RSV in babies
Charlotte is 5 months old and was diagnosed with RSV last week. We had no idea, it just seemed a little cold. I honestly only let them test her snot because I didn’t want to seem like a bad mother (since I’d just received the immunization lecture). I was shocked, to say the least.
There isn’t much that can be done for RSV except helping to keep the snot cleared out and keeping any possible fevers down. Many infants get placed in the hospital to be taken care of and watched. What appears as a common cold in older children and adults can be fatal for infants.
Anti-viral properties
What we know about essential oils though and what has been proven through various studies is that essential oils have anti-viral properties. This means that they can enter the cell, where the virus is hanging out, and can help to kill that virus and boost the immune system. Modern medicine cannot penetrate the cell wall, so this is hugely important.
Because of this, we have been using essential oils to help combat our daughter’s case of RSV.
What we have been doing:
Applying On Guard, Breathe, Eucalyptus, and Frankincense to either her feet, chest, back, or all three.
1: Running On Guard, Breath, or Eucalyptus is the diffuser for 50 minutes at a time, right next to her. We also run it all night long, usually with Eucalyptus or Breathe.
Giving her breathing treatments with the nebulizer and 1 drop of Breathe with some water. Each breathing treatment lasts about 15 minutes and they are given every 3-4 waking hours.
2: Putting saline drops in her nose at every diaper change (or whenever else it is needed) and using the bulb syringe to suction the snot out of her nose. I wish we had the Nosefrida though. I might go get one this week.
3: We adjusted her mattress so that it is tilted slightly to make breathing easier at night. Her bed can be adjusted as such, but you can also place blankets and/or books underneath the mattress to tilt it (it doesn’t need MUCH to get a good enough tilt).
To be honest, we didn’t do these things as often as we intended, but we were pretty diligent about the Eucalyptus, On Guard, at least 1 breathing treatment each day (usually at night), and always using the saline (we had to stop using the bulb syringe at one point because my son bit the tip off. Ew. I know.).
I believe we could have conquered it faster if we had been more consistent, but the point is that we made it through. It’s only been 1.5 weeks since her diagnosis and she hasn’t coughed in 3 days! She would have these coughing fits that could last up to 15 minutes while she was breaking up all the mucus. They were terrifying, even though I knew they were doing something, and one day she even cried every time that she coughed. 🙁 Poor baby. Now she is left with a runny nose and that is all. YAY!!! We are out of quarantine as well – thank goodness!
