Best Way to Relieve a Toddlers Congested Nose?

Get some Saline Nasal Spray ( Brand name is Ocean but the generics are much cheaper and just the same)...you can use it as often as you want on her little nose and it will help loosen things up so she can get rid of them. If you can use the "mucus suction thingy" (I can't remember the name either!!)...do because it will help a lot!!! The other mom's have great suggestions...hopefully one of them will work for you.

Cold mist humidifier. Add a couple of drops of eucalyptus or rosemary essential oil to the water. Should help her feel a little bit better, at least at night, anyway.

Hello Sunflower,

I agree with the eucalyptus and rosemary essential oils (tea tree oil, clove bud oil and/or oregano essential oils also), and want to add that if you don't already have a cold-mist humidifier, or if it's already too humid where you live, just put the essential oils on a cosmetic cotton pad and tuck it into the grate on the front of a fan. The oils disseminate into the room as the fan runs; the children may find the fan noise relaxing (and therefore help sleep), and as their noses clear, they may enjoy the aroma. The tea tree oil is quite affordable at Trader Joe's, but you'll need to go to Whole Paycheck - er, Whole Foods - to get most of the other essential oils.

As for OTC medicines, for toddlers through adults, I recommend "Old Indian Wild Cherry Bark Syrup". It's an immune system builder and will help "cure what ails ya". You can find it at Whole Foods and sometimes at better-stocked chain drug stores. If you can't find it, look for something with a significant amount of elderberry extract in it. Also if you're not already supplementing with zinc, get some palatable zinc supplement (liquid versions are available for children and lozenges for adults). Zinc will shorten your illness and boost your immunity.

I didn't see anyone recommend vitamin D supplements, so I'll add that in here as well. Supplement at 35 IU per pound of body weight (I think I read that at mercola.com). Vitamin D, zinc and elderberry will help you conquer most anything you might catch in ordinary circumstances.

I also agree that the snot sucker is immediately effective for relief so sleep can happen. I also know how much energy can be wasted resisting it. The nasal saline is also good, but read the ingredients carefully because some of the preservatives they put in the saline are best avoided. I recommend a "neti pot", which looks like a small tea pot, with a nostril-sized spout. You mix your own saline at home (salt and/or baking soda and water), fill the neti pot, stick the spout in one nostril and tilt your head so it's level with your ear down. The saline will run through your nose and sinuses and out the other side. Do the same in the other direction then blow out the remaining moisture. The neti pot is much more effective and more comfortable to use in my experience than the sprays which go up the nose. Perhaps if you let your twins watch as you do the neti pot, they may want to try it out. Particularly if you make it look like fun, or just joke about how you look funny with a teapot up your nose LOL :-)

I'll send my best your way; sick twins are a challenge any day, but especially when you're ill as well. Get well soon!

Best wishes,
Cathi B.

This will sound crazy, but I got it from a homeopathic dr (Dr. Laruen Feder). For sleeping at night, with a stuffy nose, we have put freshly cut onions in my sons room (next to the bed) and within 20 minutes he was breathing calmly. It may be hard during the day unless you are keeping them in one room. Doesn't hurt to try (since it is a way to avoid medications).

Sorry if this is a repeat of other suggestions, but let her sit in the bath as long as she likes. Give her toys and just let her sit in warm water. encourage her to splash around and have fun. When it happens to mine I let them sit in the bath till they're wrinkly :) and it always helps. And yes, go with the cool mist humidifier and also Baby Vics w/rosemary (they sell it OTC at any drugstore) on the chest helps.

We always put the VIcks Vapor rub on their feet and put socks on afterward. It worked wonders!
Good Luck, we never want to see our babies sick.

;

I agree with all of the methods listed below, but we all know that sometimes the "ick" just defies all natural attempts to cure it. When my youngest was 4 months old, my DSS brough a virus up from FL that we had NO immunity to over Christmas and my baby needed breathing treatments in the ER for it. They gave me a bottle of Neo-Synephrine nasal drops to take home with us and told me that it could be acquired in most pharmacies by asking the pharmacist for it. It's one of those OTC's that they keep behind the counter. It WORKS!!! I mean it WORKS!!!

