Newborn cold

[Sophieandtiger]

My 4 week old has a cold. Dc1 was never ill as such a young age (no toddler with nursery germs at the time!) So a bit lost what to do.

Her congestion gets worse through the night and she then also starts choking on thick saliva and I worry she can't breathe.

I got a saline spray and aspirator today but its doing nothing as the congestion is much higher up than her nostrils if that makes sense? Anything else I can do? I feel so bad for her.

Also keep reading about bronchiolitis, when to worry about this? She's asleep on me now and her chest sounds a bit rattly and she's starting to cough more.

How long does it tend to last? I'm EBF, hoping this will help? So tired as she can't sleep horizontally at the moment and DH has to work so here I am on Mumanet trying to stay awake!

Try syringing a few drops of breast milk into each nostril. Also I found a humidifier in the bedroom also helps when my newborn has had a cold. My toddler also kindly gave DS2 a cold when he was just a couple of weeks old!

Snufflebabes oil- put a few drops in a bowl of water in the room. I believe that's safe from newborn.

My newborn had a cold and dry cough close to 2 wk old, 7wks now. I was so scared as you can't give them much. She was trying to vomit but nothing would come out. We saw the Dr and he just said, not to worry, her lungs sounded fine. I just kept her warm and ebf. She got better a week later. I pray your little one recovers soon, I know it can be scary.

How long does it tend to last? I'm EBF, hoping this will help?

Yes, it will. It's quite snazzy- your body will pick up on the pathogen your little one is fighting and your immune system will make antibodies that are specifically tailored to help her fight it, which it will pass on to her through your milk. Keep on feeding. The suckling will also act as a natural pain relief for her.

Can you raise one end of her Moses basket at all as laying completely flat will make her more bunged up xx

Thank you all! I did tilt her crib, it got me a a 2 hour stretch of sleep initially but then it went downhill from there!

@coolhand2 yes I forgot to say she also does the gagging/retching thing, it's quite scary to watch. I guess it's from the mucus? Glad your LO is better, I'll brace myself for another 5 nights of this but hopefully it will be less!

@thirdelephant that's good to know! Nature is very clever! Will check out the snufflebabes oil but i had assumed it was like the calpol plug in which sadly is only from 3 months.

@peanut91 has your DS2 started nursery? Wondering if they then get less sick when they start as they've already had all the germs from their sibling and built their immune system a bit? Looking for a silver lining:D

Not yet...he is only three months. Like you I hope he has a stronger immune system from the bugs his brother is kindly giving him

DD is so much worse tonight... she's been screaming since 9pm pretty much and only slept in 5 or 10 minute bursts, I'm really struggling. She feels a bit hot and screams a lot when she coughs, her throat sounds very sore.

She wont breastfeed really and doesn't want to be put down but doesn't want to be held either so I can't even comfort her I feel like a really shit mum...

As she is only 4 weeks, I would call 111 and ask advice. I had a very similar situation when my DD was 5 weeks. GP sent us to hospital and we were admitted for the night for observation as it had turned into Bronchiolitis.

....and you aren't a shit mum! Its horrible watching them when they are ill.

She's such a young baby. Don't hesitate to get medical advice.

Ah it’s horrendous when they are sick. I haven’t had the experience of such a young baby sick, but my toddler has the vomiting bug tonight and I have her little sister who is only three months and likely to catch it to now. If you think your baby is doing worse, don’t feel embarrassed getting checked out again, things can change and if you think it’s worse not better they are getting it’s no harm to ring out of hours tonight too. Have you tried the hot shower steaming up the bathroom trick? Works so well and totally safe for tiny babies!!!

Also, you probably are but I know wet nappies are the main thing to keep track of when they are little and sick, if they have their wet nappies they are doing well a lot of the time but as soon as that slows it’s a red flag. I know you said she wasn’t feeding well tonight so just wanted to add that In!

Thank you all. I can't wait for the night to be over, its so stressful and pointless when you're not sleeping anyway.

She's having tiny feeds and still has wet nappies but definitely not eating as usual as I've just had to change us both as we got completely drenched in milk that just leaked as it had nowhere else to go!

Just turned the light on to change her and her face is covered in dried green snot. She also has green gunk coming out of her eyes and they are so sticky she could barely open them. I have never felt so sorry for anyone ever!

Will definitely keep an eye out for any sign of bronchiolitis.

My toddler struggled with that cold for over a week so I know it's a bad one :(

I would go to A&E.

They will never mind checking out such a young baby.

Not feeding or wanting to be held need to be checked out.

At that age, if they are struggling to breathe, they can go downhill fast, and may need oxygen and other support.

Thank you, I should have said after my previous post she was fine being held, she's been asleep on me pretty peacefully all night and waking at her usual feeding times but only having a few sips.

I will watch her like a hawk today and get advice if we don't start getting better. The last two days the nights have definitely been the worst but once kept more upright in the daytime she's been pretty fine. Fingers crossed that will be the case today.

My DD had a cold at a similar age, we called 111 and got an appointment with out of hours who then put us on the children's ward. They monitored my DD and because she couldn't feed properly from how blocked her nose was they gave her a saline nebuliser to de-congest her nose, this did the trick and once they'd seen her feed again we were sent home. She still had the cold but her nose never blocked up as much as it had before the nebuliser.

I'd definitely get her checked but also try breast milk in her eyes

Thank you all. After another bad night and with her cough getting worse I rang 111 at 5am and spent most of the day in hospital. She has bronchiolitis but her observations were good, they were actually so impressed at how well she was doing considering how bunged up she is and how bad her cough sounds.

Very similar to you @muffin21, they cleared her nose as best as they could (they really struggled and couldn't believe how much mucus was in there and how thick it was) and once she had fed we went home. I think it's really helped as she's fed a lot more this evening and generally seems to be struggling less.

The doctor told us to really watch out for her getting worse in the next couple of days though and I am really nervous. My poor girl :(

@Willthewashingeverend was your DC fine after the night of observation for bronchiolitis? My DD is a similar age and even though the doctor was happy with her she kept saying "not to alarm you, but at this age..." and it sounded like she thought we may have to go back in tomorrow :(

[quote Sophieandtiger]@Willthewashingeverend was your DC fine after the night of observation for bronchiolitis? My DD is a similar age and even though the doctor was happy with her she kept saying "not to alarm you, but at this age..." and it sounded like she thought we may have to go back in tomorrow :([/quote]
She was totally fine. I think the night in hospital helped her as the air was much drier. She didn't need any treatment, just some suctioning. They said the admission was mainly just due to her age and then being over cautious. I hope your little one is doing a bit better now.