Baby's First Cold What To Expect

Baby's First Cold What To Expect: The Items that Got Me Through My Baby's First Cold

I am not a doctor, just a first-time mom that struggled to get through her baby’s first cold. I imagine baby's first cold made other parents scared, anxious, and worried, too, and so today, I am dedicating this post to talk about baby's first cold, what to expect and what you can do to help babies get through it.

Babies are born with some level of immunity against common colds, but their immune systems are not mature enough to fight off germs and bacteria in the environment, making them more at risk to get viral infections that cause cold. Miles was born pre-mature (six weeks early) so I was especially worried about his immune system. We knew the first cold was inevitable, but we still struggled when it finally arrived.

Baby's First Cold What To Expect

If you don’t have kids, then you might not know that there is very little you can give a baby when they get a cold. It is heartbreaking because they just look so miserable - they can’t breathe well, it seemed like our little guy got scared when he’d wake up unable to breathe as normal, and I imagine his little body just felt so blah. Although I know in my head that getting colds is normal and can help make baby’s immune system stronger, it can still be hard for a baby and especially the parents. The first night my baby woke up every 30-60 minutes, it was rough for everyone. Each night got a little better, but we were struggling to figure out a solution. As a parent, all you want to do is make it better for them but they can’t take medicine to relieve their symptoms like we can. So I asked everyone I knew, including friends and doctors, and these are the items that helped us through that first cold.

The Items that Got Me Through My Baby's First Cold

Baby Cold Symptoms

• Fever

• Runny nose/ nasal discharge

• Cough or sneeze

• Congestion/ trouble breathing

Are Baby Colds Contagious

In my experience, yes! After our baby started getting over his symptoms I started exhibiting symptoms and then a few days later my husband got the cold. According to my doctor, they can be contagious a few days before their symptoms appear and continue to be contagious until their symptoms have completely cleared. Although we did our best to keep the rest of the family from catching the cold, it is difficult for care-givers to keep their distance and consistently wash their hands. In fact, we wanted to snuggle him even more to calm and comfort him while he wasn’t feeling well. Colds generally aren’t dangerous, but they’re heartbreaking and tough on their little bodies (and the parents’ patience). But you know your baby best, if you have concerns reach out to your baby’s doctor.

Essentials List For Treating Cold In Newborns

Nanit Pro

When your baby isn’t breathing well, anxiety can be high. I found that our baby monitor, the Nanit Pro, helped eased my concerns about how our baby was doing during naps and at night.

Nanit Breathing Band

These work with the Nanit baby monitor to track your baby’s breathing. If baby ever stops breathing, the monitor will alert you. This helped ease our anxiety and allowed us to rest more peacefully at night.

ErgoBaby Omni Breeze

While our baby had a cold, he could breathe more easily when he was upright and he often fussed more when he was on his back or belly. My arms were dying so we switched to carrying him around in the ErgoBaby - both of us were happier this way.

Haaka Aspirator

You have to get that gunk out of their nose somehow. We purchased a couple of nasal aspirators but we liked this one so that we could easily see what we were extracting, if anything.

FridaBaby 3-in-1 Humidifier

My mom sent this to us and we set it up right next to his crib. The Nanit Pro measures the humidity in the air so we could tell that it was working when it was on and could adjust as needed based on the Nanit’s reading.

Breathe Frida Vapor Drops

There isn’t a lot you can do for babies with colds, so we tried everything we could, including these vapor drops.

BreatheFrida Vapor Wipes

Friends suggested I rub this on his chest, under his nose, and on the bottoms of his feet.

Baby Medicine Dispenser

We called our doctor and spoke to a nurse just to make sure there wasn’t more we could do for our baby. He just seemed so miserable - she gave us the green light to give him Tylenol as needed. He sucked it right down with this dispenser.

Wine

Reward yourself with a little R and R - those first colds are a doozy and you earned a little treat.