Baby cold - tell me I'm bring silly

[Stripedmum]

My baby is seven weeks. We've all got a head cold and so has she. It's stressing me to bits as she sounds like she's struggling to breathe as she's so blocked up.

I've had saline drops, kept her upright, raises her mattress, even snuck a bit of Karvol on her sheet (you're not supposed to use it under three months).

I'm taking her to the docs midday but I'm just so stressed.

Sorry for the typos!

Awwww, it's horrible when they're poorly :(

Try a steamy bathroom or a wet towel on a radiator to ease her snuffles. X

Nasal aspirator also helps tons. You use it to suck the snot out of their noses. I swear by mine. Use the saline to loosen the snot first.

Buy a humidifier, I've got the Vicks cool mist one, my dd sounds like that even without a cold, two weeks in there's a massive improvement. Hope she recovers soon, it's awful when they're ill. :(

When DD was a baby and had an awful cold the gp gave me some decongestant drops which made a huge difference. It cleared the snot instantly and she was a lot happier.

Hope she is better soon, it's horrible when they are ill.

I just can't bear them being ill! I can't take it. We've just all recovered from an awful tummy bug.

Thank you for all of your advice. Will give it a try today.

A "cold" can be caused by RSV which can potentially lead to bronchiolitis in small babies, which can need hospital treatment.

If you look at your baby's colour and respiration, it is quite easy to tell snuffly from struggling to breathe. If the colour is good and your baby's breathing is normal (take top off and watch chest) it is probably a cold, if there is any blueness around the lips or you can see sucking in between the ribs (intercostal recession) or around the throat, it could be more serious. You can also count breaths per minute. If below 50, there is probably not much to worry about. If much above that, I would take your baby to A&E and get her checked out.

Brilliant advice larrygrylls. Dd has her first cold (we've all had it) and I was worrying about her too. Seems she's breathing normally though and has good colour.

I swear by my nasal aspirator as FreeButtonBee mentioned, its so satisfying to hear the suckplop of a good dollop of snot getting removed.

Don't be afraid to dose her up on Calpol either. It's fine for short term use and will soothe her poor head and give her a bit of a break from feeling lousy.

Hope you all feel better soon

Thank you. I'm taking get to docs in a bit to check for broncholitis. 35 breaths per min... Arggghhh! It's too hard!

35 is totally normal! I suspect she has a cold. Miserable but not in the least bit serious. Keep them slightly upright and use Karvol at night on bedclothes. Also some swear by saline drops in the nose. I used to do it but it did cause some distress for not much obvious improvement.

Thanks Larry! That's really helpful

Sorry, noticed she is 7wks! Of course calpol isn't suitable! hope she feels better soon.