Saturday 10 November 2012

Advice on helping your children sleep when they have a cold

As a Sterimar mummy ambassador, I've already shared some advice from Sterimar on dealing with babies and children with blocked up noses. As Sterimar is just a natural seawater spray, it can be used as often as required right from birth so it's the perfect natural option. There are other options out there though, so I thought you might like these tips from a sleep expert and paediatric nurse who has been working with Olbas. Whatever product (if any) you end up using, there is some great advice in there to help banish the winter sniffles.

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Kathleen McGrath, Paediatric Nurse and sleep expert, says, “Children have small air passages so even a minor blockage can affect their breathing pattern and disrupt sleep, which is essential for a quicker recovery from colds and flu.

“Young children do not know how, and hate being encouraged, to blow their nose. An easy solution is to use an infant decongestant to help clear their nose, allowing children to fall asleep to a quicker recovery.”

McGrath offers some practical actions that parents can do to help a child suffering with congestion before bedtime:

Make sure your child drinks plenty of cold fluids

Don’t let your child get overheated – put them in cotton night clothes

Make sure their bedroom is well ventilated

Put a few drops of natural infant decongestant on the child’s pillow or baby’s bed sheet

Raising the head higher than the rest of the body can make it easier to breathe while sleeping. Place a towel underneath the head end of the mattress

From 2 years of age, teach little ones to blow their nose. A good way to do this is to explain that “it’s like sniffing but backwards”




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2 comments:

  1. This could be just what we need to deal with the nighttime nosebleeds, which I'm sure come from picking.

    ReplyDelete
  2. olbas is great! i always make sure i have some in the cupboard

    ReplyDelete

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