Through luck, diligence, or some combination of the two, Sam and Cate were only sick twice during their first year. They didn’t have a cold since the cold they shared in March 2012… until early December.
Saturday night, Dec 8, was the best night we’d all had in more than six months. Both girls slept untended from about 11 pm to 6 am. Getting 7 hours of sleep interrupted only by our own biological needs felt wonderful! Sunday morning, we mused aloud that maybe they are finally turning the corner, and getting the hang of sleeping on their own. But then the niggling thought occurred to me that they slept really well the night before each of the two times they’d been sick.
Sure enough: Sam was fussy overnight and woke up Sunday all snuffly. Cate was sneezing by lunchtime. Foo.
Years ago, I read a journal article that asserted that 65-75% of sinus infections can be prevented by repeatedly rinsing one’s nasal passages with saline, and timely use of decongestants. I know that in the rare instances when I catch colds, that saline and decongestant help me breathe a lot easier. So I’m eager to help Sam and Cate get mucous out of their heads.
Last time, we acquired a Frida Snot Sucker. Sam learned to endure it within a day or so, but Cate wanted nothing to do with it, so she just stayed snuffly. And since babies up to four months are obligate nose breathers, they just couldn’t breathe well and we were all miserable.
This time I wanted a way that I could offer to suck their nose and they could accede or not. So I looked up the ASL sign for “suck”, but instead of sucking up from the bottom hand, we’re sucking from the nose. Cate grasped the sign immediately. When I asked her whether she wanted Mama to suck her nose, she brought her left hand to her nose and made the sign. When I verified her meaning by asking if I should suck more, she said “mouh” and made the sign for “more.”
More impressively, she now cooperates with the sucker, leaning forward and holding her head just so, for me to suck the mucous out of her nose. It’s interesting to me that Cate was curious about, and embraced nose sucking readily this time, but Sam was really unenthused, which is the opposite of last time.
Fortunately, we didn’t stay sick for long. Last time, we were miserable for between two and three weeks. This time, the three of us were better within 8-10 days. I don’t know whether the immune benefits of nursing are stronger now, or whether we caught a weaker cold virus, or what. Regardless of the reason, I’m delighted that we weathered this cold much better than the first!