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Baby coughing

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
There's a horrible cold and cough going about and the little man has caught it. He keeps coughing then getting upset and choking until he's sick :(
Whats the best thing to give him to make him feel better? Does calpol do for coughs? He's 2 months old today and I'm completely clueless as to what I can give him. Help!
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Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I think you can only give calpol to 3 months+

    The best thing to do is either phone NHS Direct (they migt have some info on their site) or pop down the chemist and see what they say.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Lolzabeth wrote: »
    There's a horrible cold and cough going about and the little man has caught it. He keeps coughing then getting upset and choking until he's sick :(
    Whats the best thing to give him to make him feel better? Does calpol do for coughs? He's 2 months old today and I'm completely clueless as to what I can give him. Help!


    Have You taken Him to the docs?? That's what I'd do, get well soon Mr. Baby!!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Thanks :)
    I'm going to pop into the doctors just to be sure, hopefully there will be something they can give him.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    You can't give him any cough medicine, he's too tiny. Calpol won't do anything for his cough and you can only give him two doses of that at his age anyway. To be honest the best thing to do is let him cough any crap up from his lungs, that's what we're designed to do after all. I know it can be a bit distressing. Obviously if you think for a second that it might be more than just a bit of a sniffle and a cough call your doctor or health visitor.

    To make things easier for him you can do a couple of things. You can raise his head a little when he's sleeping. You can do this by putting something under the legs of his cot at his head end or by putting something like a folded towel under the end of his mattress. You can put a tiny bit of something called Snufflebabe on his little chest, it's like Vicks vaporub for babies. It says on the pack for babies over 3 months, but I used that for Sophie from the same age or even a little bit younger because she kept picking up colds that the others were bringing home from school.

    If he seems really congested a bit of steam can do wonders. You can take him into a steamy room for a bit, and you can raise the humidity by putting something like a wet towel on a radiator as well.

    Also, make sure he gets plenty of fluids so that his mucous doesn't get too thick. Hope he's better soon. Babies tend to get over these things surprisingly quite quickly.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Thanks Miffy :)
    I'll have a look see if I can get any snufflebabe stuff but our chemist is pretty pathetic and I'll stick his chair in the bathroom when his dad goes for a shower later after work see if that helps.
    He just keeps getting himself so worked up and the only thing that settles him is feeding him, which just makes him throw up and cough more *headdesk*
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    miffys said everything I was going to and more.
    steam and baby vicks type rub is the only things you can really give him, but if feeding him is settling him, just do that, even if it is making him sick too. He needs to keep his fluids up and he will be absorbing some of it, plus breastmilk has a lot of antibodies in it which will help him get over it quicker.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I went to the chemists but all I could get was calpol. They didn't have snufflebabe and wouldn't sell me anything else because they know he's only 2 months and EVERYTHING said 3 months +
    My mum suggested sitting in the bathroom with the tumble drier on so I'll try that aswell.
    Thanks for your help everyone :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Tixylix do a baby cough syrup.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Do you have radiators? If so put a very wet towel on it.
    A bucket by heat sorce should help a little too.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Aww hope baby Theo is feeling a bit better now :)

    I second (and third!) the steamy bathroom suggestion, and also the raising the mattress. Abbie had a lot of mucus in her after she was born and raising her mattress really helped to shift that.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    We ended up at the hospital last night because he was coughing so much he couldn't catch his breath and was panicking. The doctor checked him over and said it wasn't in his chest so not to worry too much.
    I tried the steamy bathroom which seemed to help a bit and made him fall asleep but he just started coughing again and woke up.
    We gave him half a dose of calpol last night, raised the matress and put him on his side jammed between a couple of rolled up blankets so he (and I) got some sleep.
    He doesn't seem much better today but hopefully he'll be back to normal by tomorrow or the next.
    Thanks again!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    oh God, how scary!!!
    Hugs Lolzabeth. Theres nothing worse in the world than seing your child distressed or in pain. I hope it doesnt last too long, and if it doesnt improve, get a second opinion from a different doctor.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I agree with all the tips. One other thing to add as well is to try and calm him down when he has a coughing bout, because a lot of the time they get distressed which makes it worse, then they panic and end up gagging then vomitting :( When he starts coughing just try to sit him up and support him, trying to stay as calm as you can (which is much easier said then done!), and rub his back etc. A little bit of calpol will also do wonders as he will have a sore throat due to all the coughing :thumb: Hope he gets better soon :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Lolzabeth wrote: »
    We ended up at the hospital last night because he was coughing so much he couldn't catch his breath and was panicking. The doctor checked him over and said it wasn't in his chest so not to worry too much.
    I tried the steamy bathroom which seemed to help a bit and made him fall asleep but he just started coughing again and woke up.
    We gave him half a dose of calpol last night, raised the matress and put him on his side jammed between a couple of rolled up blankets so he (and I) got some sleep.
    He doesn't seem much better today but hopefully he'll be back to normal by tomorrow or the next.
    Thanks again!

