If you read my
TOP TIPS FOR TEETHING post last week, you will know that January hasn’t been the healthiest of months in our household. Due to the fact that Teddy has spent the majority of it poorly! He’s had a sickness bug, a cold and a viral chest infection, which has resulted in a very unhappy baby & an exhausted mummy. It’s so horrible seeing your tiny baby poorly and aside from lots of TLC and medicines where you can, knowing there isn’t a lot you can do to help. Luckily as soon as his bug hit we had a stash of remedies and medicine ready to get going and all we can do it keep him fully dosed up and make him as comfortable as possible. Babies definitely deal with colds slightly different than adults, it seems that nothing you can do will soothe them at all. Especially at night time. Hearing him struggle to breathe through his nose is absolutely awful. I thought I would share my top tips when your baby has a cold!
TOP TIPS WHEN YOUR BABY HAS A COLD:
STOCK UP..
Don’t wait until the cold has hit before you start panic buying! Buy it in preparation, then you have it all ready and at hand when the dreaded day arrives. Our go to products are Calpol, Ibuprofen, Snufflebabe Vapour Rub & the Calpol Plug In. We alternate between the medicines, and slather snufflebabe on his chest, throat and on his feet after his bath, before bedtime. The Calpol plug in is a new addition to the stash and smells amazing, it releases vapours into the air to help with their breathing. It also has a built in night light which makes it easier to manoeuvre around the bedroom without disturbing Teddy.
HYDRATION..
When Teddy’s cold first hit he was really fussing on the boob and wasn’t interested in milk at all, which really worried me at first and I became obsessed with whether or not he was dehydrated, turns out it is completely normal for them to feed slightly less. The key is to just keep offering milk whether it’s boob or a bottle. Teddy would feed for a little, then come off to breathe, then go back on again. So it can take a while for them to feed but it’s so important that they stay hydrated!
CLEAR THEIR AIRWAYS..
We use the Sterimar Baby Nasal Hygiene Spray to help clear his nose when it’s snotty or blocked. You just spray gently up each nostril and it helps to clear and soften the mucus, we then team this with the NUK Nasal Decongester to suck all the snot (yummy!) out. Some people find it disgusting but for me, there is something really satisfying about seeing all the snot shoot out into the decongester.
THERMOMETER..
You don’t have to spend a small fortune on a thermometer, as long as it’s easy to understand and use then that’s the main thing. We have the Braun Percision Digital Stick thermometer and it’s always worked brilliantly for us. You just place it under their arm pit, which I find easier to use than one you have to put in their ear, and it reads their temperature and lights up colour coded to correlate with the temperature you’ve been given.
LOTS OF CUDDLES..
Whenever Teddy is ill, I just want to make him feel as comfortable as possible. He gets really clingy and unsettled when he is poorly so spends the majority of his time on either mine or his dads knees, having lots of cuddles and naps. We put him in a snuggly soft baby grow, put on CBeebies and don’t leave the comfort of our home. There is nothing worse than your baby being unwell so anything that can help is essential!
MAMA’S TOP TIPS
“Calpol plug-in all the way, along with a muslin cloth covered in Snufflebabe”-
MUMMY & LISS“Lots of snuggles in bed or on the sofa, chill out time to rest. At night I swear by Snuffle babe on their feet with socks on top. Sounds weird but really helps!”-
DILAN & ME“Plenty of cuddles, frozen yoghurt for sore throats and Snuffle babe.”-
MUM’S THE NERD“
Try to get them to drink as much as possible and eat whatever they can. Also a bit of fresh air can help them get better sooner, too much heating and staying in stuffy environments is no good when they have a cold. However make sure to wrap up warm if you go outside, you don’t want to make it worse! I’m also religious with my calpol dosages when she’s out of sorts.”- LITTLE SNIPPETS
“Lots of pillows to elevate kid’s head, nasal spray, and tons of vicks baby rub! We try to rest kid’s eye from watching too much tv or smartphone videos on the internet so storytelling helps. We partner it with cuddles too.”- MY PARENTING JOURNEY
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When little one has a cold, we give her extra fruit and and veggies to try and help her to fight it off. We use snufflebabe at night, as well as Calpol and she has a humidifier in her nursery. Of course, lots of tissues are a must, as are cuddles! We also have a snot sucker to help clear her nose before she gets to sleep. It sounds gross but it’s honestly not that bad – and it’s worth it for less disturbed sleep!”- AUTUMN’S MUMMY BLOG
“We’ve just bought a small diffuser so we can pop some children’s Olbus in to help get things moving, and help him sleep. Great investment as they have multiple uses for all the family.”- SINEAD LATHAM
Those are my top tips for when your baby has a cold (with a little help from other bloggers!) i’d love to know yours!
P I N T H I S:
I really think this is such a great blog post and is going to help out so many parents. Thank you for sharing 🌸💜✨
With love, Alisha Valerie. x
http://www.alishavalerie.com | http://www.twitter.com/alishavalerie
I really appreciate this post. My baby girl has a cold for about a week now and I didn’t know what to do but I’m going to give some of these suggestions a try.
Maya x
http://allthingspinkuk.com
That vapour run looks fab!! Need to find that. We also love the calpol plug in and it does smell great. We also use a couple of drops of baby albums oil at night to help breathing.
Snuffle babe is a god send I smoother it on my daughter’s feet x
Great tips! We love snuffle babe and the calpol vapour plug in!x
Fab tips. We’ve used a lot of these products. It was hard for us when my kids were breastfeeding as they got so frustrated with the cold and trying to feed.
Some really great tips . We are going through a cold batch at the minute and I swear by snuffle babe x
Great post lovely! I definitely found it trickier breastfeeding Arthur when he had a cold but it’s worth persevering with as it definitely helps get them better. Now we don’t B/F anymore, I tend to go down the warm juice, plenty of cuddles and Calpol (if necessary) route. xx