My 5 month old caught my husbands cold. Typical stuffy nose and a little flemmy cough. Do you other moms call your pedi. for this sort of thing? It's seems like it just has to run it's course but it's his first cold?
I would call the Pedi - it also could be RSV - since that is going around. I thought my 8 month old just had a cold - it turned out to be RSV and bronchialitis. Then that developed into an ear infection. I hope your Little One feels better soon.
Better to err on the side of safety--at least they can check his lungs, etc. In the meantime, saline spray will help his stuffiness and you can prop the head of his crib up with phonebooks to help him breathe better at night. A cool mist humidifier will help too. Hope he's better soon!
I would probably call the ped if he develops a fever and/or if the cough gets worse. There is also a risk of an ear infection with a cold. There is not much you can do for them at this age other than take him into a steamed bathroom for 10 min, use saline drops in the nose, and give baby tylenol. If tylonol is needed to reduce a fever, you will need to know the dose which is based on weight at this age.
So, watch him for the next day and if he doesn't get worse (fever, cough, can't sleep or seems out of sorts), you can skip the ped. Otherwise, it would not hurt to get the ped to listen to his lungs and check his ears.
The first cold is the hardest, but unfortunately they get them often, especially if in daycare (my 10-month old son gets them almost every month, he is in daycare).
Hi. For a cold with congestion I place a couple drops of eucalyptus oil on my daughter's pillow. I also give her more fluids than usual if I can to help flush the cold out of her system. The saline drops will work too but I think the same things we do for ourselves work for the babies as well...plenty sleep, plenty fluids and maybe some chicken soup broth if he's eating food now. I would take him to the doc if he develops a fever or if his congestion lasts too long. Hope he feels better soon!
For my babies, unless they were running a fever or had "funny" noises in the cough, I didn't take them in. The pediatricians office has sooo many germs. If your baby's immune system is already compromised, I wouldn't want him to catch anything else on top of it. If it's just a runny nose and stuffiness, it's a cold, and they can't do anything about it anyway. Yes, saline is good for the nose, especially if you have to suction him(one of the most unpleasant tasks...) I put a vaporizer in baby's room, too. Also, I swear this works - rub Vix VapoRub on the feet and put a sock on. I put it between the toes and everything! It could very well be my own peace of mind, but it seems to help with the congestion.
However, if your baby gets any kind of increased temperature, or starts coughing, wheezing (obviously) or you just get nervous or a sense that something more is wrong, absolutely call the doctor!
Good luck!
Even though our kids are 2 and almost 4, we still call the pediatrician when something's going on that doesn't seem completely normal and let them be the guide of when our kids need to be seen or not.
Our daughter had all the typical signs of an ear infection yesterday (she's had 10 in 2 years + tubes), but it ended-up being nothing related.
Especially with your first child, they understand the protective nature of new moms. They'll let you know if you need to be concerned and what to look for.
As for pediatrician's offices being really germy - yes, they are. But, you have to be exposed to germs to build the antibodies to fight them. Most have masks, hand sanitizer, etc. to help prevent the spread of germs as much as possible.
Hope your LO gets to feeling better soon.
