Sunday, March 14, 2010

Baby's First Cold & "hydraSense"


For many parents, Baby's "firsts" are a time of excitement and wonder. There's nothing as thrilling as Baby's first smile, first steps, and first words. Yes, Baby's "firsts" are exciting for both Baby and parents. Except when it's Baby's first cold!

As a Mom of a preemie, I have to admit that I was extremely paranoid about Little One catching her first cold. I had hand sanitizer at our front door, in her room, in the living room...and I made friends and family wash their hands before they handled her. Although I am well aware that babies need to be exposed to certain germs, Little One was born at 28 weeks gestation and spent the first two and a half months in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Mount Sinai Hospital. Her immune system was not as strong as most babies who were born at term.

When we came home from the hospital, it happened to be flu and RSV season. Great! Then there was the H1N1 outbreak. I made sure I didn't bring her to places that were overly crowded during this time and I exclusively nursed her so that she could get all the passive antibodies possible.

Of course, despite my best efforts, she did eventually get her first cold. At twelve months of age (nine months corrected age), Little One ended up with a stuffy nose and fever. The congestion was so bad that she couldn't sleep at night. Nothing would comfort her because she couldn't breathe. There's nothing as bad as that helpless feeling. As parents, we try to do our best to take care of our kids, protect them, care for them, and love them. This time, nothing worked.

We put Vicks in the humidifier at night and it seemed to sort of work. Little One would just get congested again. For about a week, no one in our house had much sleep. I tried putting a bit of saline solution (just salt in warm water) on a Q-tip and swabbed the inside of her nostrils. She was not impressed...and it didn't really work all that well. I tried running a hot shower and hanging out in the bathroom with her so the steam could clear her congestion. It worked, but only temporarily.

It was pretty much excessive crying (which was/is very unusual for Little One) and next to no sleep. It was both heartbreaking and frustrating at the same time.

I only wish I had known about the hydraSense® Nasal Aspirator back then!

The hydraSense® Nasal Aspirator is designed to help clear mucus, facilitate breathing, eating and sleeping. It was designed by pediatricians to help relieve nasal congestion quickly and effectively. It's also safe and gentle. Perfect, since babies can't blow their nose on their own.

To view a demonstration on how to use the hydraSense® Nasal Aspirator, click here. Check out the company's website here and sign up for the Dolphin Club to download your exclusive coupon for $8 off your own hydraSense® Nasal Aspirator. The coupon code is MC2010. The code expires April 10, 2010 but the coupon itself is good until end of December once you've printed it out.

I wrote this post while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central and received a Mom Central gift pack to thank me for taking the time to participate.






17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for posting this! I am going to check out the link. Our first born just came down with his first cold and it has been Hell! I was looking for something to help and this couldn't have been timelier!

*~Steph~*

t said...

God, I remember what you guys wentr through with the baby being born so early. You did a good job Mamma! She didn't get her first cold till she was a year old!

I don't have kids yet but this product sounds like something that might be great to have in the house when we do!

Unknown said...

Steph:
I hope your son feels better soon and I hope you guys are able to get some relief and some sleep! It's awful when little ones get sick. Did you go to the website to download the coupons? If you join the Dolphin Club, you get some pretty neat stuff too.

Unknown said...

T:
Thanks for visiting us when we were in the hospital! :) It meant a lot to me.

hydraSense also has products for adults. I know we were talking about nasal congestion the other day! LOL! I have my trusty 'ol Neti Pot, but check out the hydraSense website for something that you may be able to use too if you don't want to try the Neti.

hotmommy said...

uhhhhmm did i just see that mom suction the snot out of her baby by sucking thru a tube in that video!????? grrrrrrosssssssssss!! chris- you told me you got the kit from mom central; i want you to do a demo and review of the product. i don't know if i can bring myself to suction my kids' noses that is just gross. {{{{{{{{{lol}}}}}}}}}

at least our two oldest ones are old enough to blow their own friggen noses! {{{{{{{{lol}}}}}}} the baby? just suffers thru it.

Momisodes said...

I've never seen that product before! It looks great and something invaluable to a parent with a baby suffering from a cold.

