please advise me - bad cold in 12 week old - not much feeding last 3 days

[waytoomuchchocolate]

please advise me....

baby is feeding about 4-5 mins from one side only every two hours or so and then screams when i try to feed more. he's really struggling to breathe but has also gots lots of mucus in throat i think. should i be worried about how little he's getting yet?

he usually feeds 8-10 mins from one side every 2.5-3 hours and is a good weight.

also worrying whether my milk supply will start to go and whether there is anything i can do about it?

thanks so much...

no idea but I've also got a baby with a cold at the moment! Complete with snot coming out of his nose when he feeds...

4-5 min sounds like he's probably keeping hydrated, especially every 2 hours - that's roughly what my baby does usually. I've been expressing and feeding him ebm late in the evening as he seems to find the bottle easier to breathe around when he's tired.

have you tried anything to clear his nose?

some sort of vapour rub, i think snuffle babe is suitable from 8 weeks, IIRC, and saline drops before a feed

ask pharmacist for advice

Mine is the same age and has a cold as well. Have you tried saline drops? You can get them from your GP (not sure if you can buy them over the counter).
It will make the mucus more runny and will help with his breathing.
5mns every 2 hours does sound reasonable. Is it solid drinking for 5 mns or 5 mns at the breast?

I thikn you can get saline drops, calpol and other cold medicines over the cuonter if you are registered for care at the chemist scheme

thanks everyone. aurorec it's generally 5 mins solid-ish drinking, give or take. sounds as though that is ok for now.

will try to get hold of some saline drops tomorrow. have been using snuffle babe and it does seem to clear his nose, but hasn't helped him feed. i think the mucus in his throat is more of a problem but just guessing.

hope all your LO's colds clear up soon too...

chocolate - finally got A to sleep last night after a marathon feeding session (280 ml formula and I'd tipped the rest of the carton away figuring he'd never drink all that, so then he fed off me for 20 minutes!).
So despite taking 2 hours to get him to sleep, he then slept 6 hours. Wahey!

Still unhappy every time a snotball builds up, but I think he's on the mend. It's the first time in his life he's had a day without a poo, but loads of soggy nappies. I guess he's taking lots of fluid.