has a cold and sleeping in the swing

i feel very bad. one of my LOs has a cold, i lost my patience and left him in the swing after i got very upset. he cried for an hour in his crib; i tried soothing, rubbing, calming, everything. i couldnt deal with the crying, pulled him out, got upset and put him in the swing. hes sleeping there now.

im assuming its either his post nasal drip or has an ear infection??
do i leave him there? hes never slept in a swing before!

 

1st, give yourself a break. If you are fed up you can't take care of your kids effectively. So, it is better to put him in a swing and leave the room if you're losing your temper rather than yell it out or blow up or have a prolonged meltdown in front of your kid His mommy leaving for a small amount of time is much better than the alternatives. IMO you did the right thing in this situation. Cut yourself a break, and just make a mental note that if it happens again to put him in an area you are confident is safe so if you need to do this in the future you have a plan that you feel comfortable with.



Now, re: the swing: If he has a cold the swing actually might be more comfortable for him. I know that I got SO much advice to 'put them to sleep at an elevated angle' when they were congested or had colds or flus. Can't really do this to a crib unless you make it un-safe. Also, if he has an ear infection laying down often hurts my boys more than being up at an angle. The angle helps make it easier to breathe and more comfortable (in general) for little ones with colds or anything else causing congestion.<BR style="mso-special-character: line-break"><BR style="mso-special-character: line-break">

As far as safety and swings- after the kids can start walking it's usually not "safe" to leave them alone in a swing. However, if he can't/hasn't managed to get out this probably isn't too much of an issue so please don't beat yourself up as to what you needed to do to avoid blowing up earlier. As far as him sleeping in the swing- as long as his weight doesn't exceed the swing safety weight and he has supervision it is perfectly fine. Whatever is more comfortable for him.



IMO if he can sleep in the swing, by all means let him- just if you can keep an adult with him in the room for safety. When ours still fit in the swings but were strong enough to squirm out hypothetically, and were literally getting colds every week or every other week, we sometimes let them sleep in the swing and slept on the couch next to them. If you are really concerned about saftey you can do this and even put some pillows or padding underneath the swing *just in case* he manages to squirm out before you wake up.



I am not a doctor but from your earlier description I think he probably at least has some clogged ears or sinuses causing him extra discomfort, and you may be right about the ear infection. Early ear infection have no temperature can at first be around 101.5 and go up later to as high as 104.5. The reason I think this is because he seems to be miserable lying down flat. Our two are inconsolable at times when they have ear infections, and seem to get a little relief from being heldupright or at an angle opposed to lying flat. However, even if it technically isn't an 'ear infection' clogged ears and/or sinuses can be extremely painful and uncomfortable. But, my gut tells me you're right about an ear infection.

 

My latest discovery for relief in cold's is garlic oil for the ears. Amazing! Mine are old enough now to tell me what hurts and more often than not if they are calling the middle of the night while sick, it is the ears. I give a dose of motrin and a few drops of garlic oil in each ear. Instant relief! Thought I'd pass the info along. Wish I'd known earlier

 

When you have a cold, you can handle it during the day better, as you are almost always in an upright position.
When you lay down at night, you feel like your head gained two sizes.
It's the same with babies...
I use the swing all the time! when they get a cold. They can breath better.
But to answer your question, it could be either, or both.
With an ear infection, even if they don't run a fever, they sleep restless and lose their apetite, too. Or maybe they start acting out of character.
I wish you good luck, I hate cold season, too. :grouphug:

 

I started using garlic oil for earaches too a while back after some googling. And while my boys can't tell me what hurts, I can usually tell when their ears are hurting them, and I do think the garlic oil helps.

 

It doesn't even have to be garlic oil either, my mom used to use regular cooking oil, and we use baby oil. Put just a couple of drops in the ears and it helps immediately

 

TY everyone for your help and comments.
i left him in the swing for about 30 minutes until he was PASSED OUT. i then moved him to his crib and he was fine.
i took him to the pedi today and he has an ear infection. i feel very bad that i wasn't as soothing as i should have been.
he's taking an antibiotic and the doc also prescribed R-Tanna.