And that is so impressive that your little one went so long without catching her first cold. Go Mom!

Unknown said...

HM:
LOL! You're so funny. :) The video shows that none of the yucky stuff passes through the filter!

I've heard of grandmothers suctioning the mucus from their grandchildren's noses (with their own mouths!). Now, THAT I couldn't do! I guess if I *had to*, I would. I'm just glad I never had to! LOL! Gross.

Unknown said...

Momisodes:
I know, right? I'm so glad that a product like this has been developed. We have our kit from Mom Central and it contains the solution, the filters, the nasal aspirator, etc.

Yes, she went 12 months without getting sick! I was pretty impressed and relieved! I would like to think being a breastfed baby had much to do with her doing so well. At least I keep telling myself that! LOL! :)

Deb said...

First...I love that Little One is sporting her Team Edward t-shirt. I'm sure Edward is who/what made her all better.

Second, is that thing safe and effective for adults too? I have a sinus infection and the thought of trying the neti pot is so disturbing to me for some reason! lol.

And I didn't read this post until tonight. I posted a blog earlier this evening about a friend's baby's 1st b-day! We both posted about babies' firsts! Weird! (more reason to think we're separated at birth).

tootles!

Unknown said...

Deb:
Cue "Twilight Zone" music here.
That is too creepy that we think the same! LOL!

Yeah, hydraSense actually has some products for adults too.

I have a Neti Pot and I love, love, love it. At first, I was kind of weirded out by it, but now I am in love with my Neti. I CANNOT even begin to explain how much I love my Neti! LOL!

J said...

So have you tried the aspirator yet? Back in the day, we had to use one with a bulb at the end, which was more forceful in its suction, I think. I was always afraid I would suck her brains out her nose with it.

It does look like she's enjoying a nice beverage, there. ;)

caninecologne said...

hi c - love the Team Edward onesie!!!!!!

word ver:

fingsyma

Frau Guten Tag said...

thanks so much for sharing this! my little Joseph has had about 3 stuffiness/head colds so far, his first one being at 4 months of age. this would really be great for us I think, hubby was just complaining about how someone needs to invent a better aspirator!

Unknown said...

J:
I did try it! At first it was a bit daunting, but it really is more gentle than the old style aspirators. I had one of those traditional bulb/suction things and it really scared me. I thought that thing would suck Little One's brains out! No wonder she hated it.

Little One had congestion and a stuffy nose the other week, but when the hydraSense package arrived, she had gotten over her stuffiness and didn't need it. I'm glad we have it now though. I tested it, but didn't get anything out of it because she wasn't congested anymore. There's always next time!

Unknown said...

Canine:
Gotta love the Team Edward onesie!! Can't wait until "Eclipse" comes out!!! JUNE!!!! :)

Unknown said...

Frau:
Awww! Poor little Joseph! Well, I can tell you that this product is such a great invention. The old school suctions are SCARY and you don't have much control over how strong that thing is going to suck out the gunk from your baby's nose! LOL! I found the old school ones not useful at all. I tried it on Little One before and vowed never again. Before we got the hydraSense one, I just put Little One in the bathroom with me and ran a hot shower so the steam could clear her up. I also used a humidifier with Vicks.

Frau Guten Tag said...

yeah, I always do the steamy bathroom thing for him & vicks, but I don't like humidifiers--I've had some in the past that grow really scary mold in there, not healthy at all. How much is this hydrasense thing?

I've discovered that little J's most recent head cold isn't a head cold at all, but a reaction to cow's milk. I was trying to transition him over to whole milk from his formula & it's from that. I've switched to goat milk instead of cow milk & all the mucous & boogies have gone away. I am so grateful I have such a great alternative.

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City girl moves to the country, falls in love, and marries a farmer. She tries to incorporate her city ways with her new country lifestyle and blogs to keep in touch with friends, family & students who live far, far away :) Can this city girl go country? Watch as she learns all sorts of exciting things about life on the farm and in a small rural community. *UPDATE* We are now parents! Our baby girl was born on Nov. 11, 2008 (at 28 weeks gestation- 12 weeks premature, but she's quite the trooper)!!!
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