Common cold in babies
Diagnosis
If your baby is under 3 months old, contact his or her doctor as soon as possible. It’s especially important to check for a more serious illness in newborns, especially if your baby has a fever.
In general, if your older baby has a common cold, you do not need to see a doctor. If you have any questions, or if your baby’s symptoms worsen or do not go away, you should consult a doctor.
A common cold can be diagnosed by your baby’s doctor based on his or her signs and symptoms. If your doctor suspects your baby is suffering from a bacterial infection or another condition, he or she may order a chest X-ray or other tests to rule out other possible causes of your baby’s symptoms.
Treatment
The common cold has no treatment. The common cold usually clears up on its own within a week to ten days, but a cough can last for a week or more. Antibiotics are ineffective against cold viruses.
Make your baby more comfortable by ensuring he or she drinks enough fluids, suctioning nasal mucus, and keeping the air moist.
Over-the-counter (OTC) medications should be avoided in babies in general.
Fever-reducing medications
If your child is suffering from a fever, you can treat it with over-the-counter fever reducers. These medications, however, do not kill the cold virus. Because fever is part of your child’s natural response to the virus, allowing him or her to have a low-grade fever may be beneficial.
Consider giving your child infant or children’s over-the-counter fever and pain medications such as acetaminophen (Tylenol, etc.) or ibuprofen for fever or pain (Advil, Motrin, others). These are less dangerous alternatives to aspirin.
Do not give acetaminophen to children under 3 months old until they have been examined by a doctor. Ibuprofen should not be given to a child younger than 6 months old, or to children who are constantly vomiting or dehydrated. Use these medications for as little time as possible. If you give your child a pain reliever, carefully follow the dosing instructions. If you have any questions about the proper dosage for your baby, contact your doctor.
Children and teenagers with chicken pox or flu-like symptoms should never take aspirin. This is due to the fact that aspirin has been linked to Reye’s syndrome, a rare but potentially fatal condition in such children.
Cough and cold medications
Infants and young children should not be given cough and cold medications. OTC cough and cold medications do not treat the underlying cause of a child’s cold, will not make it go away faster, and can be harmful to your baby. Cough and cold medications can have serious side effects, including fatal overdoses in children under the age of two.
Except for fever reducers and pain relievers, do not use over-the-counter medications to treat coughs and colds in children under the age of six. Consider avoiding the use of these medications in children under the age of 12.
Lifestyle and home remedies
Most colds in older babies can be treated at home. Try some of these ideas to make your baby as comfortable as possible:
Provide plenty of fluids. Liquids are essential for preventing dehydration. The best option is formula or breast milk. Encourage your baby to drink the recommended amount of fluids. Extra fluids are not required. Maintain your breastfeeding schedule. Breast milk provides additional protection against cold-causing germs.
Suction the nose of your child. Using a rubber-bulb syringe, keep your baby’s nasal passages clear. To expel the air, squeeze the bulb syringe. Then, insert the tip of the bulb, pointing toward the back and side of the nose, about 1/4 to 1/2 inch (about 6 to 12 millimeters) into your baby’s nostril.
Hold the bulb in place while it suctions the mucus from your baby’s nose. Remove the syringe from your baby’s nostril and squeeze the bulb rapidly while holding the tip down to empty the contents onto a tissue. Repeat for each nostril as necessary. Soap and water should be used to clean the bulb syringe.
Try using nasal saline drops. Saline nasal drops may be recommended by your baby’s doctor to moisten nasal passages and loosen thick nasal mucus. Look for these over-the-counter drops at your local pharmacy. Apply saline nasal drops, wait a few minutes, and then use a suction bulb to clear mucus from each nostril.
Make the air moist. A cool-water humidifier in your baby’s room can help relieve nasal congestion. Change the water on a daily basis and clean the unit according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
