Baby with a cold - steam advice!

[NoTeaForMe]

Hi all,

My 5 month old is VERY snuffly at the moment - she's really teething and I'm not sure if this cold is a side affect of this? Anyway, I have wondered about sitting in a steamy bathroom tomorrow to try and loosen things up a bit, do I literally sit in there with a hot shower running to create some steam? How do I ensure she doesn't get too hot, Im guessing I keep leaving the room? My mother in law also gave us a vics steamer thing, worth a shot I guess?!

Thanks

I don't think letting her sit in a hot steamy room will be much fun for either of you and will probably just make her over heated and irritable. I used a saline spray to clear my DD's nose, vic vapour rub on her chest and the Karvol plug in thing overnight which releases vapours to help clear her nose and sleep more easily. Plus Calpol if in pain from teething or if temperature is up from having a cold. Hope this helps.

not sure about vics at 5 months. Karvol is the baby equivalent - you can get it in various forms, eg capsules that you use to put a bit on muslin and drape over the cot, or a plug in one that wafts it around. Try propping up the head end of the cot (or put a pillow under the sheet) to help gravity clear her nose and get one of the de-snotter things (sorry, don't know the proper name) that lets you suction the snot out of her nose. The steamy shower roo should be fine, just check the back of her neck with your hand for temp!

Snuffle babe from the pharmacy will be safe at that age, it's like vicks but a baby formula. Baby olbas also good. I found the karvol plug-ins bloody useless, but each to their own.

Steam does help - sit her in the bathroom in a bouncy chair while you have a shower. She won't get too hot in 10 mins :)

Nasal aspirators are great, but get the small sized one (ask pharmacist for advice). Shove the cot legs on a couple of books to raise about 4".

If heating is on put a wet muslin over the radiators to humidify the air, at night make sure that a window is cracked open just to get some fresh air in.

hth

Also put something under the head of her mattress to raise it slightly. That way her head is higher than her chest, which helps with breathing.

we put a pillow under dd's cot mattress to raise her head which helped.

I also put a wet towel over the raditor. I wet the towel in water i had dissolved a spoonful of vicks into. THe vicks seemed to help clear her nose and the humidity seemed to improve her cough.

we tried the steaming thing but it never seemed to make much of a difference. maybe our bathroom is just too ventilated though.

SugarPlum - the wet vicks towel is a great idea, why didn't I think of that :)

i've tried everything but the bibi nose pump is amazing for snot removal. they can suddenly breathe easily. there is a technique but it's quite easy when you know how.