Congestion - Springfield, IL

I'm so sorry. We went through the same thing with our daughter. We had to use the humidifier. Make sure you get the medicated stuff to go in the water. They are by the humdifiers themselves at the store. That was all we could do. There is not a product on the market our little ones can take. The other I did was sleep sitting up with her. It worked for a little bit. Unfortunately, she could not get comfortable.

I wish you all the luck. I'm thinking about you.

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Try having him breathe a few drops of an essential oil from Young Living called RC. It works wonders. You put a few drops in your hands and rub them, then cup your hands near his face so he can breathe it. Once I know my children tolerate it, I've even rubbed a drop or 2 on their chest. If you try it, you'll want to dilute it with a natural oil (unscented massage oil or even olive oil) to protect his sensitive skin, although my kids tolerate it undiluted.

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The problem is when the baby is laying flat on his back he gets more congested. My pediatrician recommended elevating one end of the baby bed a little by putting blankets under the mattress and putting his head on that end. When my kids got really bad I would sleep in the recliner holding them in my arms with their head up. Try going back to the doctor. After two weeks of a 10 month old being sick, the peditrician may give you an antibiotic for your little one.

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But now that I have taken him several times to the Chripractor for the same type of symptoms you describe, we have not had him on an antibiotic since he was 9 months old, and he is now 4. It is totally painless and works to clear their sinuses, chest, and drain their ears of any fluid build up. I highly recommend.

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I have to agree with Gina H on this one. The little noses saline solution works well. They don't like it, but it helps. Also, if this contnues, get baby bath Vicks (I don't remember the name, pharmasist will know) from CVS and use in bath tub, and also buy and rub babies chest with baby vicks rub. If this is still not helping, call the DR and take your child in, it could be a serios sinus infection going on. Good Luck Hun.

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Does he show any other signs of a cold? It could just be that it is winter and the air is so dry. Keep trying everything you are, and if you have a swing, let him sleep in it. The upright position should help some. If you don't have one of those vick's vapor night lights, you should get one and plug it in next to the swing. I hope he feels better soon. Poor little guy.

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Hi C.- When my son was about 8 wks. old, he ran into the same problems. His doctor told me it would take a lot longer for him to get well because his nasal passages were so much smaller, and it did. We ended up having to purchase a nebulizer.(a breathing treatment machine) We bought this at our pediatrician's office and have used it several times since. (My son is one year old now) At first, he would fight it a little, but then he would fall asleep while we were doing it, and sleep much better. I hope this helps and you can all get some rest! Sincerely, E.

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Have you recently started him on food such as cereal? If so, it might not be agreeing with him. Saline solution in the nose works good too and don't put q-tips up there, just wait for stuff to drip out & grab it then. Keep his head elevated as best you can, mine at that age slept well in their car seats of all things.

If nothing works, a doctor may be able to suggest other things to help the little guy.

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Vicks VAPORUB Cold Relief
This was sent to me...I would not put it on a 10 week old chest, but I might try the feet the way my husband and children do. Just make sure you keep socks on those feet. It works for my family. Good luck sweetie. (Also, make sure you are using a cool mist vaporizor not the warm mist...the warm mist actually doesn't help the congestion when it came to my daughter.)

-----

This is worth a try.........

> VICKS VAPORUB...TRY IT, IT WORKS
>
> During a lecture on Essential Oils, they told us how the foot soles can
> absorb oils. Their example: Put garlic on your feet and within 20
> minutes you can 'taste' it. Some of us have used Vicks Vaporub for years
> for everything from chapped lips to sore toes and many body parts in
> between. But I've never heard of this. And don't laugh, it works 100% of
> the time although the scientists at the Canada Research council (who
> discovered it) aren't sure why.

To stop night time coughing in a child
> (or adult as we found out personally), put Vicks Vaporub generously on
> the bottom of the feet at bedtime, then cover with socks. Even
> persistent, heavy, deep coughing will stop in about 5 minutes and stay
> stopped for many, many hours of relief. Works 100% of the time and is
> more effective in children than even very strong prescription cough
> medicines.

In addition it is extremely soothing and comforting and they
> will sleep soundly. I heard the head of the Canada Research Council
> describe these findings on the part of their scientists when they were
> investigating the effectiveness and usage of prescription cough
> medicines in children as compared to alternative therapies like
> acupressure.
>
> Just happened to tune in A.M. Radio and picked up this guy talking about
> why cough medicines in kids often do more harm than good due to the
> chemical makeup of these strong drugs so, I listened. It was a surprise
> finding and found to be more effective than prescribed medicines for
> children at bedtime, in addition to have a soothing and calming effect
> on sick children who then went on to sleep soundly.

