Newborn has a cold...any suggestions?

Hello everyone.  I just was to start with thanking everyone for their support through my pregnancy. This site helped me so much.
Now, the thing is...i had my baby on monday, january 8th.  My little girl is less than two weeks old and her Daddy brought home a cold from work.  We tried VERY hard to avoid her getting it, but it was inevitable.  So now i've got a newborn with a cold.  She's very congested, but it's not in her nose yet...more in her sinuses, so the booger sucker isn't working.  She gurgles when she breathes.  It's scary.  Also, she doesn't seem to be able to clear the mucus in her throat.  I use the sucker in her mouth every now and again to help, but it it's enough.  I especially try to use it after she nurses to get the excess milk out so she doesn't choke on that too.  The Dr. said to let it run it's course and use a humidifier...but my poor girl is miserable.  She's constantly choking and coughing...sneezing.  And it scares the begeezes out of me when she chokes at night.  I haven't gotten a wink of sleep for fear that i won't hear her choke.  So I'm constantly jumping up to make sure she's still breathing.  Does anyone have any suggestions on things i could do to alleviate the symptoms of this cold?  My poor poor baby...i can't stand seeing her like this.

[Me2mommy2b]

First of all, I'm so sorry you and your baby are going through this.  Did the dr examine the baby?  Does he know that she's choking, zneezing, etc?  I know it's scary b/c my DD was very congested when she was born for about two months and then it cleared on its own.  I used to use Ayr drops to clear her nose but found that it wasn't doing much but some will swear by it.  It's ok to use on a newborn.  Are you breastfeeding?  I heard, and did that to my own DD as well, that you can put a few drops of breast milk in each nostril and it clears it up.  Hope your little angel is feeling better soon.  And def call the dr if she's getting worse.

[surprisebaby]

have you tried a warm bath.  There is a bath additive  (aroma bath) but it is for babies older than 3 months.  Good luck and I hope she gets well soon.

[anxiousmomtobe?]

Get a cold water mister.  They are great.  I am not a fan of vapour rubs for babies, too many chemicals and perfumes.

[girlybuff]

You could also try the vapor bath.  Johnson and Johnson makes one and so does Grins and Giggles. When my DD has a stuffy nose, I bathed her in that and it cleared her up (temporarily). There are saline drops to open up the nose too and Little Tummies puts those out.
They also sell those Vicks Vapor Rub night lights too that release vapors into the air but I'm not sure how old the baby needs to be for any of these though.  
And you should probably give the dr. a call although they will most likely tell you to wait it out provided there is no fever.
Good luck.

[Shreelak]

hi there
were you able to clear her congestion?
we have a similar situation with our new born he is a month old and he also has a congested nose. his chest is clear and so is his nose(well we use aspirator everytime there is anything in the nose)
but somewhere in the wind pipe he seems to have some congestion and that seems to disturb him a lot.
I am not sure if it is cold or if its is due to some kind os mind reflux. As he is very gassy and does have spit up little milk after feeding. and i notice that he lands up sneezing or his congestion seems to increase after he burps or spits up.

[Hemetchick]

my son was born on the 24th and weighed in at 9lbs...

a week later he weighs 8.17 pds...

he goes to dr monday am....

any other mothers go thru this