6 months old, first cold, crying really sadly - any tips?

[macneil]

I just can't settle her tonight, she's gulping and snuffling. She's never been ill before. I've given her her first Calpol. Is that about all i can do?

Thanks, I'll ask the chemist tomorrow.

rub Vicks on the soles of her feet, lots of it and put socks on top if she's not too hot. It will help her to breathe more easily.
Hope she's better soon.

aww poor little thing. I think colds should be illegal for the under-fives!

We have a plug-in Karvol vaporiser which I leave on in the bedroom for an hour before bedtime if my DS is stuffy. It comes in a box with 3 refills.

If you can raise the head end of the cot a little bit, it might help her to breathe a little more easily

Medised is really good, it helps little ones to breath more easily but I'm not sure what age it is suitable for, I'm sure your local chemist could tell you .

Ahh, thanks everyone. I'm elevating her head just a little, as walking her around made her a tiny bit less snuffly (until a sneeze filled her nose again). She's just not used to this - she keeps smiling at me and then wailing in this horrible way, and her nose is really wet runny underneath. Okay, going to walk her round again. Oh, little babies! This has just made me realise how angry her normal cry is, the ill cry is totally different, it's really sad.

Sorry, realise this is rather a lot of a fuss about a not very ill (touch wood) child.

You can also get Snufflebabe (yes, really) which is like Vicks vapour rub, you can rub it on her little chest. Helps breathing. Also run a hot shower, close all doors and windows, steam it right up then hold your dd in there for a few mins so she breathes in the steam. Clears her chest.

You don't mean with your mouth do you drunken
I have a thing with a tube and a bit that goes up the baby's nose, well not up it but you hold it to their nostril and suck the snot out with the other end in your mouth, works a treat...

Okay, am gently freaked out now

I have always done snot-sucking for my babies

nowt wrong with it

just don't do it when you've got visitors

err yuk, but then i can't even eat my kids left-overs im so sqeamish, get the tubey thing, it's great.

My 7 month old has a streamer atm, plus has a narrow airway so colds always a bit hairy IYSWIM. Humidifier in bedroom, Karvol when it starts to thicken (not much use at streamy stage), Medised at night when streaming (3mls in milk, just dries it up a bit and has paracetamol in too), raised end of cot (I put a pillow under the top end of mattress), and as my LO is now mostly on formula/solids, I give her water from time to time.

Oh, and we have a snot-sucker thingy - not a tube, a white bulb shaped thing with a nostril-friendly soft plastic bit on the end, which dd doesn't mind too much. Never worked on dd1 (dh did the trad honours there, once!), but excellent for dd2, strangely

Hope your LO is better soon!

I haven't heard of like ANY of these things! Am making a list. I elevated the bed with books, the pillow idea is genius. And I also gave warm water a few times in the night. She's lying there now snurfling away, with occasional scary green snot sneezes. She seems much happier now it's day time, though.