Your Tips- When Your Baby is Sick

[Lauraine]

Do you have any handy tips to share with other mums and dads that will help them through the difficult time when their baby is unwell? Share them here.

Cheers

Note: The information supplied here is not of a medical nature and should not replace the guidance of your medical professional.

[Liams Mum]

My precious boy just got over his first cold, its so hard when they so little and can hardly breathe!
Here are some things we did to help him breathe a bit easier...
We used the vicks baby basalm - excellent stuff!
Put saline drops in his nose before feeds and sleep, and we raised one end of his cot by putting phonebooks under the legs. Hope this helps some other little ones feel a little more comfortable

[Mother of 3 little munchkins]

My daughter used to have caffeine daily for apnoea but this works for other medicines also.
Measure your medicine and put it in a teat and let the baby suck it out. This works well as the medicine goes down the throat and misses being tasted on the tongue.

[Bec74]

My 7 month old son has just gotten over Croup. Not a nice thing to get! We found using a vaporiser (Euky Bear Vaporiser) and Eu-Clear Inhalant really helped clear his chest. We also used Baby Balsam on his chest at night, and tilted up his cot. A couple of times we turned on the shower, shut the bathroom door and got it really steamed up. We would then sit with him in the bathroom for about 15 minutes. This seemed to help as well.

For colds, we use Infant Demazin as well as Childrens Panadol. This works wonders for a runny nose.

Hope this helps!

[danni_]

well whatever medication you give your bub make sure you only give one type of medication. if you give 2 you could Over Dose your baby.

[twinsareintoo]

My babies are 4 months and haven't been sick yet, but I do remember how unsure we were with our now 3 year olds when they were babies - my tips are:

* Vapourisers for congestion & dry coughs (but make sure you let anyone in in the house know that it's on and where it is otherwise they can get a steam burn if they get too close to it - up high worked best for us)

* Euky bear rub is good for their chests if they are older babies or you can dab it on their sheets/clothes if they are younger or have sensitive skin

* Think of what you do when you're in pain..... eg. when I'm in pain I take medicine to feel better, so don't hesitate to take the pain away when it comes to children.. ie. give them panadol!

* For teething, bonjella didn't work as well for my kids as other brands (Chemist's own brand was very good and not as strong a taste as bonjella).

* When panadol/nurofen doesn't work and especially for night time so that they can get some relief, we keep a bottle of Painstop Nighttime on hand... I think it's for 1 & over though.... but it works straight away.

* Pinetarsol is good for itchy rashes, so is an oat filled sock in the bath water

* Give plenty of fluids and allow for plenty of rest

My number one tip - cuddles, cuddles, cuddles!

[mummyralph]

My emily got a cold aT 2mths and had to go to hospital as it was had for her to breath as she was all blocked up runny nose . and a cough she was treated and send home.
My local Gp suggested an old recipe for a drink for me to drink every 4 hours . since i was breast feeding that would clear her up and also ensure that i did''t get sick and it worked i have used it twice now and it works within 24hours ..
use fresh ingrediates. .
1 whole Garlic crushed , Ginger crushed about the size of 50cent , crushed black pepper 1 teaspooon. Blend together add fresh juice of 6 lemons . this should be enough for 4 drinks. add 1/4 of mix with hot water and drink . ( you can add honey to taste ) store reminder in fridge . it really works its amazing 1 minute emily was quite unwell the next morning she was fine .

[SpAk]

My lil one just got over a chest infection. i found elevating the mattress at the head end made breathing easier, i used vicks baby balsam on his chest, back and on his teddy. His nose was really congested so i used Fess nasal spray, he hated it but it is only one spray in each nostril which is quick and easy. I also gave him weak Camomile tea instead of bolied water to keep him hydrated. I pray no one gets this flu going around. Stay strong

[mummy2 boys]

hi i use the euky bear rub it is cheaper than the balsum and a lot more effective it can be used from 3 months as all the others can. Also i use the fess spray rather than the drops and it goes in the noise better and doesnt take as long as my baby hates the drops but is ok on the spray. Also when applying the chest rub or alike try putting some on the babys feet and then putting socks on them as the balsum draws the mucus down to the feet and away from the chest and noise hepofully preventing a chest blockage or infection as advised by my peditration for my 2 boys 2.5 and 7 months old now. Also the best thing i have found so far is a vaporizer for the room it makes breating so much easier and is safe as long as it is out of reach. It does the same thing as a hot shower does for us. I hope this has helped someone as it has helped me get through the sick days. thank you from felecia

[maybebaby]

Giving medicine to a baby is not easy but as I put in the 'Promoting Business' forum on this site, there is a great product called the MEDIBOTTLE that is a Paediatric Medication Delivery System. It assists parents in administering medicine to infants.

