This is like the third time in four weeks…
Poor guy. Last week it was a high fever (with a few symptoms: congestion, minor cough, irritability and sleepiness). This week? A lower fever (101 F), a horrid cough (flemmy and very nasty), and tons of green boogers.
Last night was not fun for him (or I) as he was up all night coughing…and gagging (on the flem). Needless to say, he didn’t get much sleep. I took a picture of his slimy face this morning…I had just finished getting dressed and walked into the kitchen where he was playing in the pack-n-play…and saw his face…it was covered with green slime that he had smeared all over his face. It was disgusting. So…the good mother that I am, I had to get pictures of his first really slimy face. 
Don’t worry, I’ll spare you the pictures (lest I ruin your day).
All that to say, I’m trying a few things to ease the coughing and nasty nose and need more suggestions:
1. Running the cool-mist humidifier
2. Making sure he’s eating often
3. Using saline drops and the nasal aspirator (to his chagrin. He turns into an 8-month old boxer when I try to suction his nose)
4. Giving him “Sniffles” (by Newton Homeopathics)
5. Giving him Baby Plex Vitamin C drops for Infants (by Nature’s Plus) to whip the cold
So…any more suggestions?
Amy says:
Poor baby!
That sounds like Jake back in October, November. It seemed like he would be well for a day or two and then get sick all over again. It was horrible! I’ll be praying for you.
A few suggestions:
1)Try the Baby Vicks Vapor rub. It’s really soothing, not anything like the adult rub and it seems to help with the phlegm as well. (Jake loved getting the massage.)
2) If he’ll drink water from a bottle or sippy cup just put it with him while he plays. Jake drinks through a whole sippy cup now in a day that way. It will help keep him from getting dehydrated.
3) You can tilt his mattress in his crib by putting a pillow under it on one end. That will help keep him a little elevated. (Of course he may just slide down to the other end, so you would have to decide if it would work. It never did with Jake - he did sleep in his stroller/car seat a few nights. Poor kid!
4)Something that really helped me use that horrible aspirator (a.ka. the GOB SUCKER!)was to use the saline drops and then let Jake play for a few minutes on his belly while the saline did it’s work. Then I would roll him over (and pin him down as best I could) and it was a little easier to get a lot of junk at one time because it was loosened up.
Hope that helps!
March 18th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
Maria says:
Try Nosefrida instead of the bulb aspirator, it works better and is more gentle. Hope he feels better soon.
March 18th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
sashwhy says:
Thanks so much, Amy, for the suggestions! It’s funny that you mentioned the Vicks rub. I had called my midwife’s office today to get suggestions, and the secretary recommended the same thing. I got off the phone thinking…”wow, Vick’s is pretty strong stuff. I’m not using that!”. I didn’t realize they made “Baby Vicks”. I looked it up after I saw your post and was pleased to find out that it’s made up of gentle, all natural ingredients like eucalyptus and lavender. We got some, used it on the boy, and he loved it! Thanks again!
March 18th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
Amy says:
Oh good! I thought the same thing when someone suggested the Vicks Baby rub to me. I hate using the regular stuff, but I love the baby version. Sometimes I’ll just open it and smell it. It’s so aromatherapeutic (Wow, that’s a long word! :))
March 19th, 2008 at 8:50 am