Cold-y baby

[TinkerBellesMumandFiFi2]

I feel like a total novice at the moment

Fifi has got a cold, she's been struggling to feed for about 48 hours. The first night I had to give her EBM in a syringe because she made me so sore trying to latch then getting frustrated she couldn't breathe. Yesterday she managed OK but this evening she's struggling again and I've given her another syringe. I've spent the whole time keeping her upright as she chokes/ coughs/ sneezes when not upright and gets very stressed.

So two questions, what can I do for a baby (3 weeks old, 38+4 corrected) with a cold who can't breathe through her nose? And what can I do about the breastfeeding so she is breastfeeding and my nipples aren't dropping off?

Have you tried snot drops saline solution?

saline drops
she cant havevicks as such but the vapour on a cloth, on you or around but not to close to her maybe a plug in?

I can't get out from here so haven't tried anything yet. Can I make my own saline? I remember putting a hanky in my bra (can't remember what was on it) and holding Tink with her head above it once. Maybe a stupid question but can I use EBM as drops like I would for conjunctivitis?

I can't believe this is my second baby and I've done the PCT Peer course. I feel like a complete novice.

when DS2 was really bad the other week and I couldn't get out, I just used cooled boiled water and squirted a bit up his nose using a medicine syringe and it did the trick.

I think the proportions for saline solution is 1 teaspoon of salt per "cup" which is about 235ml.

It's horrible when they are all bunged up as they just can't feed well. Not great when you are trying to get BFing established.

Other than the cold, how is she doing?

oh, and I tried squirting BM up DS's nostrils as I thought the same thing but it kept squirting in his eyes.....next time I'll express it first

I was advised by someone on MN to try squirting some boob juice up my DDs chronically blocked nose. This is what I do now, it's free and seems to cause her less bother than saline. Plus it seems to get loads of horrible bogies out!

If I have to defrost anymore EBM I will squirt some, I thought about it this time but wasn't sure. I wasn't going to do it from the tap though!

She's doing really well otherwise, she's still a little yellow and I'm going to hear tomorrow if she needs the three week testing, she's a little sleepy so feeds aren't easy anyway but she's not too bad from it. I tried to keep Tink away from her but I was the only one telling her so Fifi ends up with a cold.

Try running a hot shower or bath and bringing her into the steamy bathroom - the steam should help to clear her nose. Also, putting a damp facecloth with a few drops of eucalyptus oil over the radiator will release it into the air and might help too. You can also put this in the bath if you're doing the 1st suggestion. Poor wee thing - hope she feels better soon!

EBM is worth a shot . Also good for eczema, nappy rash, conjunctivitis...

I agree, saline drops work well. You can also use a snot sucker- have you seen one of those? You can get it from a pharmacy. You need the one which has a long tubey thing & you suck on it & the snot comes out. What we do (and at the moment our DS also has a blocked nose) is first put saline drops in, and then we use the snot sucker & it works really well (although DS kind of hates it )

I've just done the EBM drops, it seemed to make a difference at the time, so will be interesting to see what happens now. I saved 2ml in the syringe then stuck a pipette into it to suck some out. I offered the last little bit to Tink but she shuddered and said "it's too cold" lol she's not used to me-me that's not Mummy temperature!

I've just found out that her jaundice levels are too high so we're going into hospital tomorrow, it's not been helping her feeding.

oh tink shame about going into hospital.

will she have photo therapy?

that cold came at a bad bad time

I don't know if it's going to be testing or therapy. I don't think the cold can have helped because she won't have been able to flush through the toxins if she wasn't drinking enough.