ok for a 5 month old because it is herbal instead of regular vicks.

4. Vapor Pedi-care plugin. It fills the room with a menthol smell. I noticed a drastic difference in his sleeping on the nights we used it versus the nights we didn't.

5. Humidifier - The moist air will help with the cough as well

If you notice the cough change to a more of a dry cough like a bark or if there is a wheezing with the breathing, then I would call your pediatrician back sooner.

D., I have 3 boys at home and I always use "Broncolin". Its a an over the counter medicine. This is just honey. This helps give a coat on your childs throat to avoid coughing. The way I prepare it is I get a table spoon and add a little of lemon to it. I would use it on babies 2 years and up. Also, avoid adding vicks on the babies back or chest. This only makes it worst. Because you would sweat and having a wet shirt on your chest or back will make it worst. So a remedy they told me is to add a little vicks on their upper butt. Not on the butt kind of where the waist is. This helps a lot.

A.

Hi, I just wanted to share that all of the advice given to you has been great, and while all that may help, you need to watch her breathing, because my son also had similar sym, and I took him in and he actually had croupe (sp?) He was given a steroid shot and a breathing treatment, and we had immediate results. I am not sure on her age what can be recommended but what worked for us for the cough was the humidifier and breathing tx. I don't want to alarm you but if you do not feel comf. with how she is doing it is best to get her checked out. I hope this has helped.

I feel ya. Our girl has had a cold on and off since May. We are so tired of it. You pretty much know the basics. Saline in the nose to help thin the mucous. Bulb syringe to get rid of as much of it as possible. Sipping water with just a bit of juice seems to calm the coughing. When the bad coughing fits hit at night, one of us will lay in the recliner with her on our chest. It helps the congestion drain. It may take 30-45 minutes, but then she will usually sleep through the rest of the night with just minor coughing.

Keep an eye on her. If the mucous turns dark yellow or greenish or if the cough doesn't get better after a few days, things have progressed to a bacterial infection. The doctor will need to give you antibiotics at that point to clear things up. Also, the congestion can prevent the ears from draining properly and lead to an ear infection. If she is tugging and rubbing her ears, you should also see a doctor.

For the cough, Definately have her sleep with a cold air humidifier on and rub Baby Vics on her chest periodically throughout the day and before bed. For the congestion, use the bulb syringe in her nose, & can you use saline drops in her nose yet? Also, this is an old wives tale but works GREAT for us, rub baby vics onto the bottoms of her feet and place socks over them to not rub it off on the bed. My little boys nose clears up in days of doing this!

There really is not much you can do at this stage! Your nursing your child is one of the single greatest things you are doing, as you know you are passing on your own amazing antibodies! Your child being five months is to young for over the counter meds of any kind, unless your pediatrician feels differently! Cold in babes are not nice! Just monitor babe, and schedule another appointment if you are more concerned and for piece of mind!

Good Luck!

I found what worked best was a good ol' humidifier and the old vicks trick. Get some vicks (since she is still little you can use the baby vicks) rub it on her chest and on the soles of her feet and put socks on her feet. I found that helped my little man when he got a little cold last year (: Also, use the bulb syringe (they should have given you one at the hospital, if you lost it go to babies'r'us..they have them there for like $1.99)and keep her nose clear of mucus. You should still be able to breastfeed, but if she starts running a fever take her back to the doctor!! Good LUCK!! (:

My little 5.5 month boy got an upper respiratory chest infection and had the cough and runny nose too. It sounds so bad, but the doctor said it would go away and the cough could last up to 2 weeks. Sure enough it went away in less than 2 weeks. The only problem is that when we went for his 6 month check-up, she found he has an ear infection. I didn't even see the signs....actually, there were none (didn't mind being on back, was not pulling at ear, etc). So now he is on antibiotics, but seems fine. She said it was common for babies to get ear infections after a cold. So my advice is not to worry about the cough and be aware (as much as you can) of an ear infection. Best of luck!!

I can't offer much but other than to make sure you're beefing up your vitamin C. Sitting your baby with you in the bathroom while you're taking your shower- the hot steamy water. Feeding the baby as much as possible is always the best thing when they're sick and your breastfeeding. Be sure to keep an eye on her temp. If her temperature goes up and she doesn't want to eat then take her in ASAP!
Hope all goes well. It's never easy to see our little ones sick

Have you taken your little girl to see the doctor yet? I ask because I know that my newborn just spent two weeks at Texas Childrens with Pneumonia and my good friend just took her son in with a high fever and cold symptons and he had pneumonia also. You can never be to careful. Good Luck with your beautiful baby girl:)~ Hope she feels better soon!!

My older toddlers have same cold its a virus and not much can be done, this is their second summer with it. I think its the older
schoolers virus' that gets spread since they all are on vacation at all the kiddie climbing places, restarants etc. The older kids are more immune its just the little ones who haven't been exposed to it enough. With a 5 month old I don't recommend any cold symptom relief as your doctor has probrably told you, I do recommend saline with a bulb syringe to help clear the nose of the running mucus and lots of clear fluids like the baby water. The doctors told us this stuff as I'm no doctor when our kiddos were babies. I wouldn't trust any medicines except the baby tylenol but if not running a fever its not necessary.
Good luck its hard to watch such a little one feel so miserable, but as long as there is not all night screaming uncontrollably(ear infection) then the cold will run its course.
Mom of twins

You've received some great advice so far, and I agree with Michelle 100% she had some great advice for you!

Follow your instincts, if you feel that your baby's cold has become worse and there may be something else wrong, make another appointment. If the pediatrician is not taking your concerns seriously, then find another pediatrician. The biggest mistake new moms (or any mom) can do is not listen to their instincts!

Definitely try the saline, humidifier, baby vicks and sitting in the bathroom while the shower is running with hot water. Those will all help clear up congestion, but if it continues to get worse don't feel bad about contacting your pedi for an appointment!

Hi D.,
ask your pharashist they are a great help
good luck L.

My son had the same summer cough a few weeks ago, and i dont really like to give them medicine, b/c they are so small. Rub her back and chest with vicks baby rub, at night after her bath, rub vicks on her feet, and put on sock. a humidifier works great, as well as running a hot shower and sitting in the bathroom with her for 15-20min 3-4 times a day. This worked for us and i hope it works for you!

D.

Our son has allergies it might be that. Either way you should consider finding a new pedi. He should of helped in some way. Not just blown it off. There is meds and you dont want it to turn to something worse. Get a new doc is my suggestion. Sorry your little one is feeling icky. God bless.

rub a little bit of vicks vapor rub on the bottom his/her feet and then put a pair of socks over the feet... Do this when you are laying him/her down to sleep... it works!

There is really nothing you can do for it except maybe a humidifier. You could also use some baby vicks chest rub. Saline in the nose and suctioning is great too!! It usually gets worse before it gets better. You may want to go in for a re-check if she starts getting fever or has difficulty in breathing. Do not give her any medicine cold drugs are DANGEROUS for babies. Good luck I know how hard it is to watch them suffer!!