Please tell me this will pass

[ab00]

Ds2 is 5.5 months & after some initial problems (reflux,tt) had finally up until last Friday been having his last feed 8 - 9pm, sleeping until 3-4am having a feed going back in his cot for an hour,waking again so coming in to bed to be fed.
Since Friday him & ds1 have both had stinking colds. Friday night no one slept as dh was looking after ds1 & I was looking after ds2 who just wanted to be cuddled, held & feed for comfort all night. Every night since he manages about 45mins max in his cot next to our bed but starts getting agitated as his little nose is so blocked & ends up in bed with us,literally feeding on & off all night as it's the only way for dh & I to get some rest. Last night as an example between 9pm & 7am he fed 7 times. I know this isn't all hunger as sometimes when dh has taken him to give me a break he settles with a cuddle so a lot is comfort. He's teething at the moment too so he's really not having a good time of it & I'd do anything to make it all better for him.

I'm knackered & my back is killing me from all the feeding lying down (dodgy back from pregnancy) & I'm worried there's no end in site. I'm hoping when he's better he'll go back to what he was doing before but I'm really worried he won't.

Anyone with any thoughts or suggestions? Im knackered & worried about those big scary rods

Have you tried anything to help unblock his nose so that he can sleep more? We had mixed success with baby olbas oil and snufflebabe. My health visitor MIL also suggested propping up the head end of the cot a little with a book. Even if it only buys you an extra 15 mins it's surely worth a shot? I never tried it myself but another health visitor also suggested a saline spray to clear his nose; you can buy them in boots but check it's one for babies.

Sorry I can't be more help.

Had the same thing ( minus the teeth) with my 6 week old last night. Horribly blocked up, can't feed properly, snuffles around like a little piglet.

Of course it will pass and till it does try and make things easy on yourself. I don't have any concrete suggestions for the blocked nose...I read various remedies including baby Vicks, saline drops, putting the baby in a room full of steam but haven't tried any yet.
Don't worry about rods, just console yourself that you are providing comfort for your little one who is feeling sore and a bit rubbish.

I used to prop the mattress up by putting a folded up towel at the head which helped with his breathing when he had a cod.

It is miserable and unbelievable how little sleep you can actually get but yes, this too will pass - he will not have a cd forever ad he will also need to catch up on lost sleep at some point as well.

Buy a Calpol Vapour plug-in for the nursery.
Brilliant.

I would steam up the bathroom (shower on hot for 5-10 mins without you in there and door closed) and a couple of saline drops to help clear or at least make them sneeze, I would totally agree with plug in vapouriser they are brilliant.
Snuffle babe seems to work too perhaps a bit on the back of his vest.
Think whilst he has a cold and teething I would not do anything about changing the feeding bit as suspect he feels unwell and needs the extra cuddles, I would buy teetha powder as they seem to really help and give calpol to help with the pain and the cold.
Once he is all better I would highly recommend you read no cry sleep solution by Elizabeth pantley as there are many very good suggestions on improving sleep including (if you want to continue) co sleeping.

I second the reading of Elizabeth Pantly's no cry sleep solution.

Definitely try to unblock his nose every morning and night. Sitting in a steamy bathroom works quickly, and a mug with a couple of inches of boiling water and snuffle babe in it in the room is surprisingly effective (pop at the head end of his cot, on the floor).

Re the big scary rods, I recommend Dr Ferber. Wish I'd read it before I'd had DD.

Thanks for the replies,we had a marginally better night last night in that he went a whole 2hrs in his cot before waking up all snuffly & annoyed. If I hadn't been so knackered I'd have tried to put back in his cot after a feed but was just too exhausted to be yoyoing.
Will definitely give the reading a go,ds1 always slept really well & I think ds2 can - he just needs a bit more help to. He's always been a baby that needs to suck for comfort but do far won't take a dummy unlike his brother who would take anything going. Think will also be having a trip to the shop to see if we can get some snuffle babe & a dummy to try again, maybe now he's older he might take it?

I have no experience with this yet but my mum told me the other day she used to put vicks at the top of her boob if we had colds- unblocked us while feeding and safe. Don't know if that advice is still acceptable but thought I'd pass it on.

Well my DS now has another cold. Great. His stuffy nose is now affecting his feeding so I might try BraveLilBear's suggestion but with snufflebabe rather than vicks (mainly because that's what I have in the house).

Hope yours gets better soon, ab00. I feel your pain, my DS would never take a dummy either.

Oh Wuthering that's rubbish,sorry to hear your ds had a cold too. I'm just off to Boots now to get some snufflebabe & a dummy to try again. This morning when we got up his little nose was just streaming. Between that & the dribble from teething he was on his second clean top by 10am. No wonder he can't bloody sleep & is comfort sucking nearly all night. Really hope I'm not going to be left with a supply to keep dairy crest in business if he settles back down

wuthering you can put Vicks in boiling water as an amateur vaporiser / humidifier - just not suitable to apply direct to LO. It does help, give it a go.

ab00 - I use the saline spray, DS hates it but it gets a huge amount of snot out of his nose!!!

Another one to consider: a friend raves about a tube you can buy in boots where you put saline drops into baby's nose then suck everything out (obviously there's a barrier to stop it going in your mouth!). Friend says it works a treat.

Aunite Ju we've been using the tixylix saline drips which ds hates but have been considering a sucky tube thing. The amount of snot he produces in the morning is phenomenal when he's sat up in his bumbo. We tried some olbas oil on a tissue on the side of his cot last night & he slept 3hrs which was an improvement. The rest of the night from 1am onwards was spent snuggled up next to me with lots of comfort sucking - some of which was a little angry so not so comfy for me!
We've got calpol plugin's which work brilliantly in ds1's room, but are pants in ours as the plug is behind my bedside table & our room is bigger than the tiny nursery.