I'm a mum of two little girls and I know it's difficult to firstly give them medicine and secondly to make sure that they get it all. Actually my toddler's great now at taking her medicine, but she never use to be...I'm sure there are lots of other parents out there like this. When they're still little babies though, even giving medicine via a syringe isn't the most accurate way as it doesn't correctly go into the right place where a baby swallows and babies normally spit some of it up.

The medibottle addresses all of this! No more fuss, no more distress for your baby or parents, and an accurate dose of the medicine.

If you are having trouble giving your baby medicine, give this a try but of course contact or speak to your GP or pharmicist first for compatibility of medicine and the beverage that you would put into the medibottle.

You can visit www.srltd.co.nz or www.savibaby.com for more product information, and it lists some medicines that have already been used with the medibottle. You can also read testimonials and details of clinical studies and trials it has undergone.

I hope this helps some parents with sick children. We are actually trying to get the medibottle in hospitals in NZ, so we'll keep you posted.

[mummy to 3 boys]

Just in response to Danni, I too give my baby demazin and panadol and I was told to this by the head pharmasist at my chemist as demazin does not have any paracetamol in it therefor nothing to help with temps.

And the best medicine lots and lots of cuddles!!(which we all love!!)

[brooke22]

i am going through that illness with my daughters now any other suggestions my doc told me to watch out for stages of asthma did your doc say that to you

[pjpebbles]

I took my 3 month old to the doc today as she has her first cold. Gave me a printout of what to look out for, brochial related which can lead to asthma, particulary if it runs in the family. Normally hits by about day 3-4 of the initial cold symptoms. She is feeding well and still smiling so we are good so far. Doing the same as everyone else, elevate mattress, offer extra fluids, saline nasal drops when they are really stuffy, check temp, sit them upright and use the steam in the shower to loosen mucas, smear vicks or similiar on their sheet etc. The bronchial thing can be serious, watch for ribs sucking in (harder to breathe), blue tinge to lips, listlessness etc. It's when they start to not feed that they get concerned. My doc said, if they are feeding at any less than 50% than normal...get them checked out.

[Trudy01]

Danni,

I suggest you have a chat you your local pharmacist or GP. I have been advised by numerous doctors and more than one pharmacist that the combination of antihistamine type medication combined with panadol or nurofen whilst bubby is suffering a cold is quite safe and effective at relieving disconfit. I have also been advised by health professionals that it is safe to combine Panadol and Nurofen in times of extreme pain eg, cutting teeth.

Do a bit of homework

[brigettem]

Hi there,
my baby is 3 months this week and we've been through 2 colds already and the only thing no one has mentioned so far as a good tip is breastmilk!
I use breastmilk instead of saline to squirt up his nose and put a bit in his ears. it has antiseptic qualities and has the added bonus of having all my antibodies as well. so far it has stopped him having too many problems (I'm just getting over the worst cold i've ever had) and i just give him panadol for fever.
anyway, that's my tip!
brigette

[ddon]

Did you mean one whole clove of garlic? I'm going to try this recipe - thanks.

[limelight]

For those of you who want some more natural remedies:
Colds / blocked nose. about 1/4 raw onion, cut up quiet well and place in a paper towel (kitchen paper) and fold it up, place it on the sole of your baby's foot before sleep time. then use glad wrap to hold it on the foot and then put a sock over the foot. I prefer to have them in a sleeping bag so they cant pull it off or get to it. You would have heard that onion is so great for colds so this should be no suprise to you. It will make your baby be able to breath so much easier while this is on their foot. Their foot will get a little 'water logged' by the time you take it off but they will get a great nights sleep and so will you!

[limelight]

For those of you who want some more natural remedies:
Colds / blocked nose. about 1/4 raw onion, cut up quiet well and place in a paper towel (kitchen paper) and fold it up, place it on the sole of your baby's foot before sleep time. then use glad wrap to hold it on the foot and then put a sock over the foot. I prefer to have them in a sleeping bag so they cant pull it off or get to it. You would have heard that onion is so great for colds so this should be no suprise to you. It will make your baby be able to breath so much easier while this is on their foot. Their foot will get a little 'water logged' by the time you take it off but they will get a great nights sleep and so will you!

[carey.payne]

Hi All,

My 5 1/2 month old little girl is currently suffering her first real virus. She initally had a really sore throat, bad temp etc but got over those within a week. What she hasn't gotten over is the stuffy nose. The virus has moved to her chest now and she is coughing up a lot of mucous (which she swollows back down - can't be very nice) but can't sleep properly because she is so stuffed up in the nose. I am giving her the saline spray and Eukybear Rub and tried a steam shower but none of this seems to be helping. It has been quite bad for about 4 or 5 days now and she has progressed to wheezing for the last couple of days. I am not breastfeeding so unfortunately the natural recipes on here won't help much. If anyone else has any other suggestions I would be grateful....