Stuffy Nose - 15 Week Old Infant

Hi E.!

One person suggested having baby sleep on an incline, that helps. We used to let our little ones sleep in the infant carseat, was perfect incline, our pedi suggested it. Also, if he hasn't been checked by the pedi, it probably wouldn't hurt, just to make sure it's nothing more. I like the Pedicare (May be Sudacare, there's 2 different ones out there and Vick's) that are plug ins for night time. They have the children's/infant version.

It sounds like you're doing everything you can do. I seem to remember reading something abut this in the "What to expect the first year" book. They referred to it as a "snurgle" or something, and said it's normal for babies around this age. If he's not bothered by it and is sleeping normally (well, as normally as a 15-week old infant CAN sleep!), this might be the case (rather than an illness). If I remember correctly, the book said it's just his body's way of getting rid of the last bit of "gunk" in his airway from being waterlogged in utero.

The best thing to help clear it is the bulb syringe and saline. A couple times a day you'll want to get a couple drops of saline in each nostril, then wait about 10 min before using the syringe. Waiting a little while gives the saline enough time to break up the mucous, etc. Putting the infant carrier or a bouncy seat in the bathroom while you take a steamy shower is also a good idea. I've done both and found that the baby gets pretty warm in the infant carrier, so I preferred the bouncy seat.

Of course if his breathing becomes labored or he spikes a fever you'll want to call your pediatrician.

I bought some baby shampoo, VAPOR bath, green bottle by Johnson & Johnson. It also helped a little. my Son liked it.

Did you try putting the vicks baby rub on the soles of his feet and wearing socks on them for the night? This should help clear his stuffiness and helps with coughs too ( if he ever gets coughs).

Goodluck!

Hi E.! My son was going through that recently. Here's what we did:
1. He gets a bath everynight before bed. Before bath, we spray saline in each nostril to break up whatever is in there. After his bath, I suck out all of it with the bulb syringe...I even plug the nostril that we aren't suctioning to make sure I get it all out. We "clean" the nostril with a q-tip to get all of it out.

2. I was putting that baby vicks on his chest. My pedi said that it dosn't do anyting, but I grew up on Vicks and I think it does do soemthing personally. I've heard of putting it on their feet, but I haven't tried that.

3. He sleeps with a WARM mist humidifier. I know there are cold and warm, but I think the warm is better. I mean, think about it...if they tell you to put the baby in a steamy bathroom...that is warm mist.

4. Tylenol before bed.

It took a few weeks, but he is good now. I am still doing the humidifier at night everynight and we suction his nose after every bath to clean out his nose.

Good luck!

You can also try propping up one side of his crib mattress (if he's sleeping in the crib) with some books, the incline might help it drain. But some phonebooks UNDER the mattress, so his head is at the top of a very gentle incline.

There's some nasty cold viruses going around. Good luck!

Do you have a live Christmas tree? Animals in the house? Hopefully, your baby is doing better by now, but if not, consider enviromental irritants. As for soothing the stuffiness, it seems you are doing a lot of good things already. Is the humidifier warm mist? Vicks sells an additive that will help open up the sinuses. Good luck.

If you are nursing, I would try not eating any dairy and seeing how your son does. I am very sensitive to dairy and any time I have dairy I get very congested, and I am nursing my 6 week old baby and he has a stuffy nose any time I eat dairy products. My 3 year old daughter is the same way. In fact I see lots of little kids who contstantly have runny noses and I just want to tell their moms to stop loading their kids up on dairy! It's worth a try!

I used Xlear on mine...it is all natural and helps with the moisture and reduction of allergies.....I get it at Market Street or Mike's Health Collection in McKinney...I used it on both of my kids as infants.

Have you used the bulb syringe to suck the mucous out?

I usually do that after giving the saline drops.

Also I would put my baby in her car seat and bring her in the bathroom while I took a shower for the steam, that seemed to break the mucous up a bit.