Baby sniffles
All of us managed to catch colds last week, so […]
All of us managed to catch colds last week, so we spent a lot of our time indoors trying to recover. Anaïs was the first to get a case of the sniffles, but after a lot of vitamin C and long naps, she bounced right back. Then, Jesse was next, which meant homemade chicken noodle soup for dinner two nights in a row until he was feeling better.
Finally, it hit me, and all I wanted to do was stay in bed and sleep it off all day, which of course, is nearly impossible with an exclusively breastfeeding infant. Although I didn’t sleep as much as I wanted to, I did get a lot of downtime with tremendous help from Jesse. I stayed in pajamas for most of the day and had Akira nearby to nurse when he needed to be fed. I was so happy that Akira wasn’t feeling run down and was his usual happy self. I attributed it to my breast milk.
And then it hit him.
The poor baby sounded like a little piglet when he tried to breathe because he was so stuffed up! And because he was having trouble breathing through his nose, he would cough through his frustration. Every time I nursed him, I felt so bad because he was having trouble, constantly unlatching himself to take in some air and then going back to eating. It was clearly bothering him, and he would wince and cry each time he had to eat.
I tried using a bulb syringe to get the majority of the snot out of his nose, but I don’t think I’m the first mom to think that those things are pretty useless and kind of gross (I mean … how much snot actually stays in the bulb after trying to expel it?). And then I remembered that we were gifted a Nosefrida at our baby sprinkle.
You guys! Do you know the miracle godsend that is the Nosefrida? Let me tell you. It may seem disgusting—you have to use your mouth to literally suck out the snot from his nose using a tube—but this thing works like a charm. And because there is a disposable filter, you don’t actually get any snot in your mouth. All the pieces can be taken apart and sterilized by washing them in boiling water. The best part: Akira could breathe again!
Then I read this amazing article on how breastmilk is not only beneficial, but also the act of breastfeeding is, too. It was mind-blowing to learn that nursing him would change the composition of my milk and help him to recover faster, giving him antibodies to fight the cold. Isn’t that incredible? Thankfully he’s no longer clogged up and is back to business.
The first time Anaïs had a cold was right around the same age Akira is now. I remember being terrified. Even though she didn’t have a fever and was acting the same but just a little bit sleepier, I was a new mom and was insecure in what I could do. This time? I knew it was just a minor cold that would resolve itself with no issue. It’s amazing what experience and a little more confidence can do for a mom.