Is It Ok to Let a Very Congested Baby Sleep Alone in Crib?

If she is that congested, she needs that extra comfort that only mommy or daddy can bring. She needs to sleep with you and be next to you. How old is she?? Have you tried putting her upright on a wedge pillow etc. or elevating her mattress?? But....yes, you should keep doing whatever makes her feel better until she is better. Don't make her cry it out--she will only get more upset and more congested. Give her extra love and attention. She needs to be held the most right now.GL

M

First, bring her in the bathroom and run the hot water so the bathroom gets steamy. Breathing steam can help with congestion. If you don't have a swing, try putting her in her car seat.

Oh you poor thing! I have been there and it is awful. Here are a few more ideas to try: Sit in a steamy bathroom with her for twenty minutes. That helps loosen up congestion. Put Vicks Vaporub on her feet with socks. Elevate her mattress by putting several receiving blankets or towels between the mattress and boxspring. Our doctor also said to let our children sleep in their carseats (if she is an infant) during these times to help elevate the head. Lastly, I would make up a bed and sleep on the floor next to her, so you can be right there if she would have any distress. Good luck and I hope she feels better soon!
A.

I always tried to no let my children cry to sleep at a young age when they are congested just because I know if I cry when I am congested it makes it that much harder to breath.

sleeping straped in the car seat is another way to elevate. My son slept in the car seat for many months due to some health issues so a few nights will not hurt.

I would let her sleep w/you while she is congested.
Can you ask your doctor about applying Baby Vik's to her chest?
Also, what I did w/my baby (even as recently as a month ago (he's 3 now)
I would go out on the recliner, kick it out & have my baby sleep on me
that way. He was elevated so he could breathe AND he was with me.
I'm telling you the elevation helped immensely.
Also, several times when he was tiny, I had elevated his entire crib on a
sturdy huge W. base.
My suggestion currently? Have him sleep w/you or better yet on you while you are elevated.
Don't let her cry it out...that will only make her inablitity to breathe worse.
Hang in there, try these few things & I promise things will be better soon.
Take it one day at a time.

1) For tonight... put her in her carseat to sleep. It will keep her propped up (like being in your arms, or as an adult when you need to sleep in the recliner with a head cold) which helps the mucus drain instead of plugging

2) See your doctor. There are infant decongestants. If you were up here, I'd send you to Canada, since we nw people still get all ours from them. ((Infant drops weren't pulled because they were unsafe, they were pulled because people didn't get the PE drops weren't the same as the ones behind the counter and were overdosing their kids on antihistamines thinking it was the efficous medicine. Which was brought behind the counter, no rx needed... really safe med... as a political stunt involving the drug war which is too long to get into. EVERY OTHER first world country I know of has pseudoephedrine Hcl infant drops but us.)) ANYHOW... your doctor can either get the decongestants for you or give you alternate meds.

Oh that is the worst! I'm so sorry! I recommend propping up her crip (think about a 30 degree angle), but it sounds like you've tried elevation. Elevation does let gravity play a part in helping her breathe, but she probably won't sound a lot less congested. Also, Vicks makes a Vaporizer. We run that with the humidifier (use the baby vicks inserts from Babies R Us), and that has seemed to help our girl. I did Baby Vicks on the chest and feet with socks - didn't help as much. DO take her to the pediatrician because these kinds of colds can turn into ear infections FAST! If she starts tugging at that ear, get there right away and they'll give you some meds for her. So sorry! Hope she gets better....and soon! Good luck!

Try putting her in her carseat so that she is sitting up instead of laying down. I can't sleep when I'm congested and laying flat either!

You can put the carseat in the crib. That way she won't get used to being in your arms once she is well and refuse to sleep in the crib.

Good luck!
Dawn

Hi. I am so sorry your little one is going through this. You have received great advice, so I do not want to repeat too much:
1. I would definitely comfort her. Regardless of age, when we are all sick, we need our mother's arms.

2. A Russian friend taught me to put a bowl of water under the bed. It is like a natural humidifier.

3. I would also consider letting her fall asleep upright in your arms on your tummy or something.

4. I would not worry about her getting used to this or that...babies and toddlers have a way of asking for their independence. My then 2 1/2 year old asked for his own bed in his own room after sleeping in our room for those 2 1/2 years....even today, he loves his bed in his roon!

