My son has the biggest boogers I've ever seen in the world!!! Every morning he wakes up with them caked over his nose and I think it's affecting his sleep. I know it's affecting his breastfeeding. Every afternoon when I get him from daycare, it's the same thing. The other day I was trying to clean it off and he moved and my nail cut inside his nose and every since then it has been kinda bloody then dark blackish red bloody boogers (crusty). Sorry if this is TMI....
I have been putting Vaseline on/in his nose and washing his face all times of the day to help prevent the snot from turning into boogers.
Any other ideas? Should I put the cool mist humidifer back in his room?
Thanks for all your comments!! I have used the nasal aspirator as well as wiping his nose, putting Vaseline on it and the cool mist humidifier. I called the doc last week and they suggested trying Benyadryl. I gave him 1 dose and it seemed to dry his nose up a little bit. I don't like medicating if not necessary so I'm doing this sparingly! I have noticed if I get the nose wiped as soon as it's runny, the boogers do not have the time to form. They do at night because no one is there to clean his nose and I think at daycare, he gets them at naptime as well. I will just try to stay on top of this!
Have you tried using Saline drops? That has helped my kids - put some in and then you can use the bulb to pull anything out.
Have you considered taking him to the pediatrician to make sure there isn't an infection that is trying to drain?
The only reason I ask is because the drainage is how we know our daughter has ear infections. 5th infection of the season confirmed on Wednesday at her well-baby visit. We already knew because of the boogers and just needed pediatrician confirmation. She has no other symptoms.
Each child is different, so I hope it's just the change in the season affecting him.
The only other thing you might want to try are some saline drops in each nostril to keep it damp.
Hope he gets to feeling better.
Could he have allergies? You may want to ask your ped about Zyrtec. That is what my son takes when they get bad, but I don't know how old they have to be to take it. It is allergy season. Definitely use a either a wet cloth or diaper wipe. It will protect him from your nails. I also "pick" at my son, and know the close calls I have had. :)
I would do everything you can to keep the air moist, so yes, I'd put the humidifier back in the room.
I also second the recommendation to use a saline nasal spray. They make kind of a really gentle aerosol (although it's not aerosol, just seems like it) spray mist for babies. I think it's called Little Noses. There's another brand too, that I can't think of the name of. Walmart sells them, and I'm sure most drug stores do, too. My son, who is 4, will spray his own nose when it gets too dry (for him, it feels stuffy and gets kinds whistley), and it works wonders to loosen up whats in there so he can get it out, by picking it out, incidentally. At least he uses a tissue to pick! We haven't mastered blowing yet... working on it! LOL
Good luck. I can't stand when my nose is congested. It actually causes me to have anxiety, so watching a little one struggle with it is torture!!
I used the Boogie Wipes on my son, and although they were kind of pricey, and gimmick-y, they did work. Now that he is older, and I have a 6 month old, I was going to try them again for the baby. However, I found that the flushable toddler wipes for the bathroom work just as well on her nose. They work better than the baby wipes.
Saline spray works well to get them broken down too. I found that the aresol sprays work better than the squeezey bottle types.
Is it possible that he has allergies or an infection? This doesn't sound normal to me. I would definitely put the humidifier back in his room, but then I would also take him to the pediatrician.
This happened to my daughter around the same age shes now almost 8.5 months. Use the aspirator as much as possible to get the boogers out and definitely use the humidifier. After it not going away for two and a half weeks the dr decided to put her on antibiotics because there was fluid in her ear which is the onset of an infection.
Hope your son feels better soon!
allergies.. or some people just have more mucus..my son is more runny nose coughing kid.. my duaghter doesn cough.. but get high fevers..
saline drops to thin out hte gunk in his nose.. and the nasal aspirator to suck it out.. run the humidifier too.
I think the cool mist humidifier is a great idea. Saline drops are also good. I know this is hard with a baby.
Sounds like your son has allergies. I have several friends who have helped their babies and older children with allergies & other issues, like reflux, using a nutritional product instead of going the medication route. If you'd like to talk with them on the phone and find out how this worked for them, I can put you in touch with them.
I'm always ready to give my kids' bodies the chance to deal with health issues by using nutritional approaches. They're now ages 15, 18, 20, and 23, and they're the healthiest kids I know. Only one of them has ever needed an antibiotic (she had pneumonia), and none of them has ever used any other prescription medication, except for an eye cream that one of my sons needed at one time. It actually didn't seem to do him any good, though. The one who had pneumonia also used one over-the-counter medication once, but that's it. I'd be glad to share tips with you, if you like.
Blessings,
M.
Have you tried the nose-sucker? Okay, that's not what it's really called. That's just our family's name for it, but I can't think of what it's actually called. That rubber bulb thing that you use to suck the gunk out of a baby or toddler's nose when they're too young to blow it themselves? Ask at a drug store and they'll know what I'm talking about. It's in the baby aisle.
Squirt a generous amount of saline spray up their nostrils. That will soften and loosen the crud up there. Then use the nose-sucker to suck out the boogers. Use more saline if it seems like there's more up there but it's not coming out.
Babies HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE this! We've found it's best done by ganging up on the baby. I usually lay down with baby on my tummy and hold her hands down with my hands and, if necessary, pin her legs down with one of my legs. Then my husband holds her head still and administers the saline and performs the nose sucking. Usually we only do it once a day and just make do with wiping her nose the rest of the day. We only do it when her runny/stuffy nose is really bad, because she HATES it.
Sorry I know you've gotten plenty of answers. My son always had this issue when he was a baby. The aspirator and humidifier sure did help. When he DID end up getting really big crusties over his nose though, where you can't get the aspirator in to suck it out, I would run the hot water and let it get really warm (not scorching) and wet one of his baby washcloths, wring it out and then wipe his nose with that. Don't feel bad at all about snagging his little nose with your fingernail. I did that several times. Looks worse than it is! Their skin is just so delicate! Good luck!
I would definitely put the humidifier back on. In addition, you may want to suck out his nose before bedtime and/or use a saline solution first to loosen it up and then try sucking it out.
Has this just been happening in the past few weeks or has it been going on since he was born? If it's been always, it could be a food allergy, probably milk. An abundance of mucus is a big sign of dairy issues. If it's just recent, it's probably seasonal like the other posters mentioned. If it's not yellow/green it's probably not an infection. Check with the doc if you're still concerned, though!
The cool mist humidifer is a great idea but I also highly reccomend saline drops, Little Noses is a great one, stay away from the nasal asperators though, I have heard it irritates the nasal lining.
B.
