This year’s flu season is a big one — and that’s scary if you’re pregnant or a new mama. The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says the twenty-nine states are now reporting high levels of influenza-like-illness (ILI) and another nine states are reporting moderate levels of ILI.

Worried about your or baby getting sick? We’ve got the resources to answer all your questions about dodging and treating the flu this season:

Mom-to-Be

Flu During Pregnancy: Prevention, Symptoms, Treatments and Advice

Can the flu virus affect my unborn baby?

Is the flu shot safe during pregnancy?

What medications are safe during pregnancy?

Baby

Flu In Babies: Prevention, Symptoms Treatments and Advice

Should my baby get a flu shot?

How to Keep Baby (and You!) Cold- and Flu-Free

What are you doing to try to stay healthy this flu season?

It’s January and my 8-month-old is on his second cold of the season. It hasn’t been anything serious – just your average, run-of-the-mill cold: fever, fussiness, runny nose and coughing. And while it hasn’t been unbearable, oh, how I wish it would it would just end end!

There were several things that I wasn’t prepared for and others that I was when my baby got sick. Next time baby sparks a fever, you better believe I’ll be ready! But I’ve learned some lessons that all moms should know when it comes to seasonal colds, things like:

Knowing how to contact your doctor.
This one was fairly easy and also easy to overlook. Of course, I have my pediatrician’s phone number programmed in my cell phone. But my husband didn’t. When my cell phone battery died, we needed to use his phone and we had to look up the phone number. Never again! Now it is programmed into both of our phones. We also made sure the nurse’s line was in both of our phones as well.

Making sure your baby thermometer works.
We have a baby thermometer (that we love!), but when I went to go get it out, the battery was dead. And it doesn’t use a traditional AAA battery. I went to a couple of stores and neither of them carried it. I had to call a specialty battery store to find one in town. I didn’t just buy one – I bought two to make sure that we have a spare. The last thing you want to do with a tired, achy, fevery baby is cart him from store-to-store to find an elusive battery! So, go, now, and check your baby thermometer. Seriously, do it!

Having medication (and extras!) on hand.
Besides a working thermometer, the other thing that I didn’t have was medicine for breaking that fever. Since the dosage is dependent upon baby’s weight, I called the pediatrician’s office to get the dosage. Since he was older than 6 months, I had the option of giving him either ibuprofen or acetaminophen. But I didn’t have either of those. Again, off to the grocery store to pick some up. Keep an emergency set on hand somewhere at home in case you run out of your every day stock.

Being prepared to hold your baby. And then hold him some more.
I can’t remember a time when my son was so willing to be held. Willing isn’t even the right word — needing to be held is closer to the truth. His stuffy nose didn’t allow him to sleep as long or as deeply as he was used to, causing for more crankiness. And he just wanted to be held. All. Day. Long. And since it was over the holidays, I already had the time off work so I just threw my schedule out the window. Even though I did enjoy the extra cuddles, I wasn’t happy to see my baby so cranky.

How do you deal with baby colds?

Plus, more from The Bump:

10 Ways to Soothe a Sick Baby

6 Ways to Keep Baby Healthy

New Reason to Get a Dog: Your Baby Might Be Sick Less