Newborn with a cold!

[wtbmummy]

Just a feeling sorry for my baby post really.

My baby girl is but 19days old and has had a cold since saturday.

I just feel awful for her. She is combination fed but has pretty much been refusing the breast as she just cant breathe properly. So expressing n formula has been fine. But i cant help but think if she was ebf she wouldnt have a cold to begin with

She can only sleep 5mins at a time before waking to cough or sneeze or try n breathe properly.

To say i am exhausted right now is an understatement. I am running on fumes. I just keep randomly crying as I just hate her being ill. We co-sleep so at least I can comfort her between wakings but as an adult its not quite so easy to get back to sleep as her.

Then trying to do housework, make dinner n entertain my 3yo isnt going great. Ds was at school all day which is good as im feeling less guilty that we walked in the door n i put cartoons on

Dd has droped off to sleep on me again but i know its a matter of time before she wakes up coughing or trying to sort her lil nose out again.

I spent all day in bed with dd yet thanks to some random builders digging up the road outside i got no rest at all. Its now nearly 4pm n all i have done today is wash dd's bottles n put a load of laundry on.

I only expressed once!!!

Just wish i could help my poor baby girl. Its torcher her not feeling well and not even being able to help

 

[misspriss]

Do you have a way to get the snot out? Like a Nosefrieda or a Naspira? I have a Naspira and an older model I don't remember the name of. I was always able to use saline nasal drops and then the sucker and clear them out enough to nurse and sleep for a bit. Nosefrieda and Naspira are both at my local Target, Nosefrieda I think you can get at baby stores as well. Be sure to get the infant saline drops as the regular one is too big for their noses.

 

[xdxxtx]

If you're expressing, then it's a good idea to get that baby on your breast anyway, if at all possible. When your baby is sick and feeds directly from the breast, your body gets a signal from your baby to produce antibodies to help them fight their cold. If this isn't an option, that's okay! Don't panic! NoseFrida, as mentioned above, is amazing! Your baby still has your antibodies for about the first six months of their lives, so she's still super strong and will get through it just fine. Just do your best to keep her as comfortable as possible. When my babies are sick, I like to close myself in my room with them, close the blinds and curtains and make it nice and dark, turn a vaporizer on HIGH, and just give my baby skin-to-skin and nurse (or otherwise feed) as much as they want. It keeps baby well rested, well hydrated, helps thin the mucus and helps them breathe. We will stay this way for an entire day, and yes, I will enjoy some trash TV while we snuggle. The next day, my baby will be a LOT better. I highly recommend this if at all possible. I also have other children, so I'll have to do this on OH's day off so I don't have to worry about them at all. OH will also bring my meals to me, and I have a mini fridge in my room filled with water and a stash of snacks - ahem - because breastfeeding makes ya hungry.

I hope your LO heals up very quickly!

 

[AnneD]

But i cant help but think if she was ebf she wouldnt have a cold to begin with

Can I make you feel a bit betteer by telling you that mine was ebf from the word go and had a cold when she was 2 days old? (From my OH, who 'chose' to come down with a bad cold while I was giving birth. Men!)

Saline and a snot sucker might help a bit, also taking her into the bathroom while you have a bath or a shower. Other than that it's just keeping an eye and waiting it out. Some people say squirt breastmilk into the nose, I don't know if it helps or not. lots of cuddling and rest for both of you.

 

[lau86]

I just came on to say I exclusively breast fed my ds2 and he had a terrible cold when he was only a couple of weeks old (older siblings hey!) so unfortunately they can catch colds at any time.
I tried to keep going as usual, especially when I had my third, but all that ended up happening was I burnt myself out and then was getting snappy with the kids. Put the cartoons on, cuddle your kids and don't feel guilty!!

 

[loeylo]

Don't feel bad that combo feeding caused the cold. It didn't. My daughter was bottle fed and didn't have so much as a sniffle until 9 months, and has only had 1 proper cold at 19 months. There isn't much you can do to stop it or prevent colds except the usual good hygiene, but even with the best hygiene in the world it is inevitable that they will catch a cold at some point. I do think that perhaps breastfed babies are able to recover faster from a cold, but that relies on the mother having the antibodies for that particular strain of cold. My daughter was so healthy as I had a cold for pretty much my entire pregnancy, so I obviously passed loads of antibodies to her! Nothing to do with how I fed her or anything which I did (aside working in schools with snotty beaked children, haha)

Do what you need to do to survive. I have a plugin vapouriser from boots which is safe from newborn, it's basically like Vicks and it makes breathing so much easier. Or just put a bowl of warm water with some vapour rub in it inside the room. I'm not sure if snufflebabe is suitable for a baby so young, but when my daughter had a cold at just turned 1 we used Vicks on her feet with socks on. It helped a tonne.
I put coconut oil on her face and nose as it got quite sore from all the snot/tears/rubbing.