Can a Baby Get a Cold Again

Colds in children

The 'common cold' is caused by viruses (germs) that infect the olfactory organ, throat and sinuses. Colds are most common in the fall and wintertime when people are indoors and in close contact with each other.

It may seem similar your child has i cold after some other all winter. Young children haven't built up amnesty (defenses) to the more than 100 different cold viruses that are effectually. That'due south why they tin can get as many as 8 to 10 colds each year before they turn 2 years old. Once y'all have had a cold virus, you lot become immune to that specific germ. That's why children get fewer colds as they get older.

How do colds spread?

Children can catch colds from siblings, parents, other family members, playmates or caregivers. Germs ordinarily spread in 1 of iii ways:

• Direct contact—such as kissing, touching or belongings hands—with an infected person. If yous take a virus, you volition have germs in your nose, mouth, eyes and on your hands. By touching other people, you tin can pass on the virus.
• Indirect contact ways touching something—a toy, doorknob or a used tissue—that has been touched by an infected person and now has germs on information technology. Some germs, including those that crusade colds and diarrhea, can stay on surfaces for many hours.
• Through the air when a person coughs or sneezes. Droplets from the coughing or sneeze can attain some other person'southward nose or mouth.

How do I know if my child has a cold?

Typical cold symptoms include:

• runny or stuffed-up nose,
• sneezing,
• coughing,
• headache,
• mild sore throat,
• loss of appetite,
• fatigue (being tired), and
• mild fever.

The influenza (influenza) virus causes high fever, cough and trunk aches. It strikes more quickly than a cold and makes people feel worse. Children with colds usually accept free energy to play and keep up their daily routines. Children with the flu are usually in bed.

When should I call my doc?

Babies under 3 months of agecan find information technology hard to breathe through a blimp-up nose, which can make feeding difficult. Phone call your medico to make an engagement or take your baby to an emergency section if your baby:

• is having trouble breathing,
• is not eating or is vomiting, or
• has a fever (rectal temperature of 38.5°C or higher).

Some respiratory viruses that cause colds in older children and adults may cause more serious disease in babies and toddlers. These illnesses include croup (hoarseness, noisy breathing, barking cough), pneumonia (lung infection), bronchiolitis (wheezing, problem breathing), or sore optics, sore throat and neck gland swelling. Children with these conditions demand to exist seen by a doctor.

Children of all ages should see a doctor if the cold seems to be causing more serious problems. Call your doctor or take your child to an emergency department if you notice your child:

• is animate chop-chop or seems to be working difficult to breathe,
• has blue lips,
• is coughing so badly that they are choking or vomiting,
• wakes in the morning with one or both eyes stuck shut with dried xanthous pus,
• is much sleepier than usual, doesn't want to feed or play, or is very fussy and cannot be comforted, or
• has thick or coloured (yellow, green) belch from the nose for more than 10 to 14 days.

Call your doctor if your kid shows whatever sign of a middle ear infection (ear pain, drainage from the ear), which can exist caused by a common cold.

What can I do if my child has a cold?

There is no cure for the common common cold. Colds ordinarily last virtually a week just can continue for as long as 2 weeks. They commonly go abroad on their own.

• Keep your kid as comfortable as possible. Offering enough of fluids and small, nutritious meals.
• Bank check your kid'south temperature.
• To ease pain, aches or a fever, utilize acetaminophen. Ibuprofen may exist used for children over 6 months old.
• Don't requite acetylsalicylic acid (ASA [eg, Aspirin])—or any medicine containing information technology—to children and teenagers with colds considering it can pb to brain and liver damage (Reye syndrome).
• If your baby or toddler is having trouble breastfeeding because of a stuffed-up nose, use a suction bulb to clear mucus from the nose. Apply can use saline olfactory organ drops or spray if the mucus is very thick.
• Don't give over-the-counter (OTC) coughing and cold medicines (which don't need a md'due south prescription) to children younger than 6 years oldunless your physician prescribes them.
• Decongestants and antihistamines (medicine to clear nasal and sinus congestion) will not help with coughing. Decongestants taken by mouth do non work very well and tin crusade your kid to get a rapid heartbeat or to accept trouble sleeping. Antihistamines exercise not work for colds.
• Medicated nose drops or sprays provide only cursory relief and shouldn't be used for more than 2 to 3 days. They can really make the congestion worse. Don't use these products in children under six years former.
• Cool mist humidifiers are not recommended because of the chance of contagion from bacteria and mold. If you lot do use i, disinfect it daily. Hot h2o vaporizers are not recommended because of the take chances of burns.
• Antibiotics will not help get rid of a cold. Antibiotics should be used but when children develop more serious affliction caused by bacteria, such every bit an ear infection or pneumonia.
• Children tin can continue their normal activities if they feel well enough to do so. If they have fever or complications, they may need a few days of rest at home. Your child tin get to school if they feel well enough to take function in the activities.
• Children with colds can still play outside.

How can I foreclose a cold?

• Handwashing is the nearly important style to reduce the spread of colds:
  • Launder your easily subsequently coughing, sneezing or wiping your nose.
  • Launder your hands after existence in contact with someone who has a cold.
  • Wash your ain hands and your child's hands after wiping their nose.
  • When water and soap are not bachelor, use pre-moistened hand wipes or alcohol-based hand sanitizers. Go on sanitizers out of your child's reach because they may be harmful if swallowed.
• Proceed babies under 3 months former abroad from people with colds, if possible.
• Teach your children to cover their nose and mouth with tissues when they sneeze or cough, or to cough into their upper sleeve or elbow.
• Avoid sharing toys that immature children place in their mouths until they have been cleaned.
• Avert sharing cups, utensils or towels with others until they have been cleaned.
• If your child attends daycare, tell the caregiver about any symptoms and ask if your child should stay habitation that day.
• Make sure your kid receives all of the recommended immunizations. While vaccines won't preclude colds, they will help foreclose some of the complications, such as bacterial infections of the ears or lungs.

Reviewed past the following CPS committees

• Public Education Advisory Committee

Last updated: August 2021

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Source: https://caringforkids.cps.ca/handouts/health-conditions-and-treatments/colds_in_children