Babys first cold :(

scifimom

Baby S came down with her first cold! Background: She had been doing 2-almost 4 hour stretches of sleep at night, waking to nurse in between. Then for two nights she did one 5 hour stretch each night (maybe woke briefly during one of them). I thought this was a little long to sleep for a BF baby, but she was coming up on a month old and didn't worry about it. Then the next night, she was waking a whole bunch being fussy and not wanting to nurse every time. As soon as she was asleep she would wake back up. The following night, she was extra sleepy in the evening, then I think I had to wake her to nurse, either way, she slept over 5 hours and when she awoke, she had the sniffles! The next day (Monday) was my first day back doing a little bit of work (my sitter is a dear friend with a baby and watched Baby S in my home so she was perfectly snuggly!) and when I returned the sitter said Baby S had been coughing kinda loud. She helped me decide to take baby to urgent care even though my pedi network said her symptoms didn't warrant it and gave me some tips to keep her well. The pedi confirmed she has an upper respiratory infection and gave me tips to make her comfy and keep her breathing clear. Humidifier, suction nose, saline drops in nose then suction, laying inclined, and put in steamy bathroom on occasion. I'm glad I went to urgent care because they did an official temp and weighing and the pedi gave me more clear instructions on using the drops and other things.

Just thought the details might help another ftm.

What do you gals think about giving the baby just a tiny bit of water in a bottle? Like 1/2-1 teaspoon a couple/few times a day? I know all the official sources seem to say that BFing is enough, but wanted to hear other thoughts. I know that a significatnt quantity is dangerous, I'm not sure if a small amount is dangerous or even helpful at all. It would be very pure water, not tap.

Any other tips???

Side note: Moms, listen to your intuition! I felt very uncomfortable about people coming up to the baby in public, people come so close! Of course touching is out unless I know you and want you to touch her and you use hand sani. I also felt uncomfortable about going out much at all and so now I'm going to scale it back even more. I know she will need to be exposed eventually, but there is absolutely no reason for her to be sick like this so soon! Poor baby. I'm very glad it's a cold and not the flu-type symptoms! She is taking this well, though!

K&H

I wouldn't do water. If you have the milk, feed her the milk. It has your antibodies and prebiotics in it to help her fight the germs. There is NOTHING like that in water. Don't fill her tummy with something empty when you could be giving her the "medicine" that your milk is full of.
Also, to clear her nose, a little squirt of breast milk up her nose will help. It really is full of amazing things!!! Use the breast milk in the place you would be using the saline to clear her nose.
I'm sorry she's sick. E got her first little sniffles at about eight weeks old and I just remember her tiny little face feeling so miserable.

palegreen

I second everything that K&H just said. No water, only BM. BM up the nose and suction (the nose frieda or electric nasal suction devices are awesome, by the way).

I hope she gets to feeling better soon!

Jen727BF

No advice, but just wanted to tell you I am sorry that your baby has a cold so young. We have discussed not taking our baby out much the first two months for this reason, too. Although, we also discussed she has to be exposed at some point.

old mama

One thing to ease her congestion is to sit in the bathroom with her with the door closed while you run a hot shower...the steam will help unblock those tiny passages...another thing that sounds mean but helps too to ease congestion is to bundle baby up and stand outside in the cold night air...you don't know how many times I have done that with my kids with asthma and it helps.

Katydid

I was just going to add that I was taught not to suction too much because the irritation causes the nasal passages to swell which won't allow the secretions to drain freely. My baby ended up with RSV 3 weeks ago and my pedi told me to use saline with every diaper change and do a good suction twice a day and as needed while nursing if she couldn't breathe. I'll have to try the breast milk next time. Don't beat yourself up...this is just the beginning:-). I hope she feels better soon.

scifimom

Thanks ladies. We are in the hospital because it is rsv. glad she is being watched and suctioned good periodically. Been here one day. Hopefully we see good improvement soon. May be able to leave tomorrow. I'm so glad we are in this awesome children's hospital!

scifimom

Well, we are home from 2 nights in the hospital. Bronciolitis from RSV is ugly stuff. She is breathing much more freely now. After the night she didnt want to wake to nurse with labored breathing, I will forever be a bit more patient when she is up all night long!

FYI nosefrieda: love it lots!!! It is taking the stress off because I can suction so well compared to the bulb!