Polly tried it on
> herself when she had a very deep constant and persistent cough a few
> weeks ago and it worked 100%! She said that it felt like a warm blanket
> had enveloped her, coughing stopped in a few minutes and believe me,
> this was a deep, (incredibly annoying!) every few seconds uncontrollable
> cough, and she slept cough-free for hours every night that she used it.
> If you have grandchildren, pass it on. If you end up sick, try it
> yourself and you will be absolutely amazed by the effect.

Good Luck.
S.

You've got some great suggestions. I wanted to add that it might be an allergy. My daughter is allergic to dairy and soy and congestion is one of the main symptoms she has. She stayed congested for 5 months. If it's ongoing and there's no infection (cold shouldn't laster longer than 10 days), then you might want to try eliminating dairy from the diet for 10 days to see if that clears it up. If you are breastfeeding, just eliminate it from your diet, if he's on formula try switching to a non dairy one.

Look at his diet. Is he being breastfed? If not, look at the formula. Possible lactose intolerant if it's formula. Most problems with congestion in infants stems from food stagnation. Rub his belly daily clockwise around the belly button.

If you have tried everything to help your baby,you should take him to the doctor now.

Saline nasal drops always worked really well for both of my kids and using the humidifier.

My first was veru congested when she was born. The had me use the saline drops with her. Also you might want to go to the doctor just to check and make sure that things are ok... at that point you might want to elevate the baby a bit when they are sleeping so that the congestion might drain a bit.

If you take him to the dr they will give you some infant drops that will help with all that congestion and cough so he can sleep. Also try rubbing baby vicks vapor rub on his chest and put a warm diaper or cloth of some sort on his chest under his pajamas. That helps more than anything.

Hello,
I am sure its hard on you and him! Try cooling the house down to about 68 with him being dressed in a sleeper with socks and a light stocking cap Be sure to keep cotton or knit socks on him. Another thing to try is to put vicks on his soles of his feet before you put on the socks. Often the stuffiness is either an allergy or its from a cold that won't go away because the baby is being kept in too warm an environment where the virus/cold can thrive.
If he's sleeping in a bed, make sure the mattress is angled with head higher than feet. (a book under the mattress or bricks under the head feet of the bed. Is the mucus colored or white? If its colored, there is probably infection somewhere, if more draining and white, its more likely to be allergy based.
Peppermint oil in the vaporizer helps as well.
I hope you have a better night soon!
hugs
S. (mom of 22, 18, 14, 11)

I had the same exact problem with my son, we were treating it like a cold. However, later we discovered that he had reflux and that was what was causing the congestion. He is now 3 1/2 months and takes zantac twice a day - he is a whole new baby.

My 4 month old has the same problem. At 7 weeks he was diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection, and the doctor advised doing all of the things you have mentioned. At 4 months, he still gets very congested when he lies flat to sleep. A pillow underneath his mattress on one end has helped tremendously, as it elevates his head and chest as he sleeps without placing any kind of hazard inside the crib.

C., if your child is only 10 weeks old you need to see the doctor to make sure nothing seriouse is going on. When they are that little you have to be a little more cautious. One thing you can try is facial massage. You can massage the face right where your sinus cavities are and for some reason it will loosen congestion. Good luck

my first response would be go to the doctor pnumonia may have set in.

My 8 month old grandson has been having the same trouble along with bronchitus, then RSV, all in the last three months. His doctor says to keep using the humidifier and it should clear up when the weather does. That's all we've been told. Good luck!

I have a 13 month old. When my son was really young like yours is I remember the doctor telling me to buy some saline nose drops. I would use the drops about 5 minutes before I would suction his nose. This seemed to loosen the mucus and make it thinner and easier to suction.

Sorry your baby isn't feeling well! We have had good luck with Vick's Baby Rub. Good luck!

Get him to his pediatrician as soon as possible. Babies, especialy the very young, can go bad quickly. There are infections they can get, like RSV, which can have serious consequences. Never mess around with their breathing.

C.,
What kind of vaporizer/humidifier do you use? Our pedi has told us to use a cool mist one and not the warm mist b/c it actually can cause more germs to form. Also, try letting your baby sleep in the bouncy seat stapped in of course or try elevating the head of the crib so that his sinuses can drain better. HTH>