Cough and cold season!!

I think that the worst time for any parent is when their child falls ill. It may be as simple as common cold, but seeing your child suffering added to the fact that he can't really tell you what the matter is, is rather frustrating. Cold and cough and viral are an essential part of everyone's childhood, because they help develop a child's immunity. My issue has always been the antibiotics prescribed by the doctors.. I would always have to force feed them to my son, and because of them, he would completely lose his appetite.

Mainly because of my past dealings with indian pediatricians, I was quite taken aback with the doctors here in Amsterdam. Firstly, there is one doctor for the entire family. You have to register before you can take any appointments with him/her. Until today, whenever I have gone to the doctor, for me or my son, their only advice has been have warm tea and take rest. They firmly believe that comman cold does not get cured with medicine. Infact, we once woke up in the middle of the night with Vihaan coughing badly (he sounded like a dog!!) I got really scared and we called the emergency.

They sent an ambulance with team of emergency medical professionals. When they came, the first thing they asked me to do is to take vihaan in the shower and fill it up with steam to help clear his airway. They even had the nebulization kits, but whenever they would hold it against my son, he would start crying. And they said, if he will cry we can't hold it against him (again a huge change from india, where the nurse asked me to hold my son tight while she forcefully held the mask against my son :P Finally they asked if we would like to go to the doctors, which we jumped at. So they took us to the hospital, where a doctor checked him and said that all he needs is warm tea!! I would have blown out at that time, except V had become totally normal. By the time we came back home, he was running around his usual self and we even went to a birthday party in the afternoon :-O

This was an year ago, and now, must say, I have become a pro at taking care of V when he has cough and cold. So here are my top tips for flu season.

1) Eucalyptus oil on clothes or the bed where the baby sleeps. The smell helps the baby breathe easier. for smaller babies, make sure it is not too strong. some mummas keep cut onions need the babies bed side. it also works as a decongestant for the nose. I have capsules similar to the image attached. you have to cut the capsule and spread the contents over the baby's clothes.

2) Saline spray can be used to clear baby's nose. If you are adventurous enough, you can make your own spray. Or you can ask your doctor to recommend an over the counter ready made spray.

3) Steam treatment.
For small babies: take your child in the bathroom, turn on the shower at the highest temperature you can (make sure your child is safe from the hot water). The hot water will generate steam turning your bathroom into a steam room. stay in the room with your child for 15-20 mins. Do this 2-3 times in a day.
For bigger children, you may try the steam machines. but be extremely careful.




4)Warm tea (not the indian chai). This is basically a tea bag steeped in hot water for a minute with a bit of honey/sugar. You get flavoured tea bags too (with ginger or other herbs). Or you can boil water with fennel seeds and elaichi with a dash of honey/sugar. taste the tea before u give it to your child to check that it is not too hot. (this remedy is for babies above 5 months or those who have started water or outside food, not for exclusively breastfed babies.)



5) Raising the head level when sleeping also helps baby sleep better.This can be done by placing a folded towel underneath the bed cover.

6) Finally check out this link. It has some wonderful do's and don't for avoiding the flu and also for emergencies.

Always trust your mumma instincts, if you feel that there is something wrong and that you need to show the doctor.. do it!! The doctor will not scold or reprimand you for doing so :)