The Neverending Cold! Anyone else?

sandler817

Hey Ladies, my son is 10 months old, up until a month ago he was with a babysitter while my husband and I are at work. He started daycare in mid sept. and ::POOF:: he got a cold and then a virus almost immediately. I expected this, I know daycare = colds. However he has literally had a stuffed nose and cough consistantly since he started a month ago. We've brought him to the doctor twice, no ear infections or mucus in the chest. It doesn't seem to bother him greatly during the day but it has completely distroyed his sleeping habbits! He was STTN since birth, through colic, through his first two teeth, now he wakes up at least twice a night and bringing him into our bed is the only thing that will put him back to sleep. I guess my question is two fold,

1. Anyone else dealing with the neverending daycare cold? If so, what did you do to kick the cold or at least dry it up a little?

2. Once the cold is gone did your DS/DD go back to thier normal sleeping habbits?

Thanks!!!

Izabella22

1. Yup, its actually been in the last 4 weeks... week 1: GI bug, week 2:cold week 3: teeth, week 4: cold again.  I just keep clinging to the advice that short term painful, long term he'll be healthier.

2. It totally depends, eventually he seems to get back to 9 hrs.  But DS goes through ups and downs, teeth affect it (top teeth were worse for sleep than bottom for us), changes in schedule, I swear when things started to get colder he was suddenly waking up more. We have the same prob about getting him back to sleep w/out putting him in bed with us. I've toyed with getting a white noise machine since they have one at DC, but he's an inconsistent sleeper there too. Is your LO sleeping a ton at DC? Or taking a nap when you get home? I cut out the late afternoon nap and that has helped. It sucks when they are such good sleepers and you get used to it and then they go to waking at night... its been harder for me to adjust to than when he was a newborn... I was ready for it then. Mentally at least.

njbride0603

yeah they say a cold lasts 7-10 days so I always notice a few days where I think the cold is gone and then I notice a cough or her nose running again.....figured she caught another cold! Fortunately (knock on wood) so far its just been colds. With DD #1 we had ear infections from 4 mos til 11 mos when she got tubes and then still got ear infections - granted they didn't last as long b/c of the tubes but...last winter was the first winter she hardly got sick. she had a cold for two weeks but that was it so I guess her immune systems is building up. When she gets  a cold they don't last as long. Nothing every affected her sleep at all. DD#2 so far has been good but if she's stuffy she's awake!

sandler817

Yes! I feel the same way about the sleep thing! When he was a newborn I was mentally ready for him to wake up! When we hit 8, 9 months I figured we were in the clear, he was a great sleeper, end of story. Looking at the 912 month board I'm really starting to see we are not alone! My coworker said the first three months of daycare are really rough! Ugh! One down two to go!

sandler817

Haha wow, I literally just read that post after walking out of a steamy bathroom with DS! The only thing we haven't tried is the benedryl, did you give it to him before he was 1years old? I wasn't sure if medicines like that were ok for babies.

PsyDr04

Add me to the list for dealing with the neverending cold. DS has been sick since mid-September. He had his first ear infection (a double one) at that time, got put on Amoxicillin, then promptly got another cold after that and got another ear infection (just one ear this time although the other ear did have fluid in it) and got a round of Cefdinir. Finished that last week, he was good for a couple of days and now he is sick again. This time he also has chest congestion plus the stuffy/runny/snotty nose. I'm just waiting for the third ear infection to hit. We are supposed to have his 9 month appt on Thursday afternoon. He'll be 10 months on Saturday and we already had to cancel one well baby visit due to illness, so I'm really crossing my fingers that he will AT LEAST stay fever free so we can take him in to the well baby clinic that day. So far he has been eating well and sleeping pretty good, but tonight's routine consisted of sitting in the steamy bathroom, sucking out his nose with the Nose Frida, bath with that eucalyptus bath wash, baby vapor rub on his chest and feet, cool mist humidifier, waterless vaporizer plug in, and elevating his mattress slightly. Good grief.

