Help with Stuffy Nose

You could try elevating the head of her bed with towels or blankets underneath the mattress... We also found running a vaporizer or humidifier helped in addition to putting baby vaporub on their chest. Hope that helps!

Being that young one thing you can try rather then laying the child down to sleep put them in their carseat to sleep upright. I do that with my infants and it works great to help with it.

My boys were Fall/Winter babies and had chronic stuffy noses until their first Summer. My youngest is also suspected to have asthma, making things trickier. The things that seemed to work the best (in addition to the saline spray and aspirator) were to put a pillow under the head of their mattress to prop them up, run a humidifier (especially at bedtime), and use the baby Vicks rub on their chest.

I suggest taking your little one to a chiropractor who specializes in treating infants and young children. It is not going to affect any treatment she is already receiving by her pediatrician. There may be an ever-so-slight alignment problem causing poor drainage. She can be adjusted quite easily and painlessly so you can both get on with life.

Wearing baby in a sling as much as possible (if you're not already) also helps baby breathe better.

Also, I totally am seconding the suggestion by Karen...except we use the Vick's BabyRub (rather than the basic Vick's) because it contains eucalyptus, rosemary, lavender, and aloe vera.

My daughter had very frequent ear infections and colds throughout her first year. We raised one end of her crib by putting a pillow underneath the head of her mattress. We also turned on a vaporizer in her room at night and during naps. And we sucked sucked sucked and kept sucking snot out of her nose! :P
Definitely don't give yours any cold meds. They can be dangerous.

Hi!
Have you tried proping up one end of her crib mattress (with a rolled up towel underneath? The elevation might help her sinuses drain. Baby vicks is also soothing. The third trick I do is to spend some time in a warm steamy bathroom (run a hot shower for a few minutes).

I use vicks baby rub, my pediatrician suggests having my baby sleep in his car seat when he is sick so he can breathe easier. I also use the Nosefrida instead of the bulb sucker, I think it is much easier on the nose and you control the suction. Make sure you are using a humidifier and a vapor