“You’re welcome for the all-too gross, yet familiar sight. This picture always reminds me of a scene from “Little Giants.”‘
It is the season for stuffy noses and coughs. When your littles are really little there’s not a whole lot you can do to relieve their terrible discomfort. Especially the much dreaded night-time stuffies.
They’re tired, they’re sick, not feeling like themselves, and just plain stuffed up.
Here are a few things you can try to help relieve you little one.
- Room Humidifier or Vaporizer: just be sure to double check if you add any essential oils if they are appropriate for your child’s age
- Baby Vapor Rub (yes there is a difference from regular) we put this on our littles’ backs/chest/ and feet.
- Zarbees Cough Syrup+Mucus this works great to help soothe and clear out tough mucus (there’s a night time kind available) kind of expensive but oh so worth it!
- Johnson and Johnson Baby Vapor Bubble Bath pure gold.
- The good old booger sucker I know there’s probably another name for this but you know what I’m talking about. When it comes to too much snot the last thing you want is for it to block airways or collect in your child’s lung. So if there’s a lot we will pull out the handy dandy booger sucker. (Not the one where you suck it out with your mouth, that’s just weird).
- Bath or Shower. While we usually go for a bath for our littles a warm shower can really help. You can also try a shower/bath bomb with Eucalyptus, Menthol, and or Peppermint (just again be careful and mindful of how strong these are) we’ve gotten ours from Meijer, Target, and the best are from Naples Soap Company. Sometimes your child can easily be de-stuffed up just by being in the bathroom while you run a hot shower. When they’re done bathing be sure to clear out the snot loosened during the bath or shower.
- Rest: sometimes this may mean sitting in a chair with them while they sleep upright, so they can breathe. Of course just be safe if you are co-sleeping.
- Sometimes your Doctor may recommend Tylenol or Motrin. We usually buy an off brand with no dye.
- Fresh Air– now of course don’t take them out into the tundra or around others too much but even getting out and moving (if they’re up for it) can help tremendously. Just don’t over do it.
- Plenty of Fluids avoid anything like heavy milk, dyed fluids like juice, and stick with water. Sometimes kids will puke if they’ve been swallowing too much mucus.
Most importantly try to keep your little one comfortable and happy. While these things may help I’ll be perfectly honest, having sick little ones is one of the hardest parts of young parenting.
You will likely have to experience feeling helpless in caring for your sick child. It’s painful seeing them hurting. You were probably already exhausted before they were sick then you enter a whole new level of exhaustion you didn’t know existed. Not to mention routines, household chores, and work schedules will be catapulted into next week.
And be prepared…once your little ones are just feeling better…you’ll probably be the next to get sick.
*I am in no way a medical professional just speaking from experience. If you have a sick kid don’t hesitate to seek treatment from your doctor.
Tabitha Sprunger 