Cold and flu season with a new baby!

I have always heard moms say that your life and your babies’ schedule is different when they are sick!  We experienced this for the first time over the holidays.  Our 3.5 month old came down with his first cold.  Being a new, first-time mom, I immediately took him to the doctor worrying about all the what-ifs.  Could it be RSV?  If it gets worse, will he get pneumonia? 

After seeing the doctor, he reassured me that it was a good “old fashioned cold”!  What they don’t tell you is that those colds can stick around for 2 to 3 weeks. 

A week into our first cold, our son, Wells, started waking up during the night and quit breastfeeding.  Since I work in health care and have several friends who are new moms too, I knew something was not right.  So, back to the doctor one week later.  Result – our first ear infection.  Ugh!

After a week on antibiotics, I feel like we are starting to turn the corner.  Yes, three weeks into this first “good old fashioned cold.”

So, I offer you new moms some helpful hints that have helped me survive my child’s first cold:

-    Invest in a good humidifier and leave it on during naps and bedtime
-    Purchase some baby vapor rub and put it all over their chest and on the bottoms of their feet
-    Stand in a steamy shower and let the warm water run over them several times a day.  The steam is supposed to open their airways and help them breathe – and it does!!!
-    Elevate their head or their mattress so they are not laying flat on their back when napping or sleeping.
-    Use saline nose drops to help get the mucus in their nose to drain
-    Keep them inside and away from the public as much as possible
-    And for the new mom – sleep when they do!

I would love to hear if anyone else has some helpful hints on how to survive cold and flu season with a little one!  Leave me a comment.

Whitney Jodry is a Sr. Public Relations Specialist and is happy to to have made it through her son's first cold.