Tips for helping Bub with a cold or flu!

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, :hug: 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.

HTH.

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 :)

Belle - thanks for that - no nurofen now! will stick with what im doing and will go buy a vaporiser!

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?

The best thing we did (sleep wise) for DD when she had a bad cold, was to let her sleep in her bouncer or pram (strapped in of course). This let her nose drain and she was comfy.

We let her have heaps of tummy time during the day for drainage of her nose. We also put her in the bathroom when we showered so the steam would unclogg her nose.

I always used dimetap but you now need a prescription if under 2.

And lots and lots of TLC.

Amy - yep Otrivin is a salin nasal drop - might give it ago since i got it! went and had appt with child heath care nurse today and she suggested that vicks may not be so good for B since she has sensitive skin? wonder if anyone else has had that type of prob - i have sensitive skin but im fine with it!!!

MG - yeh i think we will be doing the bouncer thing again tonight! i hope this dosent last for long as than it will be hard to get her to go back in her cot - it was hard to get her in her cot to start off with!!
Thats a good idea about the tummy time - she gets lots of it anyways but im going to give her extra more time now! thanks
and trust me she is getting LOTS of TLC!!! thats what mothers are good for afterall :)

if you are breastfeeding you can put a drop of bm up each nostril that will clear it up really quickly

:( im not breast feeding :(

HJ1981 - Don't use eucalyptus oil in the bath water if bub has very sensitive skin. 1 drop is usually ok, but best to avoid. a drop on her clothing should do the trick.

Yes, try not to use the aspirator each time because you want to dilute the mucus enough to be able to "suck" it out. Vicks is ok at 4 months, as long as applied to chest only not nostrils etc. You can also use it on a bib.

Otrivin is actually a decongestant (unless they make a saline one that I'm not aware of!). Saline drops dilute the mucus to make it easier to clear. These are ok to use as often as required to give relief. Even every 5-10 minutes. They are surprisingly good at clearing stuffy sore noses.

Decongestants dry out the mucus and reduce further mucus production and therefore "decongest" the nose. Look at the active ingredient on the bottle. Decongestants will by xylometazoline or oxymetazoline. You should use these sparingly 2-3 times a day and for no more than 5 days at a time. If used longer they dry out the nose too much and you get "rebound congestion", which basically means that the nose "thinks" it's too dry and will produce more mucus, hence more congestion!

Snacks - Nurofen is a great drug for some people and in some instances, but under 2yr old can do more harm than good. Paracetamol is a far safer drug to use. Reasons:
- upsets stomach lining and can cause gastric bleeding
- can cause allergies. These can be severe if the child also has asthma and can lead to breathing problems.
- Viral infection/fever can lead to Reye's syndrome which is a serious condition that affects the brain in under 15yr olds
- can upset kidney function , especially as bubs kidneys as not well developed to handle the drugs.
- It doesn't actually last much longer than paracetamol ( the 8hr versus 4hr for paracetamol is a bit of a marketing gimmick!:rolleyes:)
- Has no added benefit over paracetamol in reducing fever or pain unless there is marked inflammation (injuries that cause redness and swelling such as sports injuries)
It can be useful for infections like middle ear where there is redness etc.

MotherGoose - great tips! :)

Wow, thanks for that, Belle.
HJ, Natty has excema and she gets it on her chest. I have used vicks Baby Balsam sparingly on her before with no problems (though obviously not if the skin is irritated in any way, and certainly not if its broken!)
The other thing I've done with the vicks is to smear a bit on a cloth nappy and hang it over the end of her cot. (This was pre-vaporiser days.) Up until she was old enough to reach out and pull it down, LOL. I found the vapours from the nappy were enough to fill the room just from that generous smear.
Hope she is doing a little better today...

Belle - wow - thanks very much - so much useful information u have given!
The Otrivin is Otrivin Saline Baby - Saline Nasal Drops!
I steemed up the shower last night - put a drop or eucalyptus oil in boiling hot water in the bathroom sink and that seemed to help her a bit last night! we actually got some sleep!

MG - the tummy time has worked a treat - her nose keeps running everywhere when on her tummy - bit yucky but hey it helps her breath!

Amy - i used ur advice and put some vicks on her nappy at end of cot - and that seemed to help as well - im thinking she would actually be fine with it on her skin - i have sensitive skin and i dont have a prob with it?! but for now the nappy trick works!

Thanks everyone for you help and advice - we actually got some sleep last night and she seems a fair bit better today (touch wood) she is much happier anyway since she got some sleep, and so is mummy :D
Once again thank you all so very much for your quick replys - i think getting in early has certainly helped her heaps :hug:

hj we found the aspirator didn't work so well, so instead we found a thing called a nosefrida... google it. The concept is completely revolting but it really works and after a few days with a bunged up bub we were desperate enough to try it. DD was 4 weeks old when she got her first cold and couldn't breathe through her mouth (still nasal breathers at that stage) so we were desperate. And everyone else has suggested the other things. Hope she gets better soon.

contrary to popuar belief Massage is great for babies with colds or flu .

i can show you what they call "taponement" later today if you like , it clears the airways and chest of mucus!