So where did we leave off yesterday? OH yeah, it was the third week of Aria’s existence and I was already failing as a mom! She had the absolute worst cold, she was so congested she couldn’t even drink milk properly. It was the absolute worst feeling to know that she was not well, and there was not much I could do about it.

My best friend at the time (Google) told me that when a child so young has a cold it CAN be dangerous, as well as gave me some examples of very unfortunate cases which haunt me till this day (Google and I are no longer on good terms).

I was watching Aria like a hawk day and night to make sure she was ok, I would even watch her while she took a nap to make sure she was still breathing.

We called TeleHealth and they told us to go to the ER (of course, when do they ever tell us anything different?!) Thankfully, the doctors confirmed it was ‘just a cold’, nothing too serious. Since she was so little, we couldn’t give her any medication, just home remedies to help make her feel more comfortable. I think it’s safe to say, I tried Every. Single. Piece Of. Advice. Anyone. Had. Offered. I just wanted my baby to get better.

Below I’ve outlined some of the things that helped us survive Aria’s first cold. I resort to this list every time Aria gets sick, which is a lot (don’t worry 8 – 10 times a year is normal – Google said so).

Warning: if you get queasy easily, don’t continue reading. I go into detail about how well these techniques work; there will be a lot of talk about mucus. You have been warned, ok lets continue.

Steam

The first thing I do at the sight of a stuffy nose is give Aria steam. All you have to do is turn the shower on, set it to the highest setting, close the door for 5 minutes and let the steam gather. Once it’s nice and steamy, take your child into the bathroom, close the door and spend about 5 – 10 minutes breathing in the steam. This should loosen up some of the congestion in the nose and make it easier for the mucus to escape.

Hydrasense Nasal Aspirator

This is BY FAR the best baby purchase I have made till date. It’s basically a snot sucker. You put one end into the baby’s nostril, the other end into your mouth and literally suck the boogies out. I know, I know it sounds disgusting, but there’s a filter in the middle that keeps the boogies from traveling into your mouth. Trust me, when my cousin first told me about this contraption, I was quite disgusted and vowed that I would never use such a nasty thing. And look at me now, giving it a special mention on my blog, damn I have come a long way as a mama!

Humidifier

I never thought we needed a humidifier because we have a central humidifier in our home. However every doctor we visited told us to get a humidifier for her room, so we did. The first night we turned the humidifier on even I could feel it working, I woke up feeling like I needed to blow my nose. The humidifier does a great job of keeping your airways hydrated, and prevents buildup of…you guessed it…MUCUS! We have this one and I absolutely love it! It even has an led light option with 7 different colours! (I promise that’s not the ONLY reason why we got it)

Caffeine

This one’s for you mama! A sick child often calls for a lot of sleepless nights. Choose your choice of caffeine and keep it handy. I can usually tell when Aria is about to get sick because the nights leading up to it, she wakes up crying every 30 – 40 minutes. It’s absolutely brutal, by the time I put her to sleep and finally fall asleep myself, she is up again! Needless to say, I’ve made a new best friend. Keurig meet my internet peeps, peeps meet Keurig.

 Patience

It can be hard taking care of a sick baby (sometimes I feel like I’m stating the obvious…like no duh Sherlock). It’s ok to have hard days, and ADMIT they were hard. I have to say, I usually cry once every time Aria gets sick, either because I feel bad for her, or because she’s not eating or sleeping, or just because I’m so exhausted. Stay strong and know that your child WILL get better, their nose WILL be clear once again, and they WILL sleep through the night again.

Hope you found this a little bit helpful; if you’re nursing a sick baby right now, I hope they feel better soon. If you have another trick up your sleeve, leave a comment down below and share your wealth of knowledge, Aria or another baby might benefit from it!

Thank you for joining me for #blogcember day 6, I’ll catch you all tomorrow, when I’ll try to have my post up BEFORE midnight (face palm).

Hugs and kisses to all!