What sounds like a Seal at 3am?

The blog started out strong but I have been slack the last two weeks or so- first the mastitis, then an earlier than expected increase in hours at work, now my bubba is sick!  Despite best attempts at keeping his immune system up, Little Man has succumbed to that oh so common children's ailment, Croup.

It started as a persistent runny nose that I confess I should have paid more attention to (homoeopathic Nat Mur is excellent for runny nose).  Last night the dreaded croupy cough (the one that sounds like a seal) set in and Little Man's breathing sounded like he was slurping a milkshake through a straw.  I found out today Brauer have a new Runny Nose Relief for 6 months + so we are using that, a chest rub and saline in the nose.  Probiotics in his top up bottles to boost immunity and I am taking Fusion Cold Flu Cough, so that it passes through the milk to help him fight this off.  We are also using steam to settle the cough which so far, is pretty mild.  I also grabbed a snot sucker- AKA a Nasal Aspirator- to help clean his nostrils.  I was a bit hesitant at first but it doesn't seem to do more than clean out the immediate nostril area.  No risk of brain removal!

In other news, I attended the Northside Good Buy Baby Markets- a great place to pick up gently used kids stuff.  I managed to finally get a Sophie!  Fort hose that don't know, Sophie is a Giraffe.  A Magic Giraffe.  Her magic powers include calming fussy babies, soothing sore gums and squeaking.  She is made from natural rubber, by the same traditional methods used when she was first made 50 years ago.  The squeaker keeps little ones entertained and the soft rubber is great for chewing, squeaking, licking, throwing, cuddling and chewing some more.  Little Man is already a fan!

We also picked up some gently used MCN's.  I am slowly building my supply.  Having used (and mostly enjoyed) the Biobaby 0-6m I am looking to get a selection of one size nappies to try.  I am almost finished an article about MCN's, and will follow up on it when I have tried more brands!