# How long do colds last in babies?



## TudoBem (Aug 30, 2004)

I know this is a generic question, but I really have no idea. I guess I'm hoping that everyone will tell me that in BF babies they last 1-3 days? Overly optimistic? My little guy has been sick since last night, and appeared to be feeling a "little" better during the day, but his temperature has been increasing, so I guess not. It's now at around 101 and we're monitoring it every hour. We gave him some infant Tylenol and will go with a tepid bath if it hits 103.
Any ideas on typical time spans of these illnesses? Any other ideas for treatment besides tylenol, humidifiers and aspirating the nose? I bought a homeopathic cold remedy tonight but haven't tried it yet. Has anyone had much success with the homeopathics for colds?


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## mama2four (Jan 16, 2005)

sorry your baby isn't feeling well....
Actually it really depends on what it is, viral or bacterial. I dont want to frighten you but my dd2 had a throat infection at 3.5 months and ended up in the hospital for 5 days on iv antibiotics and breathing treatments for a wheezy chest. If the fever lasts for more than 2-3 days or gets really high I would take him to the ped just to make sure what it is. Better safe than sorry!!


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## TudoBem (Aug 30, 2004)

I'm pretty sure it's viral. He's doesn't appear really sick, either. He has his bouts of coughing and was spitting up a lot last night, but in between smiles, laughs and enjoys playing. He should be completely exhausted because he hasn't slept nearly enough, but it's harder for him to sleep with the congestion. We've been holding him upright mostly or trying to keep him at an incline. The hard thing is that we've always had to use the sling to get him to sleep and can't right now because the constriction and angle aggravates him. So we're holding him up and trying to get him to sleep as best we can. We called the ped. and are following their advice. I would be very concerned if he appeared lethargic or in a lot of pain, but fortunately it doesn't appear to be the case.
But it's awful to see him going through the discomfort, we're worried because of the fever (esp. being he's our first baby and this is the first cold), and also we're going on about 4 hours of sleep ourselves, so we're hoping it won't last much longer.
Any ideas of typical time frames?


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## mama2four (Jan 16, 2005)

you're doing all the right things mama, just keep an eye on him. From my experience unmedicated colds can go on for a week, try bfeeding him as much as you can as well. I hope he feels better soon, it's so heartbreaking when they are small and ill...


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## amyrobynne (May 28, 2003)

My son's earlier colds went away pretty quickly (he was exclusively breastfed for 6 months, then we slowly began solids). He and I both had a couple colds where he was sick maybe 5 days but I stayed sniffly for 2 weeks. Apparently, the breastmilk made him recuperate faster, but the extra strain on my body slowed my own recovery.


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## EviesMom (Nov 30, 2004)

My dd went to bed last night feeling very slightly warm but no cough, sneezing, runny nose, or irritable. After I went to bed, she started sleeping fitfully, and today she's got a runny nose and a cough. This is my 10 month old's second cold though, so I can tell you what we did last time!

She was definitely worse at night, her fever would go up then and I was hesitant to use baby tylenol because she was still ebf and I didn't want all the artificial colors and flavors in her body. (Dh was allergic to artificial colors/flavors as a child, they made him hyper and unable to sleep, and I did NOT want her to have that reaction. I *might* use the baby tylenol this time, we'll see.)

She vomited once or twice at about 8pm on the first 4 nights. She'd cry and cry, refusing to nurse, no holding position seemed to help either although layind down was worst, vomit up mucus, and then she'd be back to fairly normal. The ped said it was common with head colds where the baby has post nasal drip running into their stomachs, which makes their stomach queasy. This was the scariest thing for me, and I'm just DREADING the thought that it could happen again!

I bought both a baby version of Vick's Vaporrub and an all natual baby bath that's supposed to be soothing for colds and smells kinda like the baby vicks. Post puke, every night, she and I had a warm bath with the soothing bath stuff, which would get her nose running, we'd use the bulb syringe to make it easier for her to breathe, and then she'd nurse to sleep in the rocking chair. I put the baby vicks on when she woke up during the night, and tried to nurse sitting up.

How long it lasts, ours was 2 bad nights, 2 slightly better nights, then a day or two of more tired than usual and a bit of snotty nose lingering, then we were done.


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## shaper (Oct 26, 2004)

My little guy (6.5 months) is just getting over a cold now.. he's had it about a week.. as upbeat through the whole thing as you could expect him to be.. he was quite congested, coughing a lot, slight fever, runny nose & vomitted twice from coughing (got his gag reflex going). he is breastfed. he's a lot better today though. not as snuffly/rattly in his chest. no more cough. just a bit of congestion/runny nose. hope your guy is feeling better.


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## TudoBem (Aug 30, 2004)

Well, my little guy seems to be doing a bit better. His temperature is normal now and the congestion seems to have lessened. He seems hoarse, though, so I'm wondering if his throat is pretty sore. It probably will be about a full week until he's 100%. Today I carried him in our Ergo and that worked out well because he was able to be upright and sleep. He was able to lay in bed with us last night, so that really helped. It's so hard when these babies are sick! I was hoping we'd be able to make it a bit longer before our first cold...


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## shaper (Oct 26, 2004)

I thought it'd be longer til the first cold too







Glad to hear he's feeling better though - the ergo helped us a lot too! also, putting him to sleep on an incline.

Btw, i checked out your pictures - the snowman picture made me laugh out loud - what cute guy!!!


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## cyrusmama (Oct 17, 2004)

Cy had his first cold right before christmas. He got it from dh and I got it from him. I bf and stayed in bed with him as much as I could. It lasted about a week. He was warm 2 days then coughy sneezy for a couple days then just not himself for a couple days. But he was still playful and smiley through it all.


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