My DD is about to be ten weeks old tomorrow. I would say for the past 4 weeks only at night though she has a really hard time breathing. You can hear the congestion in her nose everytime she breathes and eventually she starts to gag if she sucks to hard and get it down her throat. The gagging leads to couching and sometimes she burps up a little.
She is not sick, I know this for sure because she just had her two month check up last Monday and when I brought it up to the doctor he checked and said that she looked and sounded fine. I explained to him that it only happens at night and asked if it could be allergies because she does sneeze alot. (my hubs and my DS both have severe allergies) He said that it would be too early to tell at this point so to get saline and a nose sucker.
For a week now I have been putting the drops up her nose waiting a minute and trying to suck it out but nothing comes out no matter what. It only seems to be getting worse. She still sleeps swaddled and on her side, she cant roll to her back or tummy because she I have one of those sleep positioners in her bassinett. It has to bother her because it prevents her from falling all the way back to sleep after we wake up for a feeding.
My hubs thinks we need to get a humidifier and put it in the room with us at night. Would that help? Anything else I can do?
Thanks ladies!
It could be allergies; it could also be silent reflux. My DS had reflux terribly and it caused lots of congestion at night. Do as the others have said and elevate the head of the bed. We use a cool mist humidifier EVERYDAY while he sleeps.
Good luck.
Beth's ideas are good. Also, don't shrug off the possibility of some sort of allergy or sensitivity. Keep her room well dusted, and eliminate all scented laundry products from her bedding and clothing. If you can leave a window open a bit, or open wide for a little while before bedtime, fresh air may be helpful.
I've heard there's a saline spray especially for babies that makes a gentle, soft mist. This may work better than drops, because it will reach more uniformly into the sinus cavity. Might be worth a try.
I'm with most of the mom's here. Have 5 & 2yo girls who have both suffered from allergies from VERY early on.
--Make sure you wash their faces with a cool cloth before bed, removing all pollen left from the day
--Change sheets daily to avoid dust build up
--Rolled up towel under the mattress where her head rests
--Cool mist humidifier EVERY night
--Expressed breastmilk dropped in the nose (works much better than saline)
--Use saline "sprayers" if you don't have breastmilk to spare. Tiny noses has one that is excellent--when you use it slant the baby's head forward once you've gotten a spray in the nose so it will drain out if not it just rolls down her throat and is irritating
--Stay away from the nose "sucker" as it will only irritate the tissues
--When it is windy, keep your baby's face covered if you go outside and try to avoid it as much as possible.
Give yourself a few days to go through this protocol and see if you get an improvement. It will get better as she gets older. My 5yo had severe allergies and we had to use a nebulizer at times to help her breathe. She hasn't needed a treatment in almost a year so we are a success case!
Good luck and don't worry too much, you're doing great!!!!
K.
Updated
I'm with most of the mom's here. Have 5 & 2yo girls who have both suffered from allergies from VERY early on.
--Make sure you wash their faces with a cool cloth before bed, removing all pollen left from the day
--Change sheets daily to avoid dust build up
--Rolled up towel under the mattress where her head rests
--Cool mist humidifier EVERY night
--Expressed breastmilk dropped in the nose (works much better than saline)
--Use saline "sprayers" if you don't have breastmilk to spare. Tiny noses has one that is excellent--when you use it slant the baby's head forward once you've gotten a spray in the nose so it will drain out if not it just rolls down her throat and is irritating
--Stay away from the nose "sucker" as it will only irritate the tissues
--When it is windy, keep your baby's face covered if you go outside and try to avoid it as much as possible.
Give yourself a few days to go through this protocol and see if you get an improvement. It will get better as she gets older. My 5yo had severe allergies and we had to use a nebulizer at times to help her breathe. She hasn't needed a treatment in almost a year so we are a success case!
Good luck and don't worry too much, you're doing great!!!!
K.
Hey Mama
Have you checked your house for mold? Babies are more sensitive to toxic air than we are. I'd suggest going to Home Depot and buying a mold kit and placing them around the house.
I'd also call for a 2nd opinion.
R. Magby
Yes, a cool mist humidifier will work. Also, they have crib wedges that you can put under the sheet to raise her head a little so that she is not completely flat. That may also help her breathe.
We have used a cool mist humidifer nightly since DD was about 7 months old - makes a huge difference with congestion when she has it.
