How to baby the flu

December 24, 2008 2:36 AM

How to help a baby with the flu?

Despite the fact that Mr. Llama and myself both got flu shots, Mr. Llama has a terrible case of the flu. He slept from like 10:00 Monday night to 3:00 PM Tuesday afternoon. He's still working through it, but feeling a little better. It seems like it's one of those viruses that's just really nasty -- he said he almost felt like he should go to a hospital, but his temp never went above 99 or so and it's worked out okay. Of course, now I'm starting to get it -- my throat hurts and my eyeballs are hot and things smell weird.

Merry Christmas!

That's not the bad part though. The bad part is our five month old daughter is showing some symptoms -- her nose is running and she seems more tired than she usually does at this time of day. And her eyes are teary. (And before someone dips in with this as the first answer: yes, if she spikes a fever or seems in danger in any way, we'll take her to a hospital.)

In the meantime, though, as we face our first experience with a sick baby: how can we help her be as comfortable as possible? This was a very uncomfortable and unpleasant experience for Mr. Llama, who's not a complainer. Little Llama's not a real big complainer either, but from what I saw of Mr. Llama's experience, we're not in for a real good time, me and her.

We have some infant Tylenol we've given her in the past for teething--does anyone else have any tips or anecdotes or advice for anything else we can do to help a baby through the flu?

(Again -- other than 'seek medical attention' -- our doctor is very responsive and always has someone on call, and we live less than a mile from a hospital -- so we have a few emergency buttons to hit if things get really bad and we'll keep track of her diapers and make sure she's peeing regularly not getting dehydrated and all that stuff -- I'm just talking here about the flu itself--not emergency complications, unless there's some crazy ass emergency complication I'm unaware of.)

posted by A Terrible Llama to health & fitness (16 comments total)

Hydration, tylenol, and attention are the most important things. You have probably seen it but if not, be aware that the FDA does not recommend cold remedies for children under two (and there is little evidence they are good for older kids as well). The American Academy of Pediatrics has some other suggestions.
posted by TedW at 4:13 AM on December 24, 2008

Baby Vicks rub has never seemed to help our kid, but it helps ME, so you might want to give that a try.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 5:27 AM on December 24, 2008

I'm sorry you guys are going through this.......Make sure she's getting enough liquids; our son once got so dehydrated once when he was sick that he was becoming limp and we brought him to the ER. BUT he didn’t want to drink anything either or would throw it up. The physician gave us one of those medicine dispensers, and I would trickle Pediolyte (sp?) down the inside of his mouth.

Dr. Sears always has quick good advice.
posted by texas_blissful at 5:32 AM on December 24, 2008

How to tell if a baby is dehydrated. Make sure you have some rehydration solution (pedialyte, I think) on hand. Lay in supplies for yourself as well. Taking care of a sick family wears you out, and being able to have a good, easy meal will help you get through.
posted by theora55 at 7:28 AM on December 24, 2008

This just happened to my wife and I. Our daughter got sick and then we both got sick and now we're recovering and we're waiting for our son to get sick. Our daughter did have the flu once when she was a baby (9 months so a little bit older) we did do the pedialyte thing also.

Good luck. Hope you guys feel better.
posted by crios at 7:35 AM on December 24, 2008

When my little ones were sick and miserable holding them constantly helped. If you don't have a baby sling, you can fashion one out of a receiving blanket. The stretchy ones seem to work the best. If she starts to get congested, sitting in the bathroom with a steaming hot shower running along with the heater will help open her up.

Don't worry about spoiling her, you and Mr Llama are what she needs for comfort.
posted by JujuB at 8:20 AM on December 24, 2008

A couple of ideas that worked for me and my 3-month-old a couple of weeks ago:

- Don't try and tough it out for the sake of looking after the little one. If you're bed-ridden for a couple of days, just hole up with junior, lots of fluids (for you both) and wait till you feel better.

- Nasal saline drops are brilliant at clearing the nostrils (use about 15-20 minutes before a feed) so that junior can eat and breath at the same time.

Best of luck
posted by dogsbody at 9:08 AM on December 24, 2008

We have a baby with a cold right now. We got him a humidifier, which I like even if I can't tell if it is helping him. Because we were worried about being able to see our doctor over the holidays, we also took him in yesterday. Our doctor said that if we wanted we could see if liquid benadryl helped to dry up the snottiness, though there is a chance that instead of dying up and sleepifying the baby, it would make him hyper instead. We have passed on that for the moment, and are sticking with tylenol and ibuprofen, if only because he is teething at the same time.
posted by procrastination at 9:36 AM on December 24, 2008

I know everyone always recommends a humidifier, or a cool mist vaporizer, but sometimes the thing that has helped us most with cough/congestion is a warm mist vaporizer (they are not expensive).
posted by gudrun at 9:51 AM on December 24, 2008

That menthol baby wash that Johnson & Johnson makes is extremely awesome... even the grownups in the family use it when they're sick. A nice warm bath with that might help a lot.