However, you can only use it for three days in a row before you have to take a break for a few days, or you will suffer from "rebound" symptoms. It's serious stuff, so talk to your doctor about it first, but I figure that if it was okay for my 4mo then it should be okay for your 19mo if you REALLY, REALLY feel like something HAS to be done about it. (i.e. she's missing a lot of sleep because of her stuffy nose etc..) BTW, it works GREAT for adults too! Oh and with my 4mo I just put one to two drops in each nostril two to three times a day as was recommended to me. Get a recommendation from your Pediatrician.

I can also be combined with infant motrin which will help with any inflamation swelling (i.e. other than simple fluid swelling) that could be making the condition worse for her.

Best of luck!

"Little noses" nasal spray/drops.. Over the years I learned that the saline rinse is the best cure for nasal congestions. The kids won't like it very much, but as a parent, this is the sort of things that you get to decide if they should get or not. What I normally do is to have them lay down on the floor or bed, and squeeze a few drops in each nostril. You could do it several times a day, depending on the severeness -- ie., after wake-up, before nap, after nap, before dinner, before bed-time. You get the idea. After the drops, a lot of mucus come out naturally without suctioning. Don't give too much dairy product for now, ie., milk, ice cream, cheese, etc.

I use similar things for myself when I'm sick. The best thing is Neil Med saline rince -- you can get it from any pharmacy or Costco. Do it 2 times a day or more, and it helps cleans out all the mucus.

feel better soon.

I always used saline spray and suction out the mucus. Keep it cool in the bedroom at night and put a cold air humidifier on at night and raise up the mattress a little to keep their heads elevated.

Good luck!

Both of you stand in a shower with hot steam but don't get burned and let the steam open her airways. You can also saute garlic in coconut oil, let it cool and rub on her nose (it breaks up the cold)

they have come out with wipes that are called boogie wipe(4 dollars) they work wonders they are made with childrens saline solution i use them on my girls. and baby vicks vapor rubs works great to with a humidifer that you can also get made with vicks they have special ones just for kids you can find them at walmart for less the 10 dollars and it come with some inserts already and if you need more i think they are around 7 dollars for 10 or so.hope this helps

My suggestion is to get a humidifier. Just make sure you clean it every time you use it. It'll relieve congestion without medication. We use one in my daughter's room. She's two and thinks it's her own "bubbles" machine (Daddy put too much salt in there one night and it was spitting water... funny now, lol.)

have you taken yourself and your kids to the doctor? our kids had something similar and had to be on the nebuelizer to shake it..

The one thing that we find that helps is benadryl but please ASK YOUR DOCTOR before you use it. My son has cold induced asthma, and so it's really important that we dry him out or the asthma gets worse. Benadryl really works wonders. Good luck. Hope she (and you) feel better soon!

Use a cool mist humidifier when they sleep. Put them in a nice warm bath, that usually helps loosen up the mucus in my kids nose(and mine).

The only thing you can use is Saline Spray and suction. If you don't have one, go buy the NoseFrida. It is way more powerful and gets everything out. They sell them at some Whole Foods, or online at nosefrida.com. I bought mine at the Los Alamitos Pharmacy.

Add a teaspoon of salt to 1 cup of water and mix until the salt is dissolved. Take an eyedropper and put 3-5 drops of the solution in each nostril. She will cough, but it won't hurt her. Then try suctioning the mucous. It will come out far easier.
Also, allow your daughter to sleep with her mattress elevated, not flat on her back.
Finally, take her into the bathroom with the shower running on hot until it makes a lot of steam. Allow her to breathe the steamy air for 15-20 minutes before bed.

there is a nasal decongestant spray for babies and kids called little noses...they hate it, but it works!

Saline and suction. They don't like it at first but after I did it to my kids, they realized they could 'breathe' better and would just lay there when I would repeat the process later. Gotta get that gunk out! :) Good luck!