might be a dumb question re: colds

So how do you know when they have a real cold? B has had some "boogies" dried on the inside of his nose when he wakes up in the mornings, so I've put a cool mist humidifier in there. Does that qualify as a cold? WIll I "know" a cold when I see one? He seems to breathe just fine and there's nothing running out of his nose during the day, he just wakes up w/ a little gummy booger in the mornings. They really need a diagnostic that you can run on them! (and can you tell I'm a first time mom who has no clue what she's doing??) :blush:

 

I don't know, but my babies always have some boogers, and have never had a cold!

 

Well, colds can definitely vary in their "intensity". I have babies right now with green slime running out of their noses :bad: , but they have had colds before with just clear runny noses, or just a few boogies. Things to watch for would be fever, cough, and lack of appetite. We are headed to the ped in the morning...

 

I agree with Becky, watch for other signs. All last winter, Emma was stuffed and had dried yuckies on her nose in the morning. It never accompanied any other symptoms so I was told by our pedi to run a humidifier and use plain saline nose drops to keep her hydrated up there.

 

our first colds were basically congestion for about 5 days, we used saline drops several times per day and rode it out....

thank goodness no fever or loss of appetite or any other symptoms, but we did have to prop them up to sleep to help relieve some of the congestion they were just miserable lying down--you'll know it's a cold when something interferes with your babies' general routine or temperament

 

Seems like when mine get colds, it's fairly obvious. But, the cool mist humidifier won't hurt! We actually ran ours every night for almost the 1st year; our dr told us actually helps to prevent colds.

 

Mine are usually congested due to deviated septums. They just had their first actual cold this week. They had clear boogies running out of their noses, they were coughing and sneezing but no fevers. I guess like the other say, it can vary in intensity. Also, I always hated it when people would tell me that I would know because being a first time mom with no clue what I am doing, I wondered how I would know. But I did and so will you. A humidifier sounds like a good idea and the saline drops like the pp said. If you see any ongoing fever I would definitely call the doctor. Otherwise, there is really not much they can do anyway and you will just have to ride it out.