What can I do to help my 1 year old with a cold feel better?

[Anonymous]

DD has had a cold for a few days now. She is fine when awake but seems really uncomfortable at naptimes and bedtime. So much so that she has been skipping naps. She is struggling to BF because she is all stuffed up. At night, the phlegm is making her cough and she has thrown up as a result. We've been using the nosefrida. What else can we do to make her feel better?

[Anonymous]

My doctor told me to give my 1 year old son 1 teaspoon of children's benadryl. It made a WORLD of difference. I only gave it to him for a couple of days because he was miserable and no one was getting sleep.

[Anonymous]

My 2 year old has a little cold too. I take him into the bathroom and put the shower on all the way to hot and then just hold him and let him breathe the steam for 10-15 minutes. It seems to help a bit, especially to clear up congestion in his throat. We do a a tiny bit of generic Benedryl too.

[Anonymous]

I put Vicks on their clothes/shoulders so they breath it in when they sleep. Make sure you have a humidifier too (it's dry if you have A/C).

[Anonymous]

Sleeping slightly upright seems to help my 5 mo old. I strap him into his stroller because he loves to sleep there anyway, but you could also tilt the crib mattress slightly by putting a rolled-up towel underneath.
We also do the steam baths (put him in a bouncy in our bathroom while we shower).

[jloukiss]

I agree with the inclined bed, humidifier. I also use the saline nasal spray and nasal saline gel (for overnight). Little noses also makes a decongestant nasal spray which you could use for a day or two. Steamy bathrooms for sure... also, encourage her to blow her nose--my son was able to do that, which helps a lot.

Hang in there!!

[Anonymous]

We used Pedicare Vapor Plug In. It helpd our DS get through the night.

[Anonymous]

humidifier at night, and if it's really, really bad, we use 1 ml of children's dimetapp. our pedi said this was OK if the baby was so congested they couldn't nurse or was coughing so much they couldn't sleep.

[Anonymous]

lots of bathtime, with splashing of water. if, while playing, you can get water on her face, the sneezing and coughing help her get rid of her phlegm. plus, the moisture (like the steam baths and humidifier suggestions) will help.

you can put books under the feet of the crib to create an incline.

i hope she gets well soon!