T.N. asks from Memphis, TN on December 15, 2006
Newborn with Nasal Congestion
seeking advice about 4 day old with stuffy nose, occasional sneezing, light coughing
with one sneeze there was projectile yellow mucus from the nose!
So What Happened?™
thanks to everyone for all the great advice! turns out, by the end of day 4, the new baby was completely fine! the dr. said it was normal for him to just be clearing out his system after being born, just as you ladies said. he's 1 week old today & doing great, as is his mommy!
Featured Answers
S.L. answers from Johnson City on December 18, 2006
New born babies can't take many meds. I would suction the nose & call the doc. Yellow mucus could mean infection or could just be mucus left from the birth. Either way suction the nose & mouth & call doc. Hope this helps.
More Answers
H.M. answers from Nashville on December 16, 2006
The MOST important thing is that the baby is NOT running a fever! After that I guess just use the bulb syringe to clear congestion. Babies tend to let things "perkolate". I would try to keep the baby upright as much as possible to help keep the congestion from settling to the lungs. Definately call the Ped. that's what they are there for.
Good luck, sick babies are so pitiful!
H.
B.J. answers from Huntsville on December 20, 2006
To be honest, I have been through this! The doctor will tell you to use Saline Drops (Wal-Mart)and use your suction syringe. And that is about it. Tell her goodluck, and to stay in doors as much with the baby due to cold and flu season on us right now. I hope that this helps, have a great holiday! B. J
S.M. answers from Huntsville on December 15, 2006
This is actually pretty common to some extent..The sneezing.. is the baby clearing out all the amnioniotic fluid, and trying to get use to all the air pollunats around him/her. The coughing could be from the same thing, and a little bit of stuff could come out , not nothing yellow i would think though.. the baby could already have a slight cold, which there is nothing they can do for the baby unless it is severe. My youngest of 3 is now 8 mths old and she got a cold at a couple weeks old... she done fine, she also had a ear infetion with that cold as well that I didnt know about until i took her to the doctor. If she is real concerned, i would say go to the doc.. it is better to be safe than sorry.. .good luck to her
M.B. answers from Tuscaloosa on December 15, 2006
CALL THE DOCTOR. That is just me. A 4 day old should not have anything coming from their nose. Good luck.
S.J. answers from Knoxville on December 15, 2006
T.
Have your friend call the Dr. The sneezing is normal for a newborn and maybe even a little stuffy. But NOT the mucous.. Call and take that baby in right away.
M.D. answers from Johnson City on December 17, 2006
T.,
Tell your friend to try the Vick's Baby Vapor Rub. It is not a strong as the one that we would use. If she has the money a humidifier would be great. Also if she could hand bathe the baby with Johnson's Vapor Bath it helpes my kids open up when they get congested. Or take a pot of boiling water and add the vapor rub to it and put that near the baby's bed that way she can breath in the steam and vapors. She should call the peds office if the baby is running fever! Remember the baby is still new so it may be still trying to get all the fluids out. Plus there is a change in the environment so they have to get use to that. The electric heat and base board heat are also rough on us. So if she is useing either one of these heat sources suggest to her to get something different or a humidifier in the house. I hope the little one well. Good luck! :)
J.B. answers from Memphis on December 16, 2006
usually there is green or light green snot that comes from a babies nose....it sounds unusual for it to be yellow. If it was me, I would take the baby to Oxford (not Grenada). Get a dr to see him and to listen to his chest. With my 1st little girl, she got sick at about a month old and stayed congested alot. She would get better then she would start sounding very congested and it happened alot (and then people would tell me not to be taking her out alot in the cold-i had her in september and I didn't take her anywhere hardly). My advice would be to take the baby to the dr asap. I don't take any chances on my baby's health.
E.G. answers from Knoxville on April 22, 2007
This is totally normal. All babies especially newborns are getting rid of anything left in air passages etc. Tell your friend if she is really worried to contact the Dr. but I am sure she has an appointment soon anyway.
Babies born via C-section are likely to have more fluid then natural births so keep that in mind if that was the case.
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