HTH. Jilly

What about having her sleep in her car seat in the house? Is it upright enough that it would be secure?

i had my kids sleep in a bouncy seat, or carseat would work, you can put something under the crib mattress to raise it. actually sleeping with me always worked bset for them. do what ever works right now, that she is sick, she needs your help and comfort , whenever she gets better you can continue with your normal sleep routine. hope she feels better soon, nothing can be worse than seeing your baby suffering:(

Babies aren't good about breathing thru their mouth. I'd let her sleep with you so that she feels more secure. I'm an adult and get panic feeling when I wake up because my nose is stuffed up.

My grandkids always slept better, especially when they had a cold, in their car seat placed in their crib.

Or sleep in the same room so that when she wakes up crying you can suction her nose.

Keep the room around 65 degrees if she keeps covered. Combat the dry air caused by heating by using a humidifier.

Growing up my mother kept a kettle full of water on simmer during the winter so that the air stayed moist.

drink so coffee and stay up with them, just in case something goes wrong. or you could raise the head end of the childs crib, give them an incline to sleep on, so they sleep better and so can you, but plan on staying close by just in case they need you in middle of the night. pull their crib next to a fairly comfortable arm chair, you take the arm chair and a blanket, the baby gets the crib nearby, and just check on them every hour or so.
K. h.

I think it is perfectly okay to let her sleep in her crib. Do you have a humidifier going? I understand how hard it is, my 3 month old has had 2 colds already and it is hard to hear them congested. And the less sleep they get, the harder it is for them to fall asleep. I can tell you, from experience with my other two, is that although it is tempting to hold her while she sleeps, it is a hard habit to get into. Once you start when they are sick, it becomes very difficult to break and get them back into their crib once they are well. It is like their routine gets reset and they want to be held to sleep at all times. which is fine if you are able and willing to do that, but not always the best thing. Im not sure how old your baby is, but we have one of those Fisher Price Nappers, where it is elevated and that seems to help a lot.

Rub Vicks on her back and feet and then put her in footed sleeper. If you have a humidifier, use that and if not, then I highly suggest buying one. I got one at Wal-Mart when my daughter was a baby and it was very reasonable. We have used it quite a bit over the years and my daughter is five and a half now.

I also agree with the steamy bathroom. I turn on a very hot shower and run until the mirror is steamed then take daughter in bathroom and hold her and read her books while she breathes in the steamy air. I read to her about 10 to 15 minutes and this really helped her. This is especially good for croup.

Look on Craigslist for a swing or borrow one from a friend to save money.

how old is the baby. if you have a swing to put her in so she is sitting up to breathe better put her in that. my daughter started benadryl (drs ok 1/4tspn) at 10 months. it helped to dry her up especially at night. when i would suction her nose i did it till nothing came out. now my 4 year old does nasal rinses.

Poor baby. I remember those bad nights. I wouldn't let her cry because the more crying, creates more congestion. If you don't have a swing, she can sleep in her car seat or in a baby seat. Also puting her the bathroom while it's really steamy before bed will help too. Something for pain will help too for the teeth- either otc or homeopathic

Can you place the top legs of her crib on thick books or sturdy blocks? Getting the mattress on an angle so her head is elevated should help a bit.

Didn't have time to read all the responses. You don't say how old your child is. I found that when they were small (under 6-8 mo) I could either put them in their high chair that reclined in order to keep them elevated. I have also, more often had them sleep in the pack n play in my room next to me or I slept in their room if they were really sick with congestion or had vomited. I could keep track of them troughout the night. Good luck to you.

I wouldn't let her cry it out if she is sick and so congested. Once she is better than you could to get back on schedule. You can prop up once side of the crib if that will help her. Just put a rolled towel or blanket under one side of the mattress. This natural/homeopathic ointment is the BEST for cough and congestion. http://shop.urielpharmacy.com/plantain-beeswax-cough-reli...
Probably wouldn't arrive fast enough to do you good this time but I highly recommend to have it on hand. A little goes a long way so one tube will last for a long while. Using this cream or one like it on the feet and then cover with socks works so well to relieve congestion and help with coughing!

Awww, it's so hard to see them suffer like that :( If she's that miserable, I'd take her to the pedi to rule out an ear infection and see about getting some sort of decongestant.
Hope she feels better soon!