So, how bad is the flu this flu season? It’s so bad that schools are closing all across the nation. It’s so bad that hospitals are firing workers who won’t get flu shots. It’s so bad, the Chronicle of Higher Education reports, that colleges are begging students returning to campus to wash their damn hands.
But you don’t care about any of that, because your gorgeous, beloved toddler is miserable thanks to the good old-fashioned cold. He’s crying, he has a fever, and he’s covered in so much drippy, gloppy green phlegm that you’re debating whether you should break out the ominous-looking nose-suction thingee you got at your baby shower but have never actually used.
Don’t! That’s what pediatrician Howard J. Bennett advises in this very thorough Washington Post article on what works for young kids with colds (they average six to 10 colds a year!) and what doesn’t. You’ll find a lot of surprises (Did you know the fact that your darling’s snot is green doesn’t mean he needs needs antibiotics? That we all swallow a pint of mucus every day?), especially since lots of cold remedies that do work for adults and even teens do nada for the diaper set.
The article is well worth reading, bookmarking, and then passing on to your friends. I knew Dr. Bennett was the man when I read this sentence: “Keep in mind … that most small children hate having anything put in their noses, and fighting with them to instill drops or sprays could lead to a bloody nose and worse congestion.” Now there’s a man who’s been there, done that.
Photo: Shutterstock
There is absolutely nothing in this article suggesting that nasal suctioning is bad for little kids. Quite the contrary, Dr. Bennett implies that mucus is the agent that carries the byproducts of the body’s immune response out of the body. It thus follows that removing mucus from the body is beneficial – don’t you prefer to blow the snot from your nose when you’re sick, as opposed to swallowing it back down? Removing the mucus not only helps rid the body of viral particulate, but it also clears the nasal passages and aids in breathing, helping young children to rest. Rest is the number one way to get over a bad cold, regardless of age. The aspirator should not be shoved up the nose – it should be held gently at the opening of the nares. This might require more than one person to do this safely on a young child, but parents who are able to do this give their children more relief, better rest, and help them get over their colds faster. Medication is not a cure-all, and is, indeed, useless as Dr. Bennett describes. But pediatric inpatient wards suction children’s noses because we know helping the body get rid of that gunk is far more comforting that leaving children to suffer with bad mucus build-up. Parents would do well to learn to these nursing techniques to better care for ill children.