Newborn Nasal Congestion

it could be allergies. i have a 6 week old daughter and she had the same symptoms so i went the dr. and thats what he told me. the treatment is still the same saline drops and suction. hope things get better.
C.

It's no fun at all, but we did saline & booger sucked for what felt like my youngest's first 18 mos. She learned to blow her nose much younger than most kids!! She had mucho motivaion to do so. you can also get one of those vaporizer night lights, or the Vicks humidifers have vapor oil you can add to them to help w/ breathing, too.

D.

At 3 weeks old my pediatrician said that our daughter could have 1/4 tsp of benedryl. It will clear up the runny nose and then in turn the cough.

Our Pedi told us NOT to use a humidifier that it only makes the congestion thicker. You might try without for a while to see if that helps?

Hello there,

I use Ocean Nasal Spray for KIDS. I squirt in both nostrals wait and then squirt again to rinse the nose out. You will see all the stuff drain out. I do not use a bulb suction because it only cleans out what it can reach. The second squirt does the trick! Do it as ofter as needed. With my daughter when she was that age (she in now 1) I would do it every other diaper change. Sound like alot, but it works great. This will help her from getting sick more often. Even when she was not congested I would still do it at least once a day.

T.

If you haven't taken him to actually see the doc, I would. Make sure they show you exactly how to use the nasal syringe. When my daughter was 2 1/2 months old, she came down with a seriously congested nose as well. I'd been spraying saline and suctioning per our ped., but it wasn't working too well. Plus, our ped's nurse told me to be careful with the syringe and use only if absolutely necessary. Well, it became so severe, she wasn't able to nurse and was already tiny, so (since it was the weekend) I took her to Cook's Children's Urgent Care on Precinct Line Rd. They inserted a surgical tube up her nose with a suction syringe on the other end, and after much crying on my part and hers, her nose was clear and she immediately fell asleep. The doc there told me to really stick the syringe up there, and that it wasn't possible for me to stick it up "too high". I suctioned her before and after feeding and sleeping, and she was over it in about a week.

Also, a tip on suctioning, if you can get someone (or if you can do it yourself) hold your child's arms above their head as you attempt to suction. It prevents them from turning their head. It really works!
Good luck!

Hi V.

Try drops of breast milk.
Good Luck!!!!
L.

Hi V.,

My daughter was very similar. We did the saline drops too. Also, I wanted to add that you might keep an eye on the products you use in your house. Things like bleach, household cleaners and even laundry detergents can be irritating to the lungs and noses. After doing lots of research, I switched my house over to a company that makes natural alternatives to all those harsh cleaners I used to keep around.

Have a great one!
A.
www.free2Bmom.com

My son got sick with conjestion and cough at 6 weeks and it lasted until about 8 weeks. I was told by the ped. not to give ANY decongestant drops as they were not sure they were really helpful, and had been shown to cause irregular heart beat, nervousness, and even death. She told us to put the saline drops in, use the nasal aspirator, but make sure you close the other nostril (otherwise you aren't really sucking the stuff out), raise his head, and use a humidifer. We were also told we could use Vicks Baby rub on his chest, but not under his nostrils (as this could cause severe dryness).

Keep an eye out, and make sure they test for RSV and other viruses.

I actually steamed up my smallest bathroom and baby and I sat in the bathroom for as long as we could stand it. The heat moisture seemed to work. We did this every morning until it was not so bad.

Congrats...what a gift you got for your anniversary.

K.

My daughter had the same time. She seems to always be congested. It is usually not in her nose, but in her head. She even sometimes has the mucus in her spitup. (They xrayed her bowls, since she spitup green, but she is fine. It is just congestion)
There is not much you can do at this age. The saline drops and elevate your babies head while sleeping. My daughter also has reflux which could be what causes the congestion. Talk to your pedi. We put ours on previcid I think about 8 weeks and at 3 months we are now also trying a antihistimine, I think acuhist. She seems to be improving. I am not sure if it is the drugs or that she is getting older.
Unfortunally, for 7 weeks you seem to already be doing all the right things. Good luck.

Nothing to do, but let it run it's course. My little girl was the same way all winter long, and I was also told to just use the saline drops. Make sure you use it quite a few times during the day, and definitely before he goes to bed. Before bedtime helps with the coughing. It probably took her a couple of weeks to get over it, but it worked. That is still the only way I help her when she is congested, saline, saline, saline. My little girl is also a fighter, so the pediatrician told me that if I couldn't suction her to at least get the drops in. He got to witness her fighting. Also elevate his head a little. You are just going to have to be patient. I know it's hard because all you want to do is help them. Just to let you know I have 3 small children 2, 2, and 8 months now, and I have cool mist humidifiers in their rooms 365 days out of the year running. If he starts crying when you lay him down, and it's only when you lay him down you may also want to have his ears checked. I know this is your first child, but trust your instincts, you usually know when something isn't right. Good luck!!!

Did your doctor tell you HOW to use the saline drops? I did not know the correct method, and ended up in the hospital with my 13 month old because he could not breathe well - retraction breathing. You have to spray the drops into their nostrils, not just drop them in, and then stick the bulb syringe into their noses to suck out the mucous. I was just getting the stuff right inside his nose, and you have to put the syringe in their noses to get all the stuff out. Check with your doctor for further information.

I read in the "What to expect the first year" book that it's normal for a baby this age to have some congestion. It's not really a cold or anything, but it has to do with physical development, lungs maturing, etc. It was something like the remnants of stuff in their lungs from being in the womb. You can look it up if you have the book.

If you're using a humidifier, don't forget to clean it out everyday. If you don't you're just recirculating the bacteria in the humidifier into the air. Unfortunately, I don't think there's much you can do besides what you're already doing.

It could be reflux. But keep and eye on him and make sure it doesn't get worse. It's RSV season, so just be careful. My daughter had RSV when she was 7 weeks old and it started out with a really small cough and lots of congestion. Then she had difficulty breathing, and every time we put her down to sleep she'd screaam. I had to stay in and upright position with her for 3 nights straight until it sounded like it was in her lungs and we had to take her to the ER. Not to say that yours has it, but I know it is RSV season and several others have had it.

My son had the same issue. We do the saline and nose sucker, and humdifier also. When it is really bad we use a Vicks Vaporizer, we put it behind the humidifier so the scent will be sucked up by the humidifier and it will help more. Also we were told by our Ped. that we can use Little Noses Decongestant Drops. I'm not sure how old he was when we started those though, so you might want to contact your Ped first as my son is 7 months old.

Hope you find some relief soon.

Oh one more thing elevate the head of the bed (put a blanket under the part of the mattress where his head is. But not to high, you don't want him to end up at the foot of the bed.)

J.

My baby did the same thing. I had a great Ped. that said he had acid reflux! It causes congestion in babies. Check it out.