What to Do When Your Baby Gets a Cold

In your baby’s first few months of life, you’ll experience many firsts. One of the hardest firsts to support your baby through is their first cold. A sick infant is scary for any parent. I know when my first kid got his first cold, I was distraught and would’ve done anything to make him feel even slightly more comfortable. I panicked and called the pediatrician the second he started sneezing. Turns out, there’s not much that can be done for the common cold except to help manage baby’s symptoms and wait it out. When you notice your infant is feeling under the weather, check out this guide on what to do when your baby gets a cold, so you don’t have to panic the way I did.

Keep baby hydrated and nourished

Y’all know how you don’t want to eat as much when you’re feeling sick? The same thing might happen to your sick baby, which makes feeding them so much harder. If you’re nursing, try to feed your baby in a sitting up position (tricky, I know, but it can help baby get more down). If you’re bottle-feeding, try to feed your baby in a similar sitting up position. Getting enough food can help your little bundle of joy keep up their strength to fight off the cold and develop tiny antibodies.

Try to relieve congestion

I know when my babies got sick they were both full of phlegm and so congested. Poor little infants aren’t strong enough yet to cough productively, so the decongesting is your job as a parent. There are many ways to relive baby congestion. I always put on a humidifier in my kids’ rooms and used a baby booger picker tool to remove excess boogers. I would also have my husband hold our baby in the bathroom while I took a steamy shower to help drain our baby’s nostrils. Always check your methods with your kid’s pediatrician before trying new things with your baby.

Watch for signs of more serious conditions

Always be on the lookout for potentially scarier symptoms your baby might display. If your infant is under three months old and has a fever above 100 degrees, call your pediatrician and consider taking them in to get a check-up. If your baby is over three months old, call the doctor if a fever persists for more than three days or rises above 102 degrees. You know your baby better than anyone; if you notice they aren’t being themselves or seem to be tugging at their ears, take them in. It never hurts to double-check that it really is just a cold.