We think our 4 month old has a cold?

[funstuie]

I was ill early this week with a pretty hefty cold. I tried to avoid contact with my 4 month old son as much as I could.

Unfortunately my wife is now smothered with the cold and my son is a bit snuffly and has been coughing a little. Yesterday he had a mild fever but this has passed and although he feel hot his temperature is normal.

Today he seems OK but he is not taking much milk from my wife and he is coughing a little. He got another set of jabs on Tuesday afternoon so this has thrown an spanner in the works as these could be causing the fever.

My wife bf him throughout the day and he gets one bottle of formula before bed in the evening. Should my wife stop feeding while she has a cold (she has not taken any medication), if he has a cold should we still be giving the formula?

Also is it OK to give him calpol?

Sorry for all the questions.

Cheers
Stu

PS. My wife would normally post this but we don't have an internet connection at home at the moment.

Your wife should keep feeding your son as usual - in fact her anti-bodies will be the best thing for your son right now. If he has got a cold it's nothing to worry about at all.

Yes you can give calpol from 3 months - follow the instructions on the bottle. Also you can use karvol to help him breathe more easily. If he's very snuffly try taking him in to the bathroom whilst a hot shower is running - the steam should help. If he gets very very blocked up you can get saline drops from the chemist which you drop in their nose to help them breathe - can be useful before feeding if that's posing problems. You can also raise the head end of the cot to help him clear his tubes at night.

Hope you all feel better soon

Just to add, you can buy Medised over the counter from the Pharmacy, which is specifically formulated for colds in babies. At 4 months he will be able to take it, and it contains a mild sedative to help him sleep in the evening when he is stuffed up. It does help.

yes absolutely keep breast feeding, may need a little extra fluids, try cool boiled water from cup/beaker so as not to confuse him
keep him cool, calpol is fine
if he gets really blocked you can also get a nasal aspirator from boots in the baby section, sounds gross, but little bulb like thing you squeeze, put just into nostril and release bulb.... its sucks out some of the gunk.... so clears the nose and allows them to breath easier..... I know you're probably going ....URRRgh, but it does work.

saline drops (you can get these over the counter quite cheapish) really help clear babies noses and negate the need for too much dosing with medicine although they wont help with other symptons.