    That sounds awful. Did the hospital give your baby anything?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    They said there wasn't much we could do, just carry on as we were and as long as he was happy enough and not unwell between coughing and kept having wet nappies then we shouldn't worry too much.
    He's slept most of the day and has coughed up a lot of gunk so I'm hoping thats a sign it's going away. He seems a lot brighter tonight :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Glad to hear hes alot brighter :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    good to hear!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Lolzabeth wrote: »
    They said there wasn't much we could do, just carry on as we were and as long as he was happy enough and not unwell between coughing and kept having wet nappies then we shouldn't worry too much.
    He's slept most of the day and has coughed up a lot of gunk so I'm hoping thats a sign it's going away. He seems a lot brighter tonight :)

    thats good news :) must have been scary, hope you guys are alright too
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    good to hear!

    Are you still here? :p Any signs yet?

    Good to hear Theo seems to be on the mend :D
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Aww, glad he's a little bit better. Your first baby's first illness is one of the worst things EVER.

    The fact that his cough is productive is a really good sign.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    You always want to rush out and do something for the baby but sometimes doing nothing is the best action. The baby will build up his immune system. In the case of a cough you may wish to pat his back a few times to help him to cough up whatever. My baby had reflux in his earlier months which means he would often spurt out a small amount of what he had consumed.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Lolzabeth wrote: »
    They said there wasn't much we could do, just carry on as we were and as long as he was happy enough and not unwell between coughing and kept having wet nappies then we shouldn't worry too much.
    He's slept most of the day and has coughed up a lot of gunk so I'm hoping thats a sign it's going away. He seems a lot brighter tonight :)

    Yeah, not much you can do with colds. Keep them cool, saline drops for the nose and lots of attention...

    Poor bugger.

    Now, any tips for getting my little munchkin to sleep better during the day so that she isn't screaming when I walk in from work because she's "overtired"?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I don't know about yours. Mine tends to fall asleep when you take him for a walk. Carol always goes on about him being "overtired" when he starts crying. How old is yours?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    She's seven weeks.

    We're trying to avoid walking her too much, MoK jnr v1.0 ended up having to be walked or he wouldn't sleep at all. Little fucker he was. MoK jnr v2.0 was a joy in comparison and slept well but seemed to want to know what was going on all the time so we had to find somewhere quiet. MoK jnr v3.0 just doesn't like sleeping although she goes 4hours minimum at night so it's not all bad...

    Have just changed her milk to the hungrier baby version to see if this works.

    Tell you something, they don't warn you about this part in biology lessons at school...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru

    Now, any tips for getting my little munchkin to sleep better during the day so that she isn't screaming when I walk in from work because she's "overtired"?

    carry her in a sling whilst doing other things. Mine always slept a dream in that.

    guess its a bit young to start sleep training.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Put something that the mum has worn recently in there with her.
    Keep her in same place when sleeping as its more settling.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    We're trying to avoid walking her too much, MoK jnr v1.0 ended up having to be walked or he wouldn't sleep at all.

    I know a child like this. Sometimes, he'kk just be rocked to sleep and then will be put down to sleep. But he will only sleep for about 15 minutes before he wakes up crying. Recently though, he's just been put down without being rocked to sleep and will sometimes sleep a little bit longer.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Sofie wrote: »
    I know a child like this. Sometimes, he'kk just be rocked to sleep and then will be put down to sleep. But he will only sleep for about 15 minutes before he wakes up crying. Recently though, he's just been put down without being rocked to sleep and will sometimes sleep a little bit longer.

    i thought you were supposed to put babies down and let them sleep on their own?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    At my nursery, we always go by what the parents want us to do. Basically, if he is just put down without being rocked, he will scream and wake everyone else up.
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