So when he started out sneezing away on Christmas Eve, we didn't think much of it. But by 8pm, he was asleep on my dad's shoulder, and could barely breathe out of his nose. My little tater tot had gotten his first cold.
Even though it hasn't seemed to affect him much -- he's still rolling around, smiling and giggling like usual -- he's now developed a whole LOT of congestion and a cough. Sometimes it's just a barely-there cough, sometimes it's a hack. Sometimes he has a normal pitch to his "voice," sometimes he accidentally blows a snot bubble or two (hey, you do what you do).
We've tried everything -- saline nose drops/suctioning his nose with the bulb, slightly elevating one side of the mattress, a humidifier/vaporizer, Vicks on his chest and on his feet (myth), taking him in the bathroom when I shower, a little Tylenol to help with a sore throat, and patting his pack to try to break up the mucus -- and nothing but time is seeming to ease this cold.
We had to bring him to his pediatrician for his six-month appointment about two weeks ago and asked about the cold while we were there. The doctor -- who is actually a nurse practitioner, doctors only do 'sick visits' -- recommended giving him a breathing treatment on a nebulizer in the office. She said she'd heard slight wheezing, and would like to listen to his chest after the treatment to see if it had any effect. In the end, she said she didn't hear a difference, but when I saw how the treatment was administered, I don't see how it could have.
Whereas an older child or adult would place the breathing tube in their mouth and take deep breaths, we had to hold the tube over the baby's upper lip. The idea is that he breathes it in through his nose and mouth. But to me, it seemed he giggled and laughed and I saw more of the treatment in the air than going into his nose.
The NP decided to delay the shots the baby was scheduled for until he seemed a bit better -- three weeks from then. Here we are two weeks later, and he doesn't seem to be improving at all. We brought him back to the doctor last Friday after my mother-in-law told us he'd had a little diarrhea the afternoon before. When we called to check with the doctor, they were concerned about the combination of that AND the cold, and asked us to bring him in. And a lot of good that did -- they said he was 'perfectly fine,' and that the cough was a result of post-nasal drip, which would "go away once the weather gets warmer."
So… are we supposed to wait three months for the baby to stop coughing? They said originally that it could also be a virus in babies called RSV, but even if it was, nothing could be done about it. Thanks, doc.
Granted, I'm a new mom, but my mom-sense is telling me that maybe it's time for us to take his healing into our own hands. Dr. Sears says Children's Tylenol Cold Plus Cough (liquid) is safe for babies six months and up, in tiny recommended doses. We bought some at the store, but have yet to give it to him. When my husband asked the doctor about it, she said OTC products are ridiculous for young children because "their metabolisms are so high that you'd have to give such a high dose that they'd have side effects." This makes absolutely no sense to me.
When your kids are sick, what do you do for them? And, when do you use your mom- (or dad-) sense over what a doctor says?
