DS has a cold, what can I do to make it easier for him to feed?

[BelinaTheZombieChicken]

he is 7 weeks and really struggling, everytime I get a decent flow he can't keep up so comes off the breast and gets a face full of milk

Is there anything I can do, maybe a different position? He is getting really wound up and upset, and is wriggling so much it's like trying to breastfeed an octopus

Aww poor thing You can try saline nose drops from the chemist and try to unblock his nose that way, try feeding in the recumbent position so he is more upright and the milk is moving against gravity i.e. you sit back slumped in the chair and he lays on your tum. You can try expressing a little bit off so it isn't so fast flowing, but not too much because that would increase supply iyswim, just by hand.

Or you can try a feather under his nose to encourage him to sneeze.

Try one of these? We used one for DS just before feeding, worked very well.

I don't think you can use it quite yet, but in a few weeks time you will be able to use Olbas Oil for Children on a muslin to help with congestion.

Have you tried a squirt of breastmilk up his nose? Really works to clear the snot.

Thanks for the advice

AnxiousElephant have been feeding him lying back, think it's helping, he's just comfort suckling now anyway, but will try it when he needs a proper feed. Have managed to settle him for now, but he's very fidgety so not very deeply asleep.

Frank that looks scary! If his cold continues will have to get one

pip I have some Oilbas oil type stuff for DS1, so maybe can try it later

Gracie does that really work? And how do you aim?? There has been milk flying everywhere tonight, so chances are some of it got up his nose!

He's asleep now, going to transfer him to his bouncy chair so he's a bit upright (it's quite a flat one, so his head isn't slumped, to scared to let him sleep on my chest). Fingers crossed he'll sleep for a while

DS (11 weeks) has just had his first cold. We used the saline drops (he hated them at first, but they were effective and after a few goes he'd let us do it without screaming!), kept him in the bathroom with us while we showered (steamy room to clear nose), propped the end of his cot up so that his head was higher to make him more comfortable, used calpol once a day to bring temperature down, used a Karvol plug in (not advised for under 3 months, DS is huge so we took the risk, but sounds like your LO would still be too young)

I don't know if any of them worked, but none of them seemed to make him any worse IYSWIM and it made me feel better to know we were trying!

Good luck - it's horrible watching them struggle isn't it?

I had used karval on a bib to help breathing. I assume it's like the oil already suggested.

I took DS into bathroom when we showered and once fed him in there with the shower on, which did seem to help.

Also raised the head of his Moses basket & tried a "breathe easy" oil mix - a couple of drops in a bowl of hot water near his bed (or in sink when feeding him in bathroom).

Good luck

We used the saline spray. Made him jump but he didn't mind it! One squirt up each nostril was enough to clear him long enough for a feed and to get him off to sleep.