Tilting crib mattress for a cold?

greeneyed_bride

DS has a head cold and is waking up more frequently. I'm thinking that it might be from congestion. Has anyone tried tilting the crib mattress up (by putting a small pillow or towel under it) to help with congestion? Did it work? Is it safe? (DS can roll, lift his head, sit himself up and [kind of] crawl if that makes a difference in safety)

I know AAP guidelines are that the mattress should be flat... not sure if there's a specific logic behind that. 

salt78

Have you tried a humidifier yet? DD has a gnarly cold right now and it helps her. We haven't tried tilting the mattress. She moves around so much in the night that I don't think it would work.

aurora1974

We;ve done this a couple times.  It worked before she started moving around.  Now it's not effective because she just rolls herself upside down so her feet are elevated.  Unfortunately there's really nothing that works for us, even the humidifier. 

greeneyed_bride

salt78:

Have you tried a humidifier yet? DD has a gnarly cold right now and it helps her. We haven't tried tilting the mattress. She moves around so much in the night that I don't think it would work.

Not yet - that's a good idea. I need to buy a new filter for it.

I did try tilting his mattress last night, and it didn't help at all. Like you and PP said, he wiggled all around until he was head down. Ugh. It was a very long night. 

salt78

greeneyed_bride:

salt78:

Have you tried a humidifier yet? DD has a gnarly cold right now and it helps her. We haven't tried tilting the mattress. She moves around so much in the night that I don't think it would work.

Not yet - that's a good idea. I need to buy a new filter for it.

I did try tilting his mattress last night, and it didn't help at all. Like you and PP said, he wiggled all around until he was head down. Ugh. It was a very long night. 

Ugh I'm sorry it didn't work. I hope the humidifier helps and that he gets well soon! (And that you get some rest too!)

greeneyed_bride

salt78:

Ugh I'm sorry it didn't work. I hope the humidifier helps and that he gets well soon! (And that you get some rest too!)

Thanks! Out of curiosity - did you use a cool mist or a warm mist humidifier?

salt78

Ours is a cool mist. Apparently there is really no difference between the two, but the idea of hot steam/hot water in her room kind of put me off from the warm one. (Especially for later when she can really get into things.)

greeneyed_bride

salt78:

Ours is a cool mist. Apparently there is really no difference between the two, but the idea of hot steam/hot water in her room kind of put me off from the warm one. (Especially for later when she can really get into things.)

Gotcha. We have a cool mist one, too. Somehow the warm mist just seems like it would be better for a cold, but everything I've read says there's no difference, so it's probably just a weird association from childhood or something.

BTW - Your siggy is cracking me up!

Dee1028

The fellas have a cold and Tucker coughs more during the night. We elevated his head and it seemed to help. The smaller problem was that he would slide and shimmy down and get all sideways and wake up but I'd rather a quick fix like that than having him cough and choke all night.

CotterpinDoozer

I do this... i put two towels folded in thirds under the head of her mattress.  It helps with congestion. If she's super stuffy I do this plus a humidifer.