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Help, what do I do?!
Zander has given his cold to Juliette, she is sniffly & seems to be a bit blocked up. I have no idea if she has fed enough this morning or if she was pulling off because she couldn't breathe properly. She seems better when she's upright, is there some way I can feed her upright? Would it be easier to express for today so she can sit up more to feed?
I have saline nasal drops with aspirator which I use on Emily. Use the aspiorator to get all the gunk out of her nose, and the saline nasal drops help clear it up. Also during the day, I put the vapouriser on in the lounge room and put Emily in the bouncer. That way she's upright so she can sleep better. Then at night I have the vapouriser on in her room. Or even when you have a shower, pop her in the bouncer of something in the bathroom, the steam will help.
Not sure what to suggest with the feeding. But maybe if you can get the gunk out of her nose, then that would help with feeding?
It's weird the aspirator thing doesn't seem to be getting anything out :dunno: I've got the vapouriser going in her room overnight, hadn't thought of having it with us in the day, so thanks for that idea Jodi :) And yep she's in the rocker semi upright & sleeping peacefully for the moment.
Sarah, not much else you can do hun. When DD was sniffly at around the same age, I elevated the mattress in her cradle (just with a phone book) and also dabbed some babytvicks on her bed sheet. Even though the aspirator isnt coming up with much in it, still use the saline solution as it will help keep her clear. Smaller feeds more often might be the go until she clears a little. Hope both your babes get better soon.
Lisa
You can feed her upright using a form of football hold, it was one position I used to use a lot with DD1. You will need something to put your feet on, a coffee table is good. Set your self up on the couch, support your back, rest your feet on the edge of the coffee table so that your legs are bent. Place a pillow on the side you are feeding on beside your leg, rest bubs on the pillow upright and attach. You will need to start off supporting her head with your hand, but with practice you maybe able to support her with the pillow and leg positioning. Hope it makes sense it has been awhile since I have done it. You could even do it sitting sideways on the couch, you really just need to be able to get in a position with your knees bent.
Thanks Astrid, I'll give that a go with her next feed.
Gosh Lisa, I didn't even thinking of raising her bed :rolleyes: I thought of it with the rocker but not her bed, so thank you :D
Rolled up towels or a phone book is a good way to raise her bed.
Astrid, thanks for describing that b/f position. Handy for me too, for when Emily is fussing while she has her cold.
I had this exact problem its so scary when you hear them snuffling for air. I propped the matris up as high on a slant as i could but even found this to be useless. I used the saline drops and suring to suck out any gunk but not much came out. My son hated this process and i hated it more made me cry.
I breast fed him standing up with his legs downwards so he also was upright. I slept in an upright position all night every night till he recovered to a safe breathing and un muffled noise. keeping him completly upright. come to think of it i wish i had a sling at the time it would have saved my arms heaps. If you have a upright sling use that i would suggest. He did recover from the cold but even still now i remember it in detail it was scary even tho he was my 3rd born. Dont know if this helps hope it does.
Some thing my Ex Husband showed me about 2 months back on my daughter whom is 10 But i tell ya ild do it again. Ya know how you buy baby vix, Put it on bubs feet and rub it in and put socks on Its fantastic dunno what it is but its great. Obviously we used normal vix for our daughter but i cant see why you cant use baby vix on babies heck its designed for them. her nose cleared up real quick! ABSOLUTLY FABULOUS STUFF!!!
It is a great idea to express. I had a similar problem when my little one was 3 weeks old. I kept breastfeeding and didn't know how much he was taking in. It turned out he wasn't drinking much, if anything at all and was quite sick. At least if you express you know exactly what her intake is and as you say if she is upright she may drink more. Hope she gets well soon
I am sorry, i can't get this post out of my head, mainly because it is bringing back a traumatic incident. Many babies get colds and I am sure Juliette just has a cold but I really recommend seeing a GP as well (if you haven't already). As I said the same thing happened when our bub was 3 weeks old - he caught a cold from big sis and had the sniffles and a blocked nose. I took him to the GP because of his age and she sent me home saying he was fine. 24 hours later he was still sick and sleeping all of the time. I took him to the GP again who sent me home and told me he just needs to sleep it off and do not expect him to be too hungry. He gave me syringes and told me to express and syringe milk into him. 4 hours later my little bub was laying on a resuscitation table in the hospital. Thankfully we did not let him sleep it off and behaved like an "irrational, over-reacting parent" - we took him to the hospital. By the time we arrived he was not breathing - well luckily for us (and the *#@! GP) he was resuscitated. He did spend 3 days in intensive care. His common cold had turned into bronchilitus. I am not posting this to upset or scare you but I just know if somebody had warned me how common it was we would not have been in the situation we ended up in. I am sure it is just a common cold and by the time you have read this she is probably already on the mend.
When Pip had a cold as a young bub, I camped out on the recliner chair with him upright on my chest / shoulder. V. scary though!
Hope everyone recovers from their colds soon...