My baby is blue :(

The worst thing about having a baby is having to deal with their illnesses. Not that it is a burden, in fact you quite happily dote on them, what is the real painful part is not knowing where it hurts and how to ease the pain.

I remember when Ariyana fell ill, she had a terrible cold that kept her blocked for 6 days. The mucous would travel down the throat and that would give her a horrid chesty cough. I was told to steam her - so what I  would do is let the shower run and just hold her in the bathroom as it steamed up. It did help but it was not excellent. My cousin told me to get a humidifier, so I went out to look for one - there are non here by the way, oh no, at the time, there were none. So as a mother, in desperation, I bought a highly expensive on from a top pharmacy and it turns out it doesn't work too well. After she was more than better I saw some cute ones at Healthy U for almost a 1/4 of the price I paid. I felt ill, but not as ill as Ariyana was at the time.

Someone introduced me to a gadget called a Nose Frieda. It is the worst thing for the following reasons;
1. I cannot imagine that I would ever suck snot out of any one's nose
2. The baby was terrified of it and would scream blue murder the minute I removed it from the medicine cabinet
But I would highly recommend it for the following reasons;
1. It gets the gunk out of the nose and helps your lil bubba breathe easy
2. It is not really painful just scary which is why they scream like that
3. You don't come anywhere near any snot, it is all very hygienic
4. It saves them from getting the mucous infected
There are a few tricks on how to use the gadget- I would suggest you youtube them because if I start explaining you and I will both have heads that spin by the end of it.

Another trick is ghee and a little vicks. Vicks is not recommended for infants, so you need to mix it with ghee and rub on the chest. It allows baby to breathe better and of course, the Karvol drops help a bunch.
I had to learn this the hard way, but never ever give baby medicine after a meal, they hate the taste and they will throw it up along with everything they  just ate. Which is totally heart breaking as they hardly eat when they are ill and when they do the last thing you want to see is it all come up again.

As with everything in mommahood, patience is key. And as a mother you would know if something is really wrong. Go with your gut. Remember falling ill is part of growth. Just remember what the doctors tell you and if you are super paranoid do a google search on when baby could be in danger and just keep monitoring him.
It is hard to see your little one feel poorly. Ariyana had the worst virus two weeks ago. She dropped in weight and I even had to get a blood test done for her. I hate blood tests, those wretched needles kill - now imagine your kuku small (one of the many nicknames for my baby, don't ask) having to go through that.

The thing with infants/babies they are pretty resilient and they tend to forget things once it is over. I remember being told that  no matter how painful it may look or how bad you know the meds may taste, always give your baby a reassuring smile and tell them how well they are doing - that way, they are not traumatized by the experience and are able to understand that everything being done to them is actually going to help them.

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Buurrrrpppp

When an adult does it - it sounds horrible. When an adult does it in public people look at him or her in pure disgust. How rude, you would think. When baby does it, it is an achievement. Even cause for a mini dance because it means baby is now comfortable and chances are she won't be gassy or colicy.
Of course I am talking about a burp.

They say when breast feeding your baby she won't take in as much air as when on the bottle. If a baby takes in air then the air needs to go somewhere so that means she needs to burp. A baby who is fed, changed and burped is a true bundle of joy. Sometimes a burp can get stuck - not sometimes, when it is a newborn, most times. This causes baby to cry and shriek with discomfort and the neighbors will hear the cries and think to themselves 'haha, the joys of parenthood, we are glad our kids are in university.'

Here is a tip moms, and it comes with everything related to baby.  You may be exhausted. You may think that if you lie baby on her side she will burp all the same, you may think you hear a tiny release of air but if you spend another five to ten minutes just letting baby digest her feed and get a burp out, both you and her will be happy campers.
Breast fed or bottle fed, hold you baby up on your shoulder, let her stomach reach your nape and rub her back. Go clockwise, anti clockwise and keep going until she burps - she will burp. My key is 2 burps and she is happy. The older the get, the less you need to worry about the burps, but when they are younger, give it time and be prepared to aid her in getting that air out.

My doctor always used to say it doesn't have to be a grandfather burp - loud and long, but baby needs to burp. Word of advice mums, it may be easy to give baby some meds to help bring up the air, but the more natural you go, the easier it is. You do not want your baby to be a medi-baby (a baby brought up on meds) and not be strong enough to fight lil colds and stuff.

All it takes is time and patience and faith on your part..baby will not let you down. Remember the burp cloth, sometimes it's not only a burp that comes out.
Until the next time, enjoy being a fab mama
x