PsyDr04

Add me to the list for dealing with the neverending cold. DS has been sick since mid-September. He had his first ear infection (a double one) at that time, got put on Amoxicillin, then promptly got another cold after that and got another ear infection (just one ear this time although the other ear did have fluid in it) and got a round of Cefdinir. Finished that last week, he was good for a couple of days and now he is sick again. This time he also has chest congestion plus the stuffy/runny/snotty nose. I'm just waiting for the third ear infection to hit. We are supposed to have his 9 month appt on Thursday afternoon. He'll be 10 months on Saturday and we already had to cancel one well baby visit due to illness, so I'm really crossing my fingers that he will AT LEAST stay fever free so we can take him in to the well baby clinic that day. So far he has been eating well and sleeping pretty good, but tonight's routine consisted of sitting in the steamy bathroom, sucking out his nose with the Nose Frida, bath with that eucalyptus bath wash, baby vapor rub on his chest and feet, cool mist humidifier, waterless vaporizer plug in, and elevating his mattress slightly. Good grief. Oh and yes, DS does go to daycare.

JWSchwarz

DS has been in daycare since he was 3 months old and we've had a LOT of colds. Here is what has helped:

- Run a humidifier in LO's room at night 

- Saline Nose Drops in the morning and again before bed

- Do the drops then wait 30 seconds or so and use the Nose Frida Snot Sucker. Disgusting but effective:)

The saline drops help dry out the nose so he can breathe. Once his nose is clear he is always much happier and eats better! 

sandler817

Thanks for the advice ladies! PsyDr04, I hope your little one feels better soon! I'm going to look into the Nose Frida (he HATES the aspirator with a passion but its worth a shot!) and ask our ped about the Benedryl. I know all of these colds and coughs are making his immune system strong! Haha, or at least that's what I tell myself to feel better about all of it!

Izabella22

Yeah I give DS more baths when he's sick so he can sit in the warm water and steam up a bit. He's in his exersaucer in the bathroom in the mornings while I shower so its double duty... I can keep an eye on him and he gets steamed up before school! We do the saline drops & nosefrida as well. I have a humidifier but I didn't find it helped that much... but it also makes it so I can't hear him at night and I get too nervous to sleep. I put vicks on his chest and the bottoms of his feet at night before bed - that seems to help too.

katieh1017

::Lurking from 6-9::...we have a never ending cold and bronchiolitis twice. She is always coughing. It has gotten better but just lingering. I have taken her to the doctor multiple times. I had a stomach virus a couple weeks ago but she got it very mild. I think in general and especially us with kids in DC this time of year is not going to get any better.

Jen0204

Estwd2:

sandler817:

Haha wow, I literally just read that post after walking out of a steamy bathroom with DS! The only thing we haven't tried is the benedryl, did you give it to him before he was 1years old? I wasn't sure if medicines like that were ok for babies.

Her pedi is the one who suggested the Children's Benadryl when she was about 9 months old, I think. We only give it when she's really stuffy and can't sleep.

Our pediatrician had us give DD2 Benadyrl for a rash and warned that when she was done taking it that she could actually get congested as a side effect.  I guess there is something called rebound that is a possibility with Benadryl.

We also love the Nose Frida.  We recently just tried saline spray instead of the drops and that works much better IMO.  We also tried the saline cotton swabs (a q-tip where you snap one end and saline saturates the other end, then you swab in the nostrils) and was not impressed with that.  We also use a cool mist humidifier plus the Vick's waterless vaporizer - the scent from that seems to really help them breathe better at night.

The girls have been sick off and on for over a month now.  They get their flu shots tomorrow and I'm really hoping that helps them fight off some of this stuff.  Now H and I are sick too and since they don't STTN we're not getting good sleep so we're taking a lot longer then usual to get better.  It sucks!