Three week old with cold?

[MIDGETGEM]

Hi, I have lurked on mumsnet for over a year but this is my first post. I have a three week old daughter who is my first child. I have noticed today that she seems to be producing a lot of saliva, as if she is foaming at the mouth. She has also had several sneezing fits and has developed a cough, she also sounds "blocked up" when she is breathing, I am breast feeding and she has taken her last feed without any problems and is currently asleep after settling well, although she has seemed more grizzly than normal today. I just want a bit of reassurance really, is it normal for baby of this age to get a cold? is that what is sounds like and is there anything I can do to help alleviate symptons? Thank you.

hi midgetgem my dd had a cold at about a week old and she found it hard to feed with a bunged up nose etc. you can get salium drops to put on their noses. think its just a water with tiny amount of salts in. it soon passes but obviously see gp if worsens. i used to get a snotty boob whilst feeding!!

Hi midgetgem

I think it is normal for babies that young to get colds, my ds2 had a cold when very young and has always been a very snuffly baby. Nose drops are very good for clearing little baby noses and I have an 'aroma rub' by little me which is also very good. I got the drops on prescription but I'm pretty sure you can buy them easily in chemists.

If you're worried try ringing nhs direct - 08454647, they might help put your mind at rest.

I think this is totally normal. She is basically coughing and sneezing all the crap she has on her lungs from when she was inside you.
I think you just have to go with it, keep the bf going and hope she sleeps ok. HTH

Congrats on your new dd

It does sound normal, and if she's feeding and settling well thats very reassuring. If she keeps 'foaming' - literally, bubbly stuff - and/or starts throwing up feeds or finding it hard to feed - I would get her checked out. My dd had what looked like a small cold at 4 weeks old, and it turned out to be RSV bronchiolitis...not trying to scare you though, its probably just a cold. Congratulations on your dd

Hiya, I have a 4 week old that is doing the same.

Sneezing - yep, mine can sneeze 5 sneezes 6 times a day, this is down to getting used to this dusty world full of new smells and perfumes etc. They have sensitive little noses. It's all part of clearing her put and readjusting to the outside world.

Saliva - yep, we have that too. Totally normal
Cough - yep, ditto. It's part of feeding and is a bit like winding, hiccups etc, it's all just her getting used to swallowing, drinking, digesting, breathing. It may be a little bit of and aprtly to do with a little bit of reflux. Maybe not, it is with my DD.

Congratulations btw, on the birth and your first post

Yes, tiny babies can get colds. I think you'll know if its anything more serious, heavier breathing, rattly sounds in chest. Its good that she fed normally and has settled well. If it was more than just a cold I'm sure she wouldn't settle.

My second child caught a cold at 5 days old. His older sister brought the bug home from nursery! All was fine.

Do post again if you're worried.

get some saline drops to help loosen the blockage, and get some snufflebabe to rub ob her chest, or you can get karvol capsules to dissolve in water to vapour the room, and they also do karvol plug ins

It is normal, but that doesn't make it any easier really. You are bound to worry about your DD (congratulations by the way). You can tip the cot a bit by putting some phone books under the legs at one end. Mine seem to be constantly like that at the moment with all the colds around. That can help with the 'blocked up' breathing. Keep bfing and perhaps take in her into a steamy room (I sometimes make a tent, put a bowl of hot water in it and sit under it with dc when they have colds). She will hopefully get over it in the next day or two.

Call NHS direct, like Vanpesha suggests, if you are still worried.

I hope she gets better soon and I also hope you manage to miss out on the cold too.

Thank you so much for all your replies, it is good to hear from people who have been there. Just to update you, after I put the post on here she woke up and was coughing more than she had been all day and had a lot of foamy saliva coming out her mouth, so I rang the postnatal ward for advice who said to take her straight to casualty. We have just got back, they listened to her chest, checked ears, oxygen levels etc... and all were fine so they have said it seems like a cold and just to ride it out. Felt a little bit like a neurotic mother whilst I was at casualty but I know I would have worked myself into a frenzy if I hadn't have gotten her checked out. She is now sleeping in her moses basket whilst me and DH feel totally drained!

Gosh that must have been pretty scary midget to have the pn ward telling you to rush her to casualty! I'm really glad she's all ok

And I know what you mean about feeling neurotic but I always think I'd rather be the neurotic mother who took her child to be checked out and found all was fine than the mother who didnt and all wasn't.

That's not to say you wanna rush them in over every little thing! I think you soon learn to trust your instincts. I often worry something may be wrong when it isn't really but I know when it really is.

I rushed my DD into hospital when she was 4 weeks. Spent the night in the childrens hospital. Turns out she only had a cold and blocked nose! We had wrapped her up in the car on the way ther, she had over heated and looked a bit red when she arrived hence the admittance to hospital!

God I was so embarrised when the doctors came roud the next morning and told me she looked a little to well to be in hospital.

That said we were on a ward with babies with bronchitas (spelt right?) and all the parents said their babies had deteriated so fast I did the right thing by rushing her in. Now she is older and I have more experience I would know it was a cold and nothing else. Still scary experience and if you are worried get them to a hospital. It's what you pay your taxes for!

Burpy, that sounds exactly like me last night I was convinced that she looked more red/was more tired/not feeding as well as normal. I can't believe how I overeacted, it seems totally irrational now in the cold light of day, I love being a mammy and have been pretty chilled out since she has been born, enjoying every minute of it, I think I just got a fright last night when things weren't "normal". Oh well at least I know what it is now and thanks to everyone for all the top tips, it was really reassuring to read everybody's experience, I can see Mumsnet being a useful tool over the coming years!