When Your Baby is Sick – Tips on How to Care for Your Baby’s Cold

A sick baby is never a happy sight. If there’s anything that you can do to take their suffering away and make them feel better, you will go to any length to bring them back to full health. Here is a simple guide to help you soothe, comfort, and speed up the healing of your sick child with a cold:

Let the Cold Run its Course

Common colds typically don’t require treatment, given that your baby’s symptoms are mild and easily manageable at home. When your child is only showing signs of a stuffy or runny nose, sneezing, cough, reduced appetite, restlessness, and slight fever, calming down their symptoms is really the best thing you can do to combat colds until the cold passes. To help your sick baby feel better, you can (and should) give them extra fluids to keep them from getting dehydrated. Offer to nurse more often in case of an infant, but for babies older than 6 months, you can offer water or natural fruit juice. In addition to preventing dehydration, this will also help keep baby’s mouth and nose moist, making it easier for them to cough and sneeze out mucus.

If your child is suffering with a stuffy nose, they may need help getting rid of mucus. By spraying a few drops of saline solution into their nostril and using a bulb syringe to remove mucus from their nose, you help clear their breathing passages and keep them from the discomfort of mucus buildup. Creating an environment that promotes better rest is also important as a sick baby needs more sleep to help their body recover.

Listen to the Experts

At Pediatric Partners of Augusta, you can be sure that your sick child is in the best hands. For a cold that doesn’t go away after more than a few days and after you’ve done all you can to soothe baby’s symptoms, it is time to seek treatment from a pediatrician who can perform the right diagnosis and prescribe the right remedy to restore your child’s health. This is especially true when they have persistent fever, nausea, and diarrhea. Pediatric Partners of Augusta is a private practice group consisting of Board-Certified pediatricians and specialists who are well versed in keeping children at optimal health and free from disease. They have on-site diagnostic testing, which makes finding the right treatment for your child’s relentless colds easier and more convenient, as you seek to bring your precious bundle of joy back to good health.