Our First Cold

Raise one side of her crib so that her head is elevated. I would definately use the humidifyer in her room, especially at night.

I keep a humidifier in my 6 month old and my 3 year old sons bedroom at night. With the heat on in the winter it just seems to help. When they have a stuffy/runny nose I may even turn in up a bit to help them out a little. Good luck!

There is a Vicks BABY rub that works well. A vaporizor has been life saver for us. You can also get vicks vapo plugs for children and infants. All have worked great for us (even when my daughter was still in the infancy stage)

We are fans of Vicks as well, but check on it - they just came out with a report that using the vaporub on children under 2 is harmful to them. Not sure if the bath stuff has the same issue or not. Good luck!

I put the humidifier in the room and also had my baby sleep in her stroller. In the stroller I can have her at an incline so she does not get as congested and she is strapped in and cannot roll over and get where she can't breathe.

Humidifiers are great. Also, raise the head of her mattress to encourage draining at night. I've never had success with this, but you could try to put Vick's on the bottom of your daughter's feet and have her wear socks at night to clear her up.

Good luck! Colds are never fun.

I don't think it's a cold. I think it is just dry winter air. A humidifier is a GREAT idea. Keep it running day and night.

I am a HUGE fan of Vick's vapor rub on the chest. They also make a Vicks vapor plug in.

We liked the vapor bath stuff as well. Johnson makes one that works great too. Also be aware that she could start teethging soon if she hasn't already. The cough would not be related to teething but the nose could be. Unfortunately, from this age on, you will deal with a lot of running noses that symptoms that are teething related. When they are that little, it is hard to tell if they are really sick or just teething. I hope she feels better soon.

J.,
We used the Pediacare Gentle Vapors night light that you plug in. It puts off a menthol smell in the room and helps to keep the sinus open while they sleep. It works wonders for us..Good luck..

Hi J.! It sounds like you are doing good! My doctor also suggest sticking a rolled up towel underneath her mattress to lift it a little so she is elevated, it helps with the breathing while they have a cold. I always used to just have my daughter sleep in my room in her bouncer when she was sick because that was elevated. Good Luck. I hope your babe gets over it quickly!

right now my son has a cold as well. we just stack phone books under his crib to elevate one side. it really seems to help him breathe better.

Definitely put the humidifier in her room - that's probably the first thing that your Dr would tell you. She's too young for vapo rub but you can buy those Vicks or something like that that you can plug into the wall and put the menthol into and that would help also. Do you have her mattress proped up? You can buy a wedge at Babies R us or put some phone books under the mattress to prop up her head. Hope these suggestions help.

The humdifier will help but you can also try "Little Noses"...you can get it at Walmart or Walgreens. It is a non medicated saline solution for dry and stuffy noses for our precious little ones!!

If you are NOT still nursing:

We would also bathe the girls in the vicks forumla vapor bath , and that would help.
We would put them propped up on several pillows in our bed too for the time frame of the cold....if we had them in our bed. Otherwise, propping up the mattress was a great help for naps and such. Keeping them elevated basically. Infact...sad to say, but sometimes, we would leave them in the pumpkin seat because it was an easy way to keep them elevated and control how they were laying :O).

If you are still nursing ,
double / triple up on your feeding times. Non-stop nursing marathons we used to call them. As they got better I used to have to pump some to eleviate the extra that we didn't need that my body geared up for, but then hey! we had some on store for the next adventure.
We would also do alot of "co-sleeping" during this time , just so the nursing could be available anytime she would be awake.Plus your body heat and energy is just really important to keep them close, if you can, with working or what not.
You can also put some of vicks vaporstuff on "your" neck and upper chest so as baby nurses they can get the benefits of being able to breathe. Just not too heavy.

A little bit of Lanosh Lanolin, thick stuff made for dry and cracked nipples, but safe for babies to have in their mouths...we still use this today on anything chapped or dry OR to KEEP things from getting that way. We would use just a very very very thin lubricating amount on the end of their little noses to keep the yuckies from getting all crusted over on their noses. Of course, it gets on the bedding and such, because it would just run out and couldn't get crusty on the nose as bad. :O) Plus their clothing from rubbing thier noses because they are miserable.

Other tid bits:
Putting a light amount of vicks vapor RUB on their bedding and/or pillow .

WASHING their clothing and or bedding in a little of the vicks vapor BATH so it is infused in them.

Bathing in the vaporbath yourself.

BUT :
Momma's milk is just really the best thing for them for any illness that effects them. Your body will automatically provide the antibodies custom made for that moment that your baby needs just by their sucking. Truly it is the best.

Bless your heart though. We can remember just watching them and feeling hopeless not to be able to do anything for them, but letting it pass. My husband is a chiropractor, so we would of course give them all adjustments so this can help the body heal itself and allowed the passage of the cold to be much swifter through the body.

Hope these help~!