Menthol + humidifier/vaporizer = win. Once, in a pinch when friends were visiting with a sick baby, I poured that menthol bath wash into my rice steamer with some water, set it near the baby, and just kept topping it up.
posted by Gianna at 10:14 AM on December 24, 2008

Either prop up her crib mattress a few inches so her head is elevated or let her sleep in the carseat. Either put something under the bed feet or under the mattress. It'll help her breathe better if she's stuffy. 2nding Baby Vicks - my 4 month old LOVES it. (Now, my sick baby has to sleep with me, on my arm, and pretty much constantly nursing, but maybe you have better luck than me.)
posted by artychoke at 10:48 AM on December 24, 2008

If it is actually the flu and not a cold, you should see a doctor. The flu is very serious in children under 2, especially in infants. There is a world of difference between the flu and a bad cold. If your baby is ill, check the symptoms with a medical professional. You want to make sure the baby isn't croupy and that sort of thing can change in an instant.

Now, if it's "just" a bad cold, you might want to use a vaporizer or take the baby into the bathroom and run a hot shower (not for the baby). You can roll up a towel and use it to elevate the mattress. (But, if your baby is like mine were, you'll find them in bed with you, nursing around the clock.) Nurse the baby often (or bottle feed, depending on your situation). Look to keep the baby hydrated. Check temperature regularly.

Here in Canada, Vicks is not recommended for children under 12. And flu medications (over the counter) are also not recommended for kids under 6.
posted by acoutu at 10:52 AM on December 24, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

If you are nursing, avoid Pedialyte unless you are specifically instructed to use it by a medical professional. Nursing often is plenty. Seconding sleeping sitting up, vaporizer, and baths. Tepid baths are good for lowering temperature. If you are all sick, consider calling in family to help take care of you and the baby.
posted by crazycanuck at 2:10 PM on December 24, 2008

If baby is congested, then definitely pop out and buy a vaporiser, they are so great. There are menthol liquids you can add to it, but you need to check with the doctor first for such a young baby. If you are breastfeeding, then note that breastmilk is considered a "clear fluid" just like pedialyte, and is superior because it contains all those wonderful custom-made immunities your body is manufacturing against this particular flu/cold strain. If she is throwing up liquids, you will just need to make sure she doesn't nurse for more than a couple of minutes at a time. The saline solution you can squirt up her nose is good for helping to clear out snot, but I gave up on it because my son hated it so much.

Hopefully it's just a cold, good luck!
posted by Joh at 3:02 PM on December 24, 2008

That menthol baby wash that Johnson & Johnson makes is extremely awesome... even the grownups in the family use it when they're sick

Yes, my mom has been known to use it even when she's NOT sick. Anyhow, it's what I popped in to recommend and someone beat me to it!
posted by grapefruitmoon at 4:31 PM on December 24, 2008

Since she was so miserable, and we knew we couldn't see anyone on Christmas, we took her in. Our pediatrician is so great - everything a pediatrician should be. Every visit he gives us a list of things not to worry about. Fever of 103? Not to worry. Big raspy chest congestion? Not to worry. Elevated pulse? Not to worry. Barfs after coughing? Not to worry. She can't breathe through her nose? Snort it out with the big blue bulb. Watch for a dazed expression, inability or disinterest in following mom and dad's movement, listlessness, apathy, limpness...give her Tylenol if the fever gets over 103.5, call if she's dehydrated, here are the signs of dehydration (no tears, inelastic skin, no drool), call if you get freaked out, call if you don't know what to do, call if the fever gets above 103.5 and she's manifesting any of the above. "She looks sick but healthy, if you know what I mean." Also: "You two are in for about three horrible nights."

I just love the guy. I can't believe after the crap experiences with medical professionals that we had having her, that we wound up in such a great practice.

Anyway -- thank you everyone for the comfort tips. I will definitely try some shower steam if it's worse tomorrow and she's more congested. Even though he's saying we don't need to give her Tylenol until there's a fever, she's clearly uncomfortable and I just can't give her nothing for sore throat pain or headache or ear aches or body aches or whatever she's got--probably all of the above. The Tylenol alleviates the severe discomfort and helps her sleep, so we give it to her.

No one is trying to discern whether it's cold or flu, it's a pretty bad, (I always thought that the difference between a cold and a flu--symptomatically--is that a cold is like a thunderstorm and the flu is like a hurricane. This is like a hurricane.) It's all through our extended family, whatever it is. I hope she can beat it off before it gets too bad, but she's just a baby and doesn't have any experience fighting stuff off. I went to the gym and ran three miles and feel better, although I can still feel that edge of sickness creeping in. At any rate I hope I can fend it off until Mr. Llama is less incapacitated. It's 7:30 and Mr. Llama's in bed asleep.

I'm horrified that I forgot Pedialyte when I went to the supermarket earlier, but the pediatrician said not to worry about it. Apparently she's still young enough that she's unlikely to spike one of these crazy 'I can't believe mom and dad don't run to the hospital' fevers that are common in infants.

But I have realized we need some more stuff than infant Tylenol on hand so we'll get this stuff to have per the recommendations above: humidifier/vaporizer and Vicks/menthol stuff and Pedialyte. In the meantime, we're holing up.



Thanks everyone!
posted by A Terrible Llama at 4:52 PM on December 24, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]