I'm taking 6 months away from my day job to look after my son, Archie, who is now 9 months old. I thought it might be interesting to share my experiences.

And so, it has started. Just two weeks into Archie's nursery school career and he's picked up his first, genuine man cold. The collective breeding ground of forty-odd babies and toddlers has broken past his immune defenses and hit him with a combination of chesty-coughs, sneezes and blocked nasal passages; not to mention the green monster itself, which keeps leaving a trail of ectoplasm from either nostril - "he slimed me!"

So, how do you treat a nasty cold in a baby? A lot of the toolbox that I'd normally use is missing, and not just my wife's famous whisky & lemon toddies. No cough sweets or vapour rubs and the poor fellow can't even blow his nose properly. In the end we've settled for a mix of children's cough syrup, bowls of hot water with baby-safe, pungent oils and regular nose wiping sessions. Of these, the nose wipes have been the trickiest. I had no idea how much a baby (at least our baby) dislikes having their nose wiped - it has been a genuine battle and I'm sure I'm missing some sort of special technique.

From what other parents tell me, this will now be the new norm and we can expect more of the same in the coming months and years. Any advice gratefully received.