Baby fussy from cold/cough

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Obiwan

Registered User
We just got back from Canada, and all 3 of us are down with cold. For me and my hubby, it's ok, but our little angel baby is no longer contented.

She threw up 3x at the airport lounge, and had a projectile vomit on the plane. As soon as we got back, we took her to the doctor who basically gave us a saline spray. We have been using that, together with a pump to clear her running nose. It has been 4 days since, and I think her running nose is getting slightly better, though it is still stuffed up at times. But her cough is getting worse.

As you can imagine she is no longer sleeping through the night, but what's worse is that she is constantly fussy and crying. She doesn't sleep well, doesn't eat well and always wants to be held. As soon as we put her down, she will cry. Even when we hold her, she still cries at times. She was never like that. I don't know what to do. Is this normal? Do we just let her be and in a couple of days, she will get better?

Would appreciate any advice. Thanks. She is 4months old btw.
 
i would give it a few days. spend those days comforting her as much as possible. forget everything else or you will drive yourself mad!

if she is still coughing a lot in a few days, say by saturday, then take her again.

you know how awful you feel when you're sick. your baby feels the same. at least you are able to tell yourself that you'll be better in a week, your baby doesn't know that she'll get better, too. she can't figure out what's wrong with her.

another thing to try is check the humidity level in your home. a vaporiser with a little mentholatum may help a little bit.

good luck! it is completely terrible seeing your little one suffer and know that there is not much else you can do to make her feel better.
 
Did your little one not get any cough medicine or medicine for her runny nose? I would think that if she has a really bad stuffy nose and cough that makes her feel so uncomfortable she should take some medicine. Saline spray may not be enough.....

My little one had a runny nose for two weeks. I just let him be for one week but he didn't get better and I took him to the doctor. The ped gave us a nose spray and some other medicine for his runny nose. I ended up just giving him the nose spray and not the other medicine and he got better after three days! I was reluctant to give medicine but I thought that it would be better to give him some since he had a runny nose for so long.

Also, are you BFing? My ped told me that BFing would help with a cold as I would pass my baby my antibodies.
 
The doctor basically gave us a saline spray and a nasal drop. The nasal drop is to be used once a day only, when we think that the stuffy nose is affecting her sleep and not to be used past 3 days. No other medication was given.

No, she is on formula now.
 
I guess a doctor would know best about what can and can not be given at 4 months. My son is 9 months so a bit older. But he was already given fever "medication" for after his vaccinations just in case he had fever afterwards when he was 2 months old so maybe some "medication" is ok. Again, a doctor would know best.

Hang in there Obiwan! She will get better soon! Best wishes to your little on for a speedy recovery!
 
I certainly hope so FutureHKmom!!

I hope my little bub will get better soon and go back to being the angel baby who sleeps through the night at 7 weeks.
 
wow, she is really an angel, mine didn't sleep through the night until she was 6 months old.

anyway, I think 4 months old is fine to have medication (my nephew was prescribed meds for reflux when he was a week old in the US for god's sake, and which baby has no reflux?!), but should make it a last resort. Now it's very hard on her, she is not feeling well and she cannot sleep well, if I were in the same situation I would be super grumpy too. I think if things are not getting any better, you should take your baby to a paed again, s/he should give her some antihistamine to help with the running nose and also help her sleep, rest is very important when one is sick. I am sure if she can have better sleep, you and her will both feel better.

btw, it's very normal for a baby to be very clingy and not eating well when she is sick, mine does the same. Just hold her as much as she wants because she is not feeling well, try to distract her with some music and toys, feed her milk whenever she wants to eat, I would leave the routine feeding schedule aside for now if I were you, she is too small and she needs as much nutrients as possible to fight the disease. Hang in there, things will get better. Good luck!!
 
I have met too many drug-pushing doctors, so unless my child were seriously ill, I would take what they say with caution, especially at the young age of 4 months, really, barely out of the womb.
The poor thing, sounds like she is having a miserable time, and hard for you too, Obiwan!
When my baby got a stomach flu, he was really pitiful - we couldn`t put him down at all. I think you should just give all her the hugs and loving she needs while she is sick. It will take some time for things to get back to normal afterwards, but luckily, since she is so young she can adjust more quickly than the older baby.
Definitely run a humidifier in her room while she`s sleeping. If you can put some Vicks (mentholatum) in there, great. I wonder if you can rub it on her chest, I can`t remember if that`s ok for the young baby or not (might not be), but if it is, it will loosen things up in her chest.
Just stick with what you`re doing and follow her cues, as she knows best what she needs, as far as milk and cuddles go.
And just think, she`s one step closer to a strong immune system (thanks Canada!)~
 
It's not recommended to rub vicks on the skin of a child that young - I can't remember the age, but it's more like 2, or 5 or something... it says on the jar. Also, whenever you DO use vicks for the first time, try a tiinnnyyy amount and watch for an hr or two if there is a reaction. My cousin has a pretty nasty reaction to it! It's not really that great for your skin in the first place - not like moisturisers etc...

I think that if I were you though, I'd be giving her some panadol - it's safe from 1 month old and will help with her pain/discomfort. It's not going to make her better faster, but it will probably help her to feel a bit better... That and lots of cuddles...
 
Thank you everyone for your advice and empathy. In comparison, we elicited many evil glances our way on the flight back from Vancouver. I don't blame them to be honest. In addition she threw up all over me (projectile vomit) and I had no change of clothes!! Hmm ... note to self: always bring an extra t-shirt!

We caught the cold from our little nieces who were sick. I was thinking if it was wise of us to knowingly expose her to this (Try telling 1.5 and 3 year-olds not to kiss and slobber all over the little baby :)) And it's Xmas .. you can't say no to family time can you?
 
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