Toddler passing on cold to newborn!

[Courtney10891]

Hi guys,

Looking for some advice really. I gave birth to my second son 3 weeks ago. My first son is 2. The problem is my toddler constantly has a cold! Like constantly! He stayed nursery is September and I think he has either had a cold or cough pretty much since then. He is fruit and veg and takes a daily vitamin but still has a cold. He has now passed on a cold to my 3 week old which is really worrying and I find it very scary. He is very stuffy and struggling to feed. I use saline drops and snuffle babe. Has anybody got any advice? Ways I can prevent newborn keep getting cold? He is breastfed. Also anything you recommend to build up my toddlers immune system? Anybody else been through this! Guess I need some reassurance that newborn will be fine xx

There is nothing you can do except teach your toddler good hygiene (yes that won't be successful I know!). Your baby will be perfectly fine

There's nothing you can do but it is crap. My 3 year old gave my newborn full blown flu and although she wasn't well she actually was probably the least ill out of all of us. Don't worry just keep an eye on him as you would anyways but it's normal especially with siblings I'm afraid.

Sadly part of the parenting journey. Especially with children at nursery. It’s the winter season of coughs and colds.

You need to be stricter about hygiene which means washing hands (and an antibacterial hand gel) before he touches his sibling. If you make it into a fun routine he will end up loving it. You should also not let him kiss the baby when he’s unwell, explaining why really clearly each time.

My second child was December born and spent from 10 days old to about 10 weeks old with a perma-cold thanks to her older sister.

It was frustrating but she was absolutely fine. And, incidentally, has a super strong immune system now.

Snufflebabe isn’t recommend for babies under 3 months.
If the saline isn’t working you could try sterimar baby nasal spray instead.

Thanks for all your replies! I know I’m probably totally over reacting but it’s so scary seeing him struggle to breathe through his nose. My toddler does wash his hands a lot just hasn’t got the hang of Covering his mouth when he’s coughing lol. X