Newborn has a cold

rob555mark

Hi, my son who is now just over 3 weeks old was taking 3 to 4oz but now has caught a bit of a cold from his big sister, its not too bad just affecting his breathing a little. My problem is that he is now only taking roughly 2oz no matter what we try and waking every two hours or so. We had him going from midnight to 4:30/5:00 in the morning and thats gone out the window so I'm wondering if its the cold that could be doing it or should we try stretch him between feeds. He is keeping it down but have to say that from birth he is slow to feed, (feed & wind, change, feed & wind again takes about an hour) were having to open baby grow to keep him awake etc. but very easy to wind.

Any ideas,
Thanks.

crazy cat lady

I think when babies get the snuffles you just have to go with what they want really. How much do you feel like eating when you don't feel well?

My little lady is just getting over a cold and she is coming up for a year. We were seeing plenty of night time action from her and having to give her occasional night feeds. All she would eat during the day was ready brek, and even then not very much!

At 3 weeks you're kinda limited in what you can do to alleviate symptoms for your baba. I would recommend Karvol capsules. If you put one on to a muslin or a tissue and try and vapouise the room, it might help to clear the nose a bit and your babs might feed a little better. Don't forget that babies breathe through their noses and if their mouth is full of bottle and their little nose is blocked, they can't breathe at all!

The most important thing while your baby is sick is to make sure that they do keep feeding. If your baby goes off the bottle alltogether then i would bring him to the doctor.

Keep doing what you're doing. Your baby is still only very new and is still getting to grips with the world. A routine and feeding will come, get over this little hurdle first

cynder

Mine fed every two hours (2 ounces every 2 hours) from day one, including through the night. I fed on demand.

Your baby had a cold and probably not feeling too hungry, as long as baby is feeding well all is good. As the health nurses put it feed on demand. Thats babies for you.

The baby is probably out of sync with the cold and cant drink too much(do you eat big meals if you have a bad cold? i doubt it, little and often) , it might last until the cold has gone or could last for another couple of weeks. If he was a slow feeder to begin with that can last for another 4-5 months (or longer as in my case).

The cold could be waking him, could you wrap him up a it warmer? If your going to stretch his feeds expect a very upset, cross baby.

Each baby is different so i can't predict whats going to happen or tell you what you should do.

Mr Magners

Little babies get really frustrated when they have a cold as it makes feeding more difficult for them having to stop and start all the time. Make sure the little man is still drinking, even if it is less food more more often you only need to worry if he goes off his feed completely. Once the cold clears up he should settlre back in to his little routing again.

Another thing worth trying is to bring him in to the bathroom with you when you're having a shower and let him breath the steamy air, it can ease the congestion. Oh and wipe away any little boogers as soon as they appear.

Das Kitty

Having a cold really puts them off their grub. Our lad is older and started Creche recently and caught an awful dose and was not eating well for weeks (bear in mind at 10 months he had plenty of chub stores to keep him going). He's almost better now (after some antibiotics). But of course I brought a bug into the house on Friday and we've all been sick since.

A newborn doesn't have fat stores so if it goes on longer than a week I would personally go to the doctor.

Remember though that you can get free professional medical advice from both your Public Health Nurse and pharmacist.

Karvol, saline drops and a snot snatcher will help a lot as well.

rob555mark

Thanks all, it's more or less what we were thinking, feed on demand and try keep the little man happy! Will try the Karvol tonight too.

Thanks again.;)

wmpdd3

my little 1 has had a cold for 2 weeks, i found the saline drops great. I give them to her 30min before th bottle. once she sneezes, she's fine for 2 hours. She's 13 weeks and is gone back to 3 oz every 3.5 hts

bulmersgal

Mr Magners wrote: »

Another thing worth trying is to bring him in to the bathroom with you when you're having a shower and let him breath the steamy air, it can ease the congestion. Oh and wipe away any little boogers as soon as they appear.

this is only thing that works for elisha 8 months, she hates anybody being near her nose. She's only had one cold but i did find she drank less as she found it harder so just go on demand. Hopefully she'll be better soon. Also make sure you's are taking vitamins as when Elisha got cold, I ended up getting it off her so was miserable dealing with her while i was sick