19mo with cold. Very congested - solutions?

[CarpeJugulum]

DS is 19mo and has a horrible cold.

He's on a Montelukast drug trial and has a Ventolin inhaler, so he's not wheezing, but he is struggling to breathe through the congestion as its in his nose, plus he has a sore throat and a tickly cough. I'm applying Calpol (or own brand equivalent) as he does have a temperature and Tixylix glycerine for the cough.

He's fine with it while upright; just breathing heavily but not asthmatically IYSWIM, but lying down is a nightmare. His usual 1.5-2 hour nap has been about 30 minutes (if that!), and he was up and down all night.

I've raised the head of the bed, he has Karvol on his chest and he'll get a steamy bath before bed, room will be about 21 degrees as this is his optimum cold temperature.

What else can I do? I'm living on about 1.5 hours sleep (spread over a few cat naps) and DH can't take over until Friday night.

You can use saline drops for his nose (or Sterimar saline spray which is easier to use) (Boots/superdrug etc sell it). This reduces the risk of ear infection as well.

Maybe let him sleep on your shoulder so he can be sufficiently high for him to sleep. You can prop yourself up in bed with quite a few pillows and have him upright against your shoulder.

Possibly a humidifier might help as well.

I would give him a warm drink for his sore throat, eg luke warm chamomile tea possibly with a little honey.