What kind of home remedies for cold I can use for my seven months old baby?
Babies are quite prone to catching a common cold and may suffer up to ten infections in the first two years of life after birth. Since a common cold is caused by a virus, there is no cure for it and treating the condition can only be done by treating the symptoms and hoping that your baby’s immune system works well enough to resist any infections.
The main reason that babies get a cold is because of a dry atmosphere that allows viruses to be transmitted as an airborne disease. Coupled with this is the fact that sometimes your child might be sharing a space with another child who might have a cold. The main task is to ensure that the cold is not going out of hand and that a very high fever, a blocked ear, or sputum stained with blood does not occur. At seven months of age, your baby is old enough to take analgesic medicine at the correct dosage for the child’s age. Do not under any circumstances try to administer acetylsalicylic acid to the infant. This could lead to brain and liver disorders. The same rule applies to many decongestants as they have little effect on infants and can cause many side effects on them as well. The most effective decongestant that you can use is steam and you can help decongest your child’s nasal tract by sitting in a steam-filled bathroom. You can repeat this same strategy in your child’s room by using a humidifier. Remember to be nearby when your child is sick and never leave his or her side at this fragile time. Ensure that you child is also getting a lot of fluids. This is to ensure that any mucus build up does not change to a tougher viscosity as it then becomes more difficult for the child to expel. The normal mode of expelling phlegm for a baby is to sneeze it out and you can aid this by tickling the baby’s nose with a sterile piece of thread. If this is not possible then you might have to buy a suction pump and use it to suck the mucus out of the baby’s nose.
Since your child is so young, there are very few home remedies that should be tried out as many of the herbs and lotions used can have side effects that only adults are able to withstand and tolerate.
