How to Relieve Your Baby's Cold Symptoms

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By lilyjo99
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For babies under six months old, there is really very little a doctor can do to help when the baby has a cold. Doctors are now warning against giving decongestants to babies this young because of the health risks that decongestants can pose to small babies, including causing erratic heartbeats.

This list tells you some things you can do at home to help your little one get through their colds as painlessly as possible.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Saline drops
Aspirator Bulb
Vick's Baby Rub
Vick's VapoMist
Boppy
Carseat/Bouncer
Infant Tylenol Drops
Warm, Wet Cloth

Step 1

Picture of a Nasal Bulb Aspirator

Cleaning out your baby's nose/sinuses. It is actually counter-productive to do this too much because it irritates baby's sinuses and can cause additional mucus production, which compounds the problem. When my little ones are suffering from stuffy noses, I clean their noses when they wake up in the morning and when they go to bed at night. The only other time I do it is if they are unable to eat because they are so stopped up. As long as they can breathe, they are ok. I clean their noses by shooting 2-3 drops of saline into each nostril. I then compress the bulb aspirator and place it in their nostril and release to draw out the mucus. Then I clean the aspirator and repeat on the other nostril. Sometimes just shooting the saline into the nose is enough to knock loose some of what is making it difficult for them to breathe. Spare them the aspirator if you can.
Step 2

Humidifiers - A cool mist humidifier is good to run in their room when they sleep to keep their noses from drying out. If particularly congested, you may want to use some Vick's VapoMist in a humidifier to help their breathing. Note that you need a WARM mist humidifier for the VapoMist. Most humidifiers for sale that are geared specifically towards children are cool mist, so pay attention if you go out to buy one for this purpose. Alternatively, one trick I do when I am pressed for time and the baby needs humidity is to bring them in the bathroom in their infant carrier to breathe in the steam while I take a warm shower to get ready in the morning. This kills two birds with one stone.
Step 3

Vick's Baby Rub. There is an advisory on the jar for the age baby needs to be for this to be safe - I believe it is three months. Use it on your baby just as you would use adult Vick's Vapor Rub for yourself.
Step 4

My son sleeping in his infant seat.

Keep their heads elevated. Keeping your baby's head elevated will help them be able to breathe and it will help reduce the chances of their head congestion leading to an ear infection. You can keep them elevated by having them spend time in their bouncer. Feed them while they rest against their boppy pillow. Put them down to sleep in their car seat or infant carrier. Make sure to always strap them in properly to safeguard against injury.
Step 5

Give Tylenol Infant Drops as advised by your physician for pain/fever. Contact your doctor and get his guidance on this subject. He'll be able to tell you the proper dosage and frequency for your infant. He will also let you know at what point you should bring your child in to be checked out if the cold symptoms don't subside.
Step 6

Clean your baby. Wipe your baby's eyes and face with a warm wet cloth to stop the accumulation of that dry crusty mucus that can matte up their eyelashes. This will keep them comfortable. Be sure to use clean cloths to prevent the spread of germs into your child's eyes. A bath can also be very soothing to an ill child and help them to go to sleep.
Step 7

Last, but not least, take care of YOU. Wash your hands often, eat right, take your vitamins and get plenty of rest. Taking care of a sick child is much easier when you are not sick yourself.