How to treat your baby's cold

Babies and little kids are no strangers to runny noses and coughs. In fact, babies can catch eight or more colds in their first year alone – especially during cold and flu season if they attend daycare or have school-age siblings.

Whether it's your baby's first sniffle or what seems like the thousandth, it can be confusing to identify what's going on and how to help your child. Here's how to handle your baby's cold, plus when to reach out to your pediatrician.

Baby cold symptoms

How your baby looks and behaves can tell you a lot. If they have a runny nose, cough, and possibly a low-grade fever, but play and eat as usual, it's probably a cold and not the flu, allergies, or another illness.

Cold symptoms include:

• Runny nose with clear mucus that may thicken and turn gray, yellow, or green
• Congestion
• Mild coughing
• Low-grade fever (but not always)

How long do colds last in babies?

Cold symptoms typically peak on day two or three when babies have a cold, then gradually improve over 10 days to two weeks.

If your baby has cold symptoms longer than a couple of weeks, or their symptoms are getting worse instead of better after a few days, call the doctor.

Remedies to ease baby cold symptoms

No medicine will make a virus go away faster, but you can help your baby feel better and prevent the infection from getting worse. Here are some safe home remedies for colds and do's and don'ts:

• Make sure your baby gets plenty of liquids. For children age 1 and younger, that usually means offering more frequent feedings of breast milk or formula. Babies 6 months and up can also have warm water, broth, soup, or chamomile tea. Don't give water or other liquids to babies under 6 months old unless your doctor tells you otherwise.
• Encourage your child to get lots of sleep and rest. It's often hard to get a sick baby to sleep soundly, but try to make them as comfortable as possible before bed.
• Use a nasal aspirator or bulb syringe with saline drops to clear your baby's stuffy nose.
• Ask your doctor about giving your child infant acetaminophen (if they're at least 3 months old) or ibuprofen (if they're at least 6 months old) if they seem uncomfortable or unusually fussy.
• Try using a cool mist vaporizer or humidifier in your baby's bedroom, or give them a bath in a steamy bathroom. Breathing moist air will help loosen the mucus in their nasal passages. 
• Don't give over-the-counter (OTC) cough and cold medicines to babies and kids under age 4. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), these medicines aren't safe for children this age and can have dangerous or even life-threatening side effects. There's also no evidence to show that these medicines are effective in children of any age.
• Don't give your baby honey before they're 1 year old. While honey is often recommended for cough relief, it can put babies at risk for infant botulism.
• Don't use a pillow or sleep positioner to try and prop your baby up to ease their congestion. Stick to safe sleep guidelines to reduce the risk of SIDS and suffocation. Put your baby to sleep on a firm, flat surface, never on an incline. 

When should I call the doctor about my baby's cold?

For babies younger than 3 months old, call the doctor:

• At the first sign of illness
• If your baby has a rectal temperature of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or higher

For babies 3 months or older, call the doctor if your baby has cold symptoms and any of the following:

• For babies between 3 and 6 months, a rectal temperature of 101 degrees Fahrenheit or higher
• For babies 6 months and older, a rectal temperature of 103 degrees Fahrenheit or higher
• Symptoms that get worse or don't start to improve after a week
• Dry, hacking cough or severe cough
• Lethargy
• Unusual crankiness or fussiness
• Poor appetite
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea

Also call the doctor if your baby has:

• Signs of dehydration, such as going more than six hours without a wet diaper
• Signs of an ear infection, such as ear tugging or ear drainage
• Symptoms of pink eye (conjunctivitis), such as redness of one or both eyes and the lower rim of either eyelid, plus a thick discharge
• Any symptoms or behavior that concerns you, even if it's not specifically mentioned above

When to seek emergency medical care

If your baby shows any signs of respiratory distress, seek immediate medical care (talk to the doctor, call 911, or go to the ER):

• Turning blue
• Rapid breathing (more than 60 breaths a minute)
• Head bobbing with breathing
• Rhythmic grunting with breathing
• Flaring nostrils with breathing
• Sucking in the skin above the collarbone or between or below the ribs
• Whistling, coughing, or wheezing with breaths
• Sunken fontanels (the soft spots on your baby's head)

Why does my baby get so many colds?

Babies get a lot of colds because their immune system is immature, making them more vulnerable to illness. Also, more than 200 different viruses can cause the common cold, and your child develops immunity to them one at a time.

A growing baby explores a lot and grabs everything, so it's easy for their hands to come in contact with a cold virus. Someone with a cold in close contact with them can also expose them to the virus. Your baby can get sick when they put their contaminated fingers in their mouth or nose, or rub their eyes. Even breathing the air after someone who is sick coughs, sneezes, or talks can spread the virus.

Your baby may get sick more often during the fall and winter months because cold viruses are more widespread during that time of year. People also spend more time indoors during cold weather, and close quarters mean viruses can spread more easily from one person to another.

Minimize your baby's exposure to germs and boost their defenses with good health habits:

• Hand-washing. Make sure family members and friends wash their hands before picking up your baby. This is particularly important around newborns. And make sure you wash up too – especially after changing diapers and before preparing food.
• Stay away from sick people. To the extent you can, keep your baby away from sick children and adults.
• Cover mouths when coughing or sneezing. Teach family members to not cough or sneeze near the baby and to use a tissue (and then discard it) when they cough or sneeze. Alternatively, have kids cough or sneeze into the crook of their arm.
• Keep your baby hydrated. Breastfeed or bottle-feed frequently. When your baby starts eating solids, you can give them a little water as well. (The AAP advises against giving fruit juice to children younger than 1.)
• Keep your baby's toys and pacifiers clean. This is especially important if others play with their toys.
• Avoid secondhand smoke. This can put your baby at higher risk for upper-respiratory problems, so stay clear of cigarette smokers, and keep your baby away from areas where someone has been smoking. Children who live with cigarette smokers have more colds, and their colds last longer than those of children who aren't exposed to smoke.
• Breastfeed for as long as you can. The health benefits of breast milk aren't a fail-safe guard against infection, but studies have shown that breastfed babies get sick less often than formula-fed babies because the antibodies in breast milk protect against a wide variety of germs.
• Keep shots up to date. Vaccinations won't protect your baby from getting a cold, but they can prevent more serious infections.

Learn more

How to keep your family well during cold and flu season

How to use a bulb syringe or nasal aspirator to clear a stuffy nose (video)