Colds are called common as most of us are infected by a viral infection once in a while. There is no known cure or vaccine to help us avoid common cold and the virus that causes it is one of the strongest known to mankind. As we grow up, we slowly develop immunity against common cold and are hence infected only rarely but this is not the case with young children and infants.
Even healthy babies are infected about six to nine times in a year and this is really rough for the baby’s nose. These infections, however, do not do any long term harm and are instrumental in the baby building up immunity for fighting the same viruses in life.
This is of little consolation as at the particular time the baby is sick and is troubled by these viruses. The following steps need to be followed to treat baby’s cold and to survive the cold winter months:
1. Mucus needs to be monitored – Babies normally breathe through the nose and have a lot of difficulty in breathing through the mouth. Common cold results in mucus stuffing up the nose, which can make the baby extremely uncomfortable and does not allow him or her to sleep properly.
This can be easily countered by using saline drops to soften the mucus and sucking it out with a suction bulb. The baby would then be able to breathe normally and get a good sleep, which will help develop immunity to fight the viruses.
2. Increase the relative humidity – In the cold winter months all of us need to use heating systems to maintain a comfortable and healthy indoor environment. These system suck in the moisture from the rooms where they are used and result in dry air, which increases the congestion.
This dry air can be easily eliminated by the use of warm mist humidifiers that increase the humidity of the air to the desired level and help keep the baby and all other individuals comfortable and healthy.
3. Raise the head – An extra pillow placed under the mattress goes a long way in helping the baby breathe properly.
4. Use ointments – A small amount of ointment or petroleum jelly needs to be applied to the nose of the baby to prevent reddening and chapping of skin.
5. Increase the fluid intake – A baby’s cold is best fought by increasing the fluid intake, which takes care of the water loss due to a runny nose of fever. |
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