Advice for Breathing Issues at Night

Updated on February 24, 2010
S.S. asks from Lees Summit, MO
18 answers

Every night after my 2 yr old goes to sleep his nose gets real stuffy and dry, and because it's dry it's hard for me to clean it out a little for him. I'm sure it's due to the weather and the furnace blowing, but it makes it difficult for him to breath and makes him breathing louder, which wakes him up all throughout the night. Last night I did finally use the saline drops and it helped a little once I got him back to sleep. Do they make breath right strips for toddlers and has anyone used those? Any suggestions would be helpful, thanks!

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T.M.

answers from St. Louis on

Yes, they have the children size strips - I use them for my 6 yr old at night when he is a little stuffy and it seems to help. You might also try putting a cool mist humidifier in his room to help combat all of the heat and dryness.

Good luck.

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K.G.

answers from St. Louis on

Humidifier, definitely. Also, I know it's relatively controversial, but I used Vick's and I liked it quite well.

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K.K.

answers from St. Louis on

sounds like almost everyone had my idea, a humidifier! i use one with my son because he has asthma and this helps so much, we also use a clean air machine in the hallway, not sure if that helps with dry noses though. Our humidifier has a filter that we clean, and i have not noticed any film or anything on his things in his room. hope this helps and good luck. I think the brand we got is the american red cross one.

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T.H.

answers from Wichita on

I have a friend with the same problem with her daughter of 3, now. It helps to have a humidifier. They put a humidifier in the hallway, outside the 2 childrens bedrooms. That seemed to really help, hardly any problems. They have a cold water green frog humidifier.

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R.N.

answers from Kansas City on

Put a humidifier in his room! He needs moisture in the air. An absolute necessity in the dry winter months.

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L.G.

answers from Kansas City on

Absolutely use a humidifier!! Just make sure that it's a COOL mist, not a warm one! My son received 2nd degree burns from a warm mist humidifier! While in the burn unit, the nurses were asking how it happened - when I told them, they both started shaking their heads. They see so many children with burns from warm mist humidifiers - the nurses would really like to see them banned!

You can also use the saline drops all day long - every 2-3 hours, then about 4 hours before bedtime use them once an hour. That will help keep his little nose nice and moist.

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J.H.

answers from St. Louis on

We have humidifiers in each of our bedrooms during the winter. We have one hooked up to out furnace in the basement but I don't feel like it works as well as an actual humdifier in the room. Def. try using one of these. We use them all winter long and they are pretty inexpensive. I perfer the filterless ones that can be run through the dishwasher, by the way!

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C.D.

answers from St. Louis on

Yes, a humidifier will help tremendously, but watch which one you buy. We bought one of those cute animal ones --it's ultrasonic. You could actually see the mist and it seemed great. What we realized though was that it was vaporizing all the minerals in the water -- leaving a very fine white dust on all our electronics (and no doubt inside of them too) and on our cd's. My daughter's boogers were opaque white. Hopefully it didn't do anything to her lungs. You can avoid that by using distilled water, but that gets expensive after a while. There may be some high end humidifiers that are ultrasonic and have water filters. The really cheap humidifiers ($17 or so at Target etc) work well and have filters for the water...you won't see the mist coming out, but you'll notice the difference...the filter absorbs the water and a fan blows over it.

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K.M.

answers from St. Louis on

I would say get a humidifier first. My 6 year old had horrible breathing while he slept. He would get no rest at night because he couldn't breathe out of his nose. We got an allergen air remover that is in his bedroom and we got the allergen pillow covers and matress covers. He also just had his tonsils and adenoids removed a few months which worked wonders on his breathing at night but that was because he has enlarged tonsils and adenoids.

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L.Y.

answers from Springfield on

I have the same problem in the winter. Have you tried putting a humidifer in the house? With all the dry heat during winter is when I have the most problems.

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T.C.

answers from Kansas City on

Hey S.,

My son and I both have had issues with this. I use a cool mist humidifier and found some super awesome products to put in the water that makes it's way through the entire house. All the stuff I use is 100% toxin free so I don't have to worry about us breathing it in, which is a huge relief. If you want some more information on what exactly I use just let me know, I would love to share!!! It has made a huge difference for us.

T. Cogan
Work At Home United
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Website: www.allgood4life.com
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K.S.

answers from Cleveland on

I agree with getting a humidifier for his room.
Also, you might want to consider allergies. Dust mites are in all bedding and if he is allergic to them, he will have this reaction when he is in bed. Take all his bedding and wash it in hot water. Also, there is special bedding available that help hinder dust mites.
Good luck.

E.R.

answers from Los Angeles on

Oh, know....I feel you. My child is 3.5 years old and we have been going through this problem since last June. Try taking out all the stuffed animals. I know this may be hard for your child but they need to come out of the room. Also, use a humidifier. We also purchased these items hypo-allergenic pillow, pillow cover, as well as mattress cover. Saline drops definitely help. It’s almost like a trial & error. Try taken different things out of the room or washing things in hot water. I believe dust-mites have a lot to do with it. If all these precautions don’t work or only help a little…..your child can get tested for allergies. And yes I think they do make breath right strips for toddlers.

K.B.

answers from Milwaukee on

use a humidier in his room and use saline drops thru out the day...not just at night!!!

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R.S.

answers from St. Louis on

Put a cool mist humidifier in his room. You can get relatively cheap ones form Target and WalMart.

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J.H.

answers from St. Louis on

Do you use a humidifier in his room? That would help!

C.M.

answers from St. Louis on

I suggest running a humidifier until the weather is better. I do this in my daughter's room - have been for a few weeks now and she used to breath very heavily at night and have a lot of congestion. She still wakes up with a stuffy nose from time to time but I think that is just how it's going to be in this weather!

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J.F.

answers from Fayetteville on

yes, a humidifier will really help!!

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