Baby's first cold - help!

Hi all,

DD has come down with her first cold. She is really miserable, snuffly and sneezy. She is throwing up after I give her baby panadol (Terry White brand, infant drops).
I don't know whether to keep giving her the panadol or try to find a different brand. I'm in Vietnam, have no idea what's available here. I also don't know how much to dose her because she would have absorbed a little before ejecting panadol-scented yoghurt. Any advice? I'm sure It's only a cold. I really don't want to get a taxi into town to see a doctor (US$65) to be told it's only a cold.

Poppy and I are both having a pretty terrible day. We have house guests, one of whom is locked in the spare room with some dramatic malady. We have a construction site across the road and for some reason half the population has decided today is the day when they must call and/or ring the doorbell.

Aw no, that's terrible - poor Poppy!

I would watch her for a bit and see if her symptoms lessen any over the next hour or so - if not, I'd give her some more panadol. They can't overdose on it (unless you give more than one bottle!) and if it has been thrown up, I'd give her some more.

Apart from that, there isn't much you can do apart from giving her lots of love and cuddles, and maybe offering more feeds. Fluids are important!

Are you bf? If so, offer the BB lots - she may take extra comfort from suckling, whether she's actually feeding or not. If you're not bf, still offer more fluids through her bottles and just cuddle her nice and close, but make sure she doesn't get too hot.

I hope it passes for you soon :hug:

hey hun

are you still bf'ing? If so, keep it up and let her have as much as she likes.

Here we have something called "less fess" (or something like that) which helps to get the goo out of her nose if she is having trouble with it, not sure if tyou will have that over there though?

Have you tried a humidifier? That will keep the air moist and help with her breathing.

Just offer plenty of fluids and rest her as much as possible. Keep an eye on her temp and any signs of dehydration.

In regards to the panadol, given she is so young I wouldn't give her another dose, only within the recommended timeframe. (ie: 4 hrly)

Have you got some sort of vapour rub for her chest to help with the snuffling. Also rubbing the vapour rub on her feet will help too. Eukybear is a good one, not sure if you will get that in VN???
Or a room vapouriser?
Top up the baby panadol if she is throwing it up.
Give her extra bottles if she will take them to keep up her fluid intake.
You could try saline drops to help her sneeze out the goo.
Give Poppy a big hug and you need one too :hug::hug:

If you don't have a humidifier or vapouriser, you could just pop her in a portacot or something in the bathroom & turn warm or hot water on in the shower. No need to actually put her in the shower itself - the steam created from running the water will help clear her little blocked nose.
I did this all the time when DS had a cold, I'd just wheel his cradle into the bathroom & have a shower at the same time!!

Thanks everyone for the super-speedy replies.

We haven't got Vaporub. I rubbed a bit of teatree oil on her chest last night. I don't know if that did anything.
I have some saline spray, a French thing for spraying up her nose. The doctor gave it to us at the four-month check because of a slight rattle in her chest, which cleared up. But I think spraying the stuff up her nose will force the mucus back. She is breathing ok, just ejecting some snot-worms when she sneezes. I don't really want to steam her in the bathroom because it's just so hot here. I just don't know what to do. She will only sleep for 10 minutes at a time, then wakes up with a pained wail. I'm exhausted. She must be too, but she just can't seem to stay asleep.
I've been giving her lots of cuddles and she's been drinking lots of water. I'm not BFing. She seems to want water, not milk, at the moment.

DD just got over her first cold which lasted about a week. i guess it wasn't the worst it could have been, but for a few days I was a bit worried about her cough. Took her to the dr and he said there's nothing really they can do, there are no medications that can be prescribed, there used to be a baby dimetapp but they aren't allowed to give that to children under 2.

I'd just keep doing what you are doing and let her little body fight it off. It's just awful when there's nothing you can give them, apart from panadol, but think of it as her immune system being given a chance to strengthen itself!

There is a baby Vicks chest rub I got, which has eucalyptus oil, lavendar oil and a few other oils and is safe for babies. The normal Vicks is supposed to only be for 2 years +. Get yourself a vaporiser if you can, your chemist should have them in stock. I put a few drops of eucalyptus oil in it and left it on overnight, I think it made a big difference. Does she sleep in a cot? Try elevating the mattress a bit so she isn't lying flat.
I had the Little Fess drops and aspirator, but DD screamed the house down everytime i tried to use either of them, and the last time I used it she cried so much she power chucked three times all over me! I didn't use it after that..lol.

Hope little Poppy is feeling better soon.