Common cold to 6-month old

I am posting this for the benefit of all the parents who go through this experience the first time.

Our son fell ill with common cold just after a week he completed 6 months. It was due to weather change.

Symptoms and his general behavior:

• running nose
• cough, made a sound like something is stuck in his throat. Guess its the phlegm which he either used to vomit or pass it in stools. 
• was active and playing normally.
• no fever
• At night, his nose got blocked due to which he found it difficult to breathe. 

Treatment

First we took him to our nearby paediatrician, he prescribed some syrup for cough and nose and nebuliser sessions twice a day for three days. For 10 years, I have been a chronic asthma patient and was on inhalers and nebulisers. Therefore, I was totally against it for a small child who is still in his developmental stages. But considering that it will take a few hours before we could talk to our family homoeo doc and get the medicine we put our son through the ordeal of the nebuliser. And what a way he cried those 10 minutes, my God!!! After that, we never took him back for another session.

Later that evening our homoeo doc prescribed us BC-6, 2 globules with breastmilk three times a day. By the third dose, we could see marked improvement. Beside the medicine, we were giving him home-made chicken soup and tulsi ka kadha or basil-leaves decoction. He enjoyed drinking both and it gave him relief too. 

At nights, we used to elevate his head a little so that he can breathe seamlessly till the nose blockage got alright. Also, we put nasoclear drops in his nose at night before sleeping for further relief. 

Since it was monsoon, there was large variation in temperatures. At times, it will be humid and lead to perspiration and other days it will be very cold. So, we took constant care that he was properly clothed. Always watched out for sweating as sweating can aggravate the problem. So, I used to put a thin cotton undershirt and then hosiery full hands tee shirt and thick pyjamas. If there was sweating I would take off the top layer shirt, powder him a little and put on a fresh one.

Thankfully, we do not have an air-conditioner. Closed rooms are catalysts for common cold, thus, we kept the room well-ventilated. 

CAVEAT - Whoever is taking care of the baby, will invariably catch the cold. If the baby is on breastfeeding, then mother can take care by putting on a scarf on her face while feeding. But, still probability is high that mother will get it. Thus, better if father remains a little away from the baby so that in case mother is unwell, atleast father is healthy enough to take care of both the baby and the mother! We did not anticipate it and both of us caught cold and realised our folly. 

Medicines, soups, aerated rooms, proper clothing, are all the physical aspects of nursing. The most important thing that the baby seeks during this time is lot of cuddling and hugging to provide that warmth and security. 

This was our experience and how we managed it. There are many other ways and will be glad if readers share their experiences too! :)

Developmental stages - 0 to 7 months

Congratulations to you if you have your new-born infant in your arms and best wishes to those who are expecting in a few months.

Allow me to share some of our experiences.
Having delivered the baby, when we saw our child the first time, we had many concerns about his forehead(which was not visible at all), eyes which were partially closed, shape of the head and many similar ones. But then our parents and the doctor assured that there is no need to worry as you will observe lot of changes in the coming months and surely we did. And as time passed, we were surprised ourselves how our son has been evolving mentally and physically. Now he is 6 months old and thus, thought of sharing these developments in this post.

0 Month

Physical development

Shape of the head:

Our son's head gradually started changing its shape from egg-like to more circular. My mom-in-law had gifted us a pillow with a depression in the middle for the head. This probably helped in changing the shape.

Some traditional ideas:

a) Fill a cloth with Rai or mustard seeds and stitch it in the shape of a pillow. This helps in shaping the head. We did not try it as mustard is very heaty and were unsure of its effects.

b) Wound little firmly, a soft cotton cloth around the head in circular shape. Tried this for a while, but our son seemed irritated by it so did not try after a week.

Exposure to light:

Initial 2 weeks, he was aversed to bright light like the light of a tube so we generally used 0-bulb in his room and used dark curtains in his room to reduce the intensity of sun-light. Gradually, my mom used to take him into the balcony in early morning to help get adjusted to brighter light. It helped him.

Postpartum issues

Hi
This is in continuation of the child-birth series that I started in july. After my delivery, I understood that I have entered another process. Infact, the transition started as soon as the baby is delivered. It took me 2 weeks to get emotionally attached to my son. I mean it was not like as soon as I saw my baby my heart was flooded with bonding emotions for him. All those F.R.I.E.N.D.S. fans, it was not at all like Rachel crying seeing her daughter!! My complete focus was in understanding each and every task that needs to be done, starting from feeding to cleaning poops to bathing to.......awww.......the list is just endless.

Now when I reflect in the past 6 months, I realise there were so many phases and aspects to be taken care of postpartum. I am discussing my experiences taking each aspect at a time.

Mother's Health

The moment I stood up and started walking, which was 2 hours after my delivery, I felt as if all my abdominal organs are hanging loose and my tummy is falling down and down! It was an awful feeling. Not to mention the excessive bleeding which was causing more discomfort. Anyway, a good 6-hour night sleep helped me come back to this world and realise that I am a mother now.