That's the first thing I thought, that a humidifier would be a good idea. But I would call the ped first and double check. You might ask if propping her up in a car seat might help until this resolves.
Good luck,
Dawn
Our pedi has us use a cool air humidifier. It seems to help our children. My daughter has the same issue. She is older. Keep an eye on her, if the snot is not draining it could back up into her ears and cause an ear infection. That is what we are dealing with now with out 16 mos. old. So, watch for fever. God bless!
Another way to introduce humidity is to wet a towel and hang close by.
We had a similar issue when my son was that age. After talking with our doctor, we used steriod drops in his nose for a week (no longer, or it could cause damage). It worked wonders. I was nervous about giving him such a persription so young, but I was more nervous that the congestion (which really was swelling, in our case, not mucos), would interfere with his breathing.
I would continue with the saline drops but also use a humidifier. This is going to sound weird but it's a proven method in the breastfeeding community. If you breastfeed, express a little milk and use a medicine dropper to put it in her nose (use it like saline; a couple of drops). The fat in the milk is a far better lubricator than saline and it has antibacterial/viral properties. Even though the doctor said she seems fine, that doesn't mean that she doesn't have a mild cold that's affecting her mostly at night. I have always been told that allergies come later (around 2yrs). If this continues for an extended period of time, I would see a pediatric ENT.
Just be careful with nose suckers... our Pediatrician said that using it too much/too often can abrade the inner nose. Because the inner nose is very tender/sensitive.
Try a humidifier.
Or, does she perhaps have big nose boogers in her nose??? When my son had those, he seemed to be 'congested' when he slept.
My little one was the same way. We had to prop him up on his back so he could breath better. A humidifier is absolutely want you need to get. I lived by mine. We got the warm humidifier and it helped way more than the saline drops. I did end up getting the Pediacare stuffy nose drops for the really bad nights. His did end up to be allergies and what the Dr told me is that his nose became inflamed (which is why your not getting anything out) and swells so it adds to the trouble breathing. We have done allergy tests since and he is allergic to most of the things in the air (rag weed, all the trees ect.). No where near an expert but, that is my experience. Hope it helps.
My daughter has a stuffy nose as well, but is not sick. She sleeps in our room and we have the ceiling fan on at night. The doc told me to use a humidifier at night to help keep her nose from drying out. If she is not sick, but has mucus, that is the noses way of keeping it moist. I would try that and keep sucking her nose. Good luck!
I agree with the humidifier. I also used to use a phone book or similar under the upper part of the mattress to get that inclined effect. Not enough to slide her to the bottom, just incline :-). Always seemed to help when they were too little for meds. I don't know about putting anything in with her or under the sheet, I was always a little nervous about that. Guess I'm 'old school'. Take care!
Humidifier, keep sucking out the nose, incline the mattress of the bassinette if possible (fold a towel up and put it UNDER the mattress on the end her head would be on)... If it is a head cold then the boogers will loosen up soon and the sucker will work awesomely...
THink about getting rid of the sleep positioner alltogether...they are NOT recommended and are a sids hazard. The CPSC and the FDA just put out a warning against them. here is a link:
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml10/10358.html
My husband and son have terrible allergies. Humidifiers will help. I love the cool mist animal shapes at Target. Also, make sure the mattress is on an incline so he's not so flat. Although you can't test of allergies early - as they aren't reliable... however, I think my son took Zyrtec early on.... check w/ the dr. Also, you can get an air purfier, and wash the sheets and dust the room often. With the saline, I used to put quite a bit up there - until it dripped down. THEN just leave it as it would thin he mucus. With my allergies - I don't get a runny noise, it goes straight down my throat. Finally, you may go to a pediatric allergist... good luck!
Updated
My husband and son have terrible allergies. Humidifiers will help. I love the cool mist animal shapes at Target. Also, make sure the mattress is on an incline so he's not so flat. Although you can't test of allergies early - as they aren't reliable... however, I think my son took Zyrtec early on.... check w/ the dr. Also, you can get an air purfier, and wash the sheets and dust the room often. With the saline, I used to put quite a bit up there - until it dripped down. THEN just leave it as it would thin he mucus. With my allergies - I don't get a runny noise, it goes straight down my throat. Finally, you may go to a pediatric allergist... good luck!
I agree with putting a towel or pillow under the head of the mattress to incline it. The humidifier will also help.
