Sore Throat - Albuquerque,NM

Hi T.!

Chamomile or hot water w/ honey & lemon work well to soothe the throat. I'm a strong believer in Echinacea; but you have to catch the sickness in the beginning. You certainly could try some in pill or tea form.

Not a lot you can do now but soothe the symptoms. Best to think of "prevention" for the future. Removing harmful toxins from the home and diet are the best course of action to ensuring you or your children don't get sick. :)

Warm Regards,
G. Van Luven

I have two thoughts for you. The first that comes to mind is allergies. The pollen is really heavy right now. The orange-blossom smell in my neighborhodd is unbelievable! Both you and your daughter have symptoms that could be caused by pollen allergies.

The second thought, for you, is acid reflux, believe it or not. You don't mention a stuffy nose, but just a sore throat and losing your voice. Acid can be coming up into your vocal chords. You don't have to feel like you have burning acid in your stomach for this to happen. I know, because it happend to me!

I just got over what you are now getting. The doctor did prescribe Benadrl. Invest in a humidifier, Mucinex, and a nose plunger for the baby of course. I slept almost sitting up which help drain the mucus to my nose. I consently blew my nose and kept a sanitizer by me. When taking a shower bring the baby in and have the baby in her carseat because the steam helps with the conjestion. Drink lots of water or pedalite. Keep baby in warm cloth but not sweat clothes. I hope these tips help and hope you both get well. Good Luck!

To clear up your sore throat you can try gargling warm apple cider vinegar. Mix 1 Tbs of vinegar w/ 3 Tbs of warm water. Do this 3-4 times a day. It helps clear up sore throats really fast. Unfortunately it won't help your baby. When you do the saline drops for your baby try sitting her upright so the saline sprays in a fine mist instead of in drops.

Ok, I have to admit, this is going to sound strange, but a LOT of moms I know SWEAR by this. Take Vics vapor rub, and smear a good amount on the bottom of your feet. Dont rub it in, but cover the whole bottom of each foot. Cover with socks, and you should be cough free all night. I have not been sick since I heard this remedy so have not tried it myself, but many moms that were sick wrote in and posted it really did work. It is safe for the baby too...

Hope you feel better soon!

T.,
You are okay to take Ibuprofen while breastfeeding for the pain. This should help you in getting a little more sleep. Call your Dr for an appointment, just in case you might be getting strep. Antibiotics will be your treatment for that. Your baby is too young to get strep (it seems to be going around right now), but you should get checked out because you don't want that spreading to your husband as well.

For your baby...here's a few ideas to help w/ stuffiness. A cool air humidifier in her room; steam up the bathroom and sit in there for about 20 minutes, then use the bulb suringe to clean out her nose; vapor rub on her feet and cover w/ socks before she goes to bed. You can also give her tylenol if she seems to be in pain from coughing alot; she is probably gaging on the sinus drainage. However, she should not take any ibuprofen until she is at least 6 months, as her liver is not developed enough to handle it.

Hope you all feel better soon!

I think the best thing to do is call you OB/GYN and your peditrcian. That way you can make sure that anything you take/do is safe for both of you. I hope you both feel better soon.

Try rubbing Vicks vapor rub on your feet then put socks on you can do the same for her

honey is such a great and natural thing to take when your throat hurts.
pump up the vitamin c.
there's also some great teas in your health food store that are medicinal for kids which you can add the honey to. there's a sore throat one (i think there's a giraffe on it) a cold one (a polar bear) they work really well for my kids.

Hi T.,

I have two daughters, one 4 years and the other 11 months. For my younger one they prescribed C-Phen for her congestion and it really worked. I would call your pediatrician back and tell her the saline is not working. Keep on them until they give you something that works. I'm sure saline is not the only thing she can have! As for you your doctor might be able to prescribe a heavy cough syrup for the night time. I had a bad cough and my doctor gave me C-Phen for adults and it kicked the cough in one day. He said to take it at night only because with th breastfeeding it might make her sleepy in the day time, which I haven't decided if that is neccessarily a bad thing. Hope you feel better soon, and defintely give the pediatrician a call back.

K.

When i had that icky sickness, the only thing that worked was cough drops. I went through two large bags before I worked through the illness. Feel better soon!

Go to www.kellymom.com. It will tell you what is safe for you to take. For your daughter, I wouldn't give any cough medicines or anything. I would try going to sprouts, as they have homeopathic remidies for children/babies. I also got pepermint oil, mixed it with olive oil, and rubbed it on my son's feet and chest.

T., Zinc is the absolute best thing for a sore throat. You need to take like 100-150 mg after you eat and before bed. It is harsh on the stomach, that is why you need to take it at night, but it works miracles. You need to ask your doctor if you can take it while breastfeeding though.

There probably isn't much you can do for your daughter, but when I get a cough or a sore through I suck on these things called "grether's pastilles". They are pretty costly and you can only get them at Duran's on Central or Model on Monte Vista and Carlisle but they work great. They really don't numb the pain, but they have glycerin in them and if you suck them every time you get that tickle, you won't cough and you won't develop that lingering dry cough that you tend to have for a few weeks after you get over the rest of your cold. I even suck on them at night (but don't fall asleep with it in your mouth).

I recommend Hyland's homeopathic medicines. I also have a juice that I sell that babies can drink called GoChi. It has kept my babies well since I started them on it. http://www.beaudry.freelife.com