03_BT_March 2022

Baby & Toddler
Health & Medical Diary
9 THINGS
YOU SHOULD KNOW
ABOUT THE COMMON
COLD IN BABIES
There’s a reason why colds are called
“common”. According to the American
Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), many
healthy children have eight to 10 colds
and other viral infections in the first
two years of life (or six to eight colds in
the first year). Newborns are at higher
risk for colds and other infections for
the first four to six weeks. All babies
are born with some immunity to illness,
but it takes time for infants to fully
develop their immune system to fight
the germs.
Generally, a common cold is a viral
infection of the nose and throat. There
are more than 200 different viruses that
can cause a cold. The most common
virus is rhinovirus, while others include
the coronavirus, parainfluenza,
adenovirus, enterovirus, and respiratory
syncytial viruses.
1How do babies catch
a cold?
Viruses that cause cold are usually
spread through skin-to-skin contact,
droplets transmission from coughs or
sneezes, and contact with an object
that has been contaminated.
Babies often pick up colds from personto-person
contact – for example, at
a daycare or from family members.
When someone who is sick coughs
or sneezes, droplets carrying cold
viruses from the cough or sneeze may
reach another baby’s nose or mouth.
Babies can also catch a cold from older
brothers and sisters who bring the virus
home from school or from grown-
32 BabyTalk | March 2022