Well, it happened. Patrick caught the cold I had/have. I must admit I do feel better, but still am a bit congested with a harsh cough every now and then. Well, Patrick caught it. He´s been congested and coughing for the last couple of days. Luckily, he´s still a very happy baby...except when he´s laying down. (I think the congestion builds up in his head when he´s lying down making life just tough for a small baby.) The days are a lot easier than the nights. The nights are chilly causing more congestion and the hot days are great to stop it. So, needless to say we´ve been up a lot at night and have been startled by his crys of "bloody murder".
Does anybody know of home remedies for the common cold for a small baby?
I´m on lemon, honey, hot water to get better unfortunately he can´t take any of that. I´d prefer to use something natural before resorting to cough and cold medicines.
Also, those of you that have had babies...how did you get back in shape after birth? I, appartently, look the same...but I have a gut...Ughh! And don´t know how to get rid of it. How did you find time to workout, if you did? Did you use some sort of girdle? How old was your baby when you got back into a workout routine? Let me know. I´m struggling. I just need an hour 3 times a week...but that seems pretty tough...just to find somebody that can take care of Patrick just for a lil bit each week. Ideas? Let me know.
6 comments:
Do you have a humidifier? Jack (9 months old) was getting colds pretty frequently until we started running a humidifer (cool mist) in his room every night while he slept. Now when he starts to get a cold it never gets very bad and generally goes away quickly. It's made a huge, noticeable difference. You can get them here at Wal-Mart or Target for like $20, so hopefully they'd have them where you are :). Also, are you doing saline rinses in his nose? You can buy a little bottle (Little Noses) that has saline in it, and you squirt a little up his nose, wait 1 minute, then suck it out with a bulb syringe while holding closed his other nostril. When Jack has a cold I do this before he eats every time. He hates it at first but then gets used to it. You can also make your own saline by getting a cup of water, putting in 1/2 tsp of salt and a pinch of baking soda (it's supposed to take away the sting). Then you can use an eye-dropper to insert it in his nose. What we did was bought one bottle of the Little Noses stuff then just refilled it with our own solution once it ran out. One other thing is to give him a dose or even a half dose of baby tylenol a couple of times a day. We try not to overmedicate the kiddo, but a little Tylenol can really make him feel better and sleep better.
As far as losing the baby weight, I've gone on something called the Serotonin Power Diet (I just ordered the book off of Amazon, read it, and followed it on my own). It's a cool diet that has you eat protein and carbs at certain times of the day so that they work together to turn off your appetite. I used to have really strong carb cravings (especially when the kiddo was being a stinker), but I don't anymore. It's great! As far as working out goes, we bought an old elliptical machine off of Craig's List that I use while Jack naps. I also do Pilates a few times a week (I just watch it online on NetFlix), which really helps to tone and "lengthen and strengthen" your muscles. I just always feel really good after doing it.
Wow, sorry for the super long post. I hope it helps! Oh, in case you're wondering who the heck I am, I'm your cousin Mike's wife :)>
Hey you! Okay...no help on the natural cold remedies. i prefer medicine but that is just me! As far as the baby weight goes...not sure if I am much help but this seemed to work. I would do an exercise video while Elyse was playing on the floor. If she would fuss I would actually hold her and that would act as a weight. Also I did crunches at night with Clay. He seemed to gain some of my baby weight as well! Hope that gives you some ideas. Talk to you soon!
A humidifier works wonders!!! You wouldn't think so, but it will help him breath better. Babies get frustrated when they can't breath well. You can also use nose drops and your little nose suction thing.
The doctor always told me never give infants a cough supressant!!! There have been cases where children have had severe medical problems because of cough medicines.
Hope you all feel better soon!
well don't know anything about the cough/cold situation, but I guess I will find out soon enough.
The exercise thing, so far I've read you can start exercising about 6-8 weeks after delivery and just light things. Go for walks! I also bought the Turbo Jam video's that I did last summer and those were really great! I love them and they are really fun.
As everyone else has said I would recommend a humidifier! And to echo Tina, you really aren't supposed to give babies cough/cold medicine anyway, plus there isn't any scientific evidence that it even works, so good job going for the natural stuff. I would also rub vicks vapo rub on Anna's throat and chest when running the humidifer, and if you can prop his head up with a blanket or something at night that really helps to keep the congestion from settling in his chest and making him more miserable. If he is waking up screaming bloody murder it sounds like he might have an ear infection, I can't say that's a sure diagnosis but Anna had dozens of ear infections her first year of life and that was always the first sign. You might want to get his ears checked out if he doesn't get better in the next couple of days. So who told you you have a gut? They should be shot. I walked with my mom (and Anna) everyday from 6 weeks until she was 6 months old and we moved, that helped alot. After we moved I did work out videos at home and like Amber used Anna as resistance when she wanted to be held. I know you are really into working out and being in shape so that probably isn't ideal for you, but like everything else your workout routine will probably be altered for the next few years. Don't be too hard on yourself though, you had a baby like 4 months ago, your body needs time to recover and get back to normal on it's own!
Hi Michelle, this Amy's Sis-in-law Jenny. I'm actually responding to a comment you left on Amy's last post about your son's sleeping. When my daughter was six months old I had the same problems with her. She was waking up 5 times a night and only cat napping during the day. I felt like a zombie too! Then I read the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Marc Weissbluth and within a week or so she was sleeping longer stretches at night and taking actual naps during the day. I know you're in another country, but if you can get your hands on this book it will do wonders for your son! If you can't, email me at jen_ay02(at)yahoo(dot)com if you have any questions and I can give you a more lengthy description of what I did with Sofia (who sleeps 12 hours straight through now) when she was that age.
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