How to Know, Treat, and Prevent Baby's Colds and Diarrhea

One of the worse experiences a new mother and her baby will go through is when baby is sick. Sickness is even more frightening the younger the baby is. How vulnerable, helpless, and scared a newborn baby may feel if they are experiencing symptoms of a virus for the first time. In this article I will discuss colds and diarrhea, how to treat them and when you will need to call the doctor.

Colds

What are the symptoms of a cold? More than likely you have experienced a cold sometime in your life. You know how it feels to have this ailment. You feel tired, stuffed up, sore throat, wheezy, and just plain awful. Now imagine how baby feels. The baby is probably experiencing many if not all of the symptoms that you have felt before, however, the baby may feel much worse than any experience you have had as an adult, especially if the baby is experiencing a cold for the first time.

Symptoms of a Cold: Coughing, runny nose, sneezing, watery eyes and low-fever.

What you can do: Most of the time you and baby will have to tough it out. Viruses cause colds so it will not work to give the baby antibiotics. If the baby is under three months, then you will want to consult a doctor immediately. A newborn's cold can become croup, pneumonia or possibly turn into something worse. Mayoclinic. Despite the fact that there is really not too much you can do but wait it out, there are a few suggestions that may help the baby get over their cold faster and safer.

You should give the baby plenty of fluids. Water, juice, or pediatric drinks hydrate the baby and helps to loosen up those clogged nostrils and throat. You should feed younger babies more and give older babies water between their feedings. Believe it or not, breast milk is a wonderful protection against colds. The milk actually serves as a medicine to help baby recover.

Get rid of those nasty boogers. Thin out the baby's mucous by stuffing a few droplets of saline solution into the baby's nose and then sucking it out with the good old blue "booger snatcher" as I like to call it, or suction bulb (the proper name for it). This helps keep the nasal passages clear and makes it much easier for baby to breath. If the baby is producing a lot of mucus, you might want to do this very often. If you are unfamiliar with how to use a suction bulb, squeeze the bulb to release the air, then insert the tip of the bulb into the baby's nose. You want the bulb to go to the back of the baby's nose. Squeeze the bulb tightly; allowing the bulb to suck up the baby's mucous. You will now want to empty the bulb's contents onto a tissue that can be discarded. It may be easier to plug one of the baby's nostrils with your finger while you suction the other nostril. You can cleanse the bulb with soap and water after use.

Placing a humidifier or vaporizer into the room will help sooth the baby. You should not place the humidifier too close to the baby's crib because you do not want the sheets to become damp and cause the baby to become sicker. It is best to aim into the air. It is also a good suggestion to change the water out daily to keep mold from accumulating. If you do not have access to a humidifier, you can run a hot shower and close the bathroom door so that the baby can breathe in the steam. Sit in the bathroom with the shower running with the baby for about 10-15 minutes. The steam helps to sooth baby's sore throat and nose.

Do not offer baby dairy products. Milk, cheese, ice cream and other lactose products tend to cause baby to become more stuffed up by producing more mucous. Water and juices are preferred over cow's milk.

Cough medicine is not suggested. Coughing helps the baby to get rid of the mucus so suppressing it does not help much. According to Mayoclinic.com, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns against giving cough and cold medicines to children younger than two years of age. If you do decide to give your baby over-the-counter medicine, it is best to first consult a physician and to never give more than prescribed on the bottle. Overdoses can be fatal for babies.

When should you call the doctor? Toughing it out may be one thing, but if your baby is completely miserable, it may be a good time to give the doctor a call. Sometimes baby's symptoms are serious. If your baby does not have a wet diaper as often as they normally do. This is a sign of dehydration. This is one reason you should really call the doctor. If the baby has a temperature over 103 degrees for one day and over 100 degrees for more than three days you need to call the doctor. Fevers can be fatal if left untreated. Call the doctor immediately, especially when the baby is very hot. If baby is pulling at their ears then it is a good chance that baby has an ear infection. This is a critical time to call the doctor since ear infections can have the potential to cause baby to go deaf.

If your baby is coughing so hard that they are vomiting or have severe changes in skin color you need to call the doctor immediately. If the baby will not accept any fluids and coughs up any blood you need to immediately call the doctor. One other serious symptom is if the baby has extremely hard time breathing and begins to turn blue or purple. You need to call immediately.

Diarrhea

Like a cold, you have probably experienced diarrhea at least once in your lifetime. The stomach pains associated with the ailment is hard to deal with at times and feelings of nausea may come over you more than once.

Symptoms of diarrhea: Runny stools, bowel movements for frequently, mucus, and vomiting.

What can cause diarrhea? Many things can cause diarrhea with infants, such as spoiled fruits or foods, viruses, sensitivity in diet, too much fruit or juice, teething, gastrointestinal infection or antibiotic medicines. (Eisenberg, Murkoff, Hathaway, 421).

How long is it supposed to last? Diarrhea can last a few hours or for several days. It just depends on how serious it has become and what may be causing it.

How do you know that it is diarrhea? Younger newborns have runny soft poop, which may look like diarrhea, however, it probably is not. So how do you know if your baby is struggling with the ailment? If your baby has an increase in their bowel movements then it may be possible that they have diarrhea. If the baby has more than one bowel movement per feeding, there is also a likely chance they have the sickness. Other symptoms may include poor feeding, congested nose, or fever.

How to treat diarrhea. Plenty of fluids, especially water and pediatric hydration drinks, such as Pedialyte, for baby is very important when dealing with diarrhea. The main concern with baby's having this sickness is the fact that they may become dehydrated and lose body fluids. You can treat the baby safely by providing them with lots of water to make up for any lost fluids. Breast-feeding is also important because, as I mentioned before, the milk is a medicine and helps to speed recovery (Journal of Pediatrics, May 1996). If the baby is bottle fed you may want to switch to a soy formula, but do not water down the formula because baby still needs their nutrients. If the baby is on solid food it is ok to continue feeding. Apples, carrots, rice cereal, bananas, and potatoes can all help slow down the stool and ease the diarrhea, however, avoid giving baby fruit juices, peas, pears, peaches, plums, prunes and apricots until the poop is no longer runny. Dr.Green.com. Only feed solids if the baby is not vomiting. It is best to discontinue solids until the baby has stopped vomiting. You should still offer fluids.

When do you call the doctor? If you think that the baby may have eaten spoiled food, you will want to call the doctor. This may be a form of food poisoning, and depending on how old and what type of food the baby consumed may be a serious cause for concern. If the baby has very wet watery stool for more than 24 hours, and if baby is vomiting repeatedly within a 24-hour period. If there is blood in the stool or baby is running a fever.

You should call the doctor immediately if baby shows any signs of dehydration, decreased urine output, tearless and sunken eyes; a sunken fontanel; dry skin, scanty saliva. (Eisenberg, Murkoff, and Hathaway).

Ways to prevent your infant from contracting a cold or diarrhea: Wash hands frequently, breast milk is a great prevented of these types of sicknesses. If you contract one of these or someone in the household, make sure baby stays clear of coughs and sneezes. Always make sure that any food baby eats is dated and not spoiled.

I hope that this article was of some help God willing.

Works Cited

Chan, Leroy. "Baby Cold Symptoms and How to Treat Them." Ezinearticles.Com. 20 Dec. 2007 .

"Diarrhea and Infants." DrGreen.Com. 20 Dec. 2007 .

Eisenberg, Murkoff, and Hathaway. What to Expect the First Year. New York: Workman Company, Inc., 1989.