I've regained equilibrium after reading the blog of the poor family who lost their infant daughter to SIDS last week. I still cannot understand how something like that can happen to such a young, innocent, perfect life or how those left behind can pick up and go on afterwards. I know that they need to move on because that's the way life works, but I feel for them while they travel that road and negotiate every anniversary and reminder that will plague them for years - probably a lifetime - to come.
Our little girl has caught her first cold. She's been fighting it off since last week, but it's officially taken hold as of yesterday. Her nose was runny all day. Although she started coughing last night and is noticeably stuffy this morning, it appears to be keeping itself above her neck. It's not a terrible cold, but it's bad enough that we let her sleep in the swing last night while I slept on the couch.
She continues to eat well. She's down one bottle a day to five, but it's due to the extra sleep she's been getting in to fight the cold. She's been waking up later in the morning, and that, in turn, pushes back her feedings for the rest of the day.
Her cold seems to be following the same course mine has taken. If that's the case, she should be quite stuffy today and tomorrow, improving noticeably by Sunday evening, and not at 100% but not too bad by Monday. It's the stuffiness that worries me the most, hence the reason she slept in the swing. We're hoping that gravity helps keep her nose and sinuses relatively snot free.
Speaking of snot free, have you every tried to use one of those bulb syringes to suction out a baby's nose? The instructions found in any number of baby books tell you to squeeze the bulb, gently insert the tip into the baby's nose, and slowly release it to suction out the crud. After attempting this, I'm wondering if those who wrote the books ever tried to follow these instructions on a real baby who isn't sedated.
Gently? How do you do gently with a screaming baby who's thrashing (yes, thrashing) her head about, kicking up her legs, flailing her arms, and doing everything within her power to keep you from sticking that thing in her nose. And succeeding, I might add, in spite of combined efforts of two intelligent adults attempting to hold her still. We never did manage it. One book I read mentioned that it's difficult to do in babies 6 months or older since they don't like it. Humph. 4 month olds don't think much of it, either.
4 comments:
Awww. Poor little girl. I hope she feels better very soon.
We've had much better results using the bulb syringe that comes with the Little Noses kit (should be able to find it at a well-stocked pharmacy). We received this as a shower gift from a former boss of mine and the design of this syringe makes it infinitely easier to use on a squirming, resisting baby (our little is 3 1/2 months). The saline spray that comes with it is a real help too - it loosens up all the "clog" and helps clear out sinuses. And perfectly safe for baby (no drugs involved). Good luck!
I'll need to check that out. The bulb syringe we have is next to useless unless I can get it into her nose without the squirming threatening to jam it in futher.
Here's a good tip for bulb syringe use that I learned from Children's Hospital [my baby love has rsv]:
Swaddle her little arms down so she can't fight you.
Spray the saline in her nose.
Hold one nostril closed while suctioning the other. Repeat.
This method has been working wonders for us! Also, get a vaporizer or humidifier and run it while Kate sleeps. It will help her stuffiness. Good luck :)
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