5 1/2 Month Old Baby Has Bad Cold. Any Tips to Help Relieve Some of His Pain?

I agree w/the other posters:
-Infant Tylenol
-Suction the nose
-and most important, elevate his crib. I used to put my son's crib up on these slats of wood on one end. Or when when he was in his cradle, I would put one end up on a step.
-Also, let him lay on your chest if you're watching tv at night or sitting on the sofa. I would lay back in the recliner & let him lay on my chest. I would put him in his little swing, his recliner bath mesh thing just to let him lie elevated.
-Infant Tylenol & suctioning the nose does help
hang in there honey

Colds are something to get through. Don't hold out hope for a magic remedy. Do what the doctor said --

1. Cold mist (NOT warm mist) humidifier, and run it all the time and keep him near it. Don't depend on steaming up a bathroom -- go to the drugstore and buy a cold mist humidifier and keep it going! Warm mist is not good for a child who is running a fever. Cool mist is fine all the time and isn't really "cool" in temperature but also won't raise the temperature in the room.

2. Suction that nose. I know a lot of parents hate to do this, feel like it's somehow hurting the baby, etc, but it WORKS! The baby may fuss when you do it, and it takes a little practice to get gunk out, but it does help. Be sure to do it often enough. The vomiting may be due to all the crud that's in his head right now so getting it out helps.

3. He might need to have his head raised to get any sleep, so the congestion is lessened by his being elevated. He is too young for a pillow so don't do that -- instead, raise one end of his crib mattress slightly by putting something under it, and put his head at that raised end.

I know you're mind's on the fact you're missing work but try to focus just on the baby, not on the work you're missing, and the time will go faster. Read to him a lot (yep, even at his young age) -- the sound of your voice comforts him so even read the newspaper out loud if you want!

Be sure he stays hydrated and is getting enough breast milk or formula, too.

I also have a 5 mo old twins who also have colds.It is so pathetic isn't it? Thanks to their older brothers in school someone is always sick. My ped. is having us use a nebulizer for them,. however it is pretty bad cough. We go back tomorrow to see if it is working. My doc also told us not to use the vics. He said it actually hinder recovery time...who knows, I have always used vics for me and my 2 older boys. We are also fans of tea tree oil mixed with a jojoba oil or vit. E oil mixed a little bit and rubbed on their sinus and behind their ears. This was recommended by my friend who was a chiropractor and knowledgeable about natural medicines. I swear it has worked. Good luck hope your baby gets better soon!

It's so hard when they're little! I agree with everyone else here...listen to your ped. We also use the Little Noses saline spray to help loosen up the gunk before suctioning. Oh, and we have a NoseFreida/Baby Comfy nose. It works so much better than the bulb aspirators.

I know this isn't what you want to hear but - I was going to write the same things your ped already told you.
Infant tylenol for the fever
humidifier in the room
suction his nose when it's really bad
prop up the top of his bed to keep him at a little bit of an angle (I put rolled up towels under the mattress at one end)
When you are home, let him nap while you wear him in a moby wrap if you have one, because keeping him verticle will help the coughing and maybe he'll get some rest.