I have a sick little bubba on my hands -DH and i have been up with her ALL night - she has a cold/flu - is couging continuosly, sneezing, vomiting, has a very mucuosy nose and is finding it hard to breath, and is very miserable!
She has hardly slept at all! my poor bubba girl! and my gosh how heartbreaking is it to see! I even had a cry with her last night!
we tried elevating her bed again last night to help her with her breathing instead of lying her flat on her back - didnt help.
So last night she was either in her bouncer or in bed with us (1st time we have ever done that) i even fell asleep on the couch with her last night!
We have also tried using that FESS stuff to clear her nose - now it says not to put the sucker thing in nose, to put it just at enterance but that dosent work - is it okay to put it in her nostril? (sorry if silly question) she hates it too, so makes it even harder!
Is there anything we can do for her to make her more comfortable and breathing easier?
HJ1981, for your poor bub. Don't use the Fess aspirator into the nostril. It can damage their septum (flap os skin separating nostrils and at the back of it). It can also "suffocate" her. Use the fess quite regularly every 10 minutes or so for an hour and try aspirating. Hold the bulb at an angle so it doesn't completely block the nostril (you can get it fairly close) and squeeze out mucus. You will need lots of fess to make the mucus runny. Do one nostril at a time so bub can breathe better.
You can get drixine drops (or other baby decongestant drops) to put in her nose to dry up the mucus in between the fess. Usually 2-3 times a day. Use a cotton tip to apply to her nostril if you find the drops a bit clumsy.
If you can get one, a vaporiser will be great to help her breathe (around $50 from pharmacies or you can also hire one).
Give her a warm bath with a drop of eucalyptus oil in it.
Eucalyptus oil (just a drop) on a bib will help her breathe better. Don't apply it directly to bubs skin.
Vicks vaporub or euky bear rub on chest will do the same.
Ok if she feels anything like we do when we have a bad cold/flu, she feels miserable and has aches and pains. You can give her panadol AND nurofen together. Another medicine that is really good for coughing is coedine. You can get PainStop Liquid for children from the chemist and it is paracetemol anc coedine (just like panadeine for kids). It will also help her sleep and if she has a temperature. A temperature is good tho, just not 39+. It is her bodies way of heating up to kill the bacteria/virus in her body. Try rubbing vicks on her feet and her chest or put it on a small hanky and pin it to her pillow or her shirt. I would stick the Fess up her nose a tiny bit, just dont fully spray it up there that might hurt, but gently to try to remove some of the gunk. Lots of wet washers to wipe the sweatyness away and just lots little drinks and lots of cuddles. If the cough gets barky, she might have croup. Check for a rash of pin ***** spots or high pitched squealing crying. Thats when she needs to go to the Dr. and/or the temp gets to high. I hope she feels better soon!
I wouldn't use anything with codeine for a a bub ander 2 as they don't have a cough reflex yet so have danger of suffocating. Codeine relaxes the sphincter (flap of skin separating the throat and airway) , bub can't cough to "open" it, flap closes, bub can't breathe! Cough and cold meds are NO longer recommended in bub under 2 as they cause more harm then good. Normal coughs and colds are usually viral and will fix themselves in their own time. The main thing is to get bub comfortable.
You can use paracetamol for a high temp (I would avoid Nurofen - too many complications to list!). However some temp increase is ok to help fight the virus. Keep an eye on it though and if over 38 deg, use damp wipes/lukewarm bath and paracetamol every 4 hours upto 4 times a day.
Belle - just so i got this right - are u saying use the FESS regularly in the hour than use the aspirator? so dont use the aspirator every time the FESS is used?
Vaporisor is a good idea - dont know why i didnt think of it - done to the chemist i will be going today!
she has sensitive skin - will the eucalyptus drop in bath be okay?
Also 4mths is fine for Vicks isnt it?
TwoMums - i gave her panadol last night and that didnt seem to help at all - so thanks for mentioning the nurofen - is that okay for 4mth olds? im guessing they will have a baby one anyway like panadol has?!
she has felt very hot however temp has been between 36.7 - 37.3 so not bad - but amazing at how hot she feels!
She has been off her formula too - so have been trying to give it too her in small amounts and regularly just so she dosent get dehydrated!
But your spot on with the advice on cuddles - they seem to help the most
i was just going thru med cabinet and found some OTRIVIN thats was in my bounty bag! has anyone used that? is it okay to use along with FESS or should it be one or the other?
Hi mate, I was going to suggest the vaporiser as well, but it sounds like you're onto it already.
You can get Baby Balsam from vicks, which is just a milder version for bubs. I don't know what otrivin is? Is that saline? I get confused with the different concentrations for saline. I know that there's a different one for eyes, but can't remember if you need a different concentration for noses. Might be worth asking the pharmacist about that one.
Interesting about the neurofen comment... I find neurofen heaps easier? Cause you have to give it half as often? What's the story, Belle?
Tips for helping Bub with a cold or flu!
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for your poor bub. Don't use the Fess aspirator into the nostril. It can damage their septum (flap os skin separating nostrils and at the back of it). It can also "suffocate" her. Use the fess quite regularly every 10 minutes or so for an hour and try aspirating. Hold the bulb at an angle so it doesn't completely block the nostril (you can get it fairly close) and squeeze out mucus. You will need lots of fess to make the mucus runny. Do one nostril at a time so bub can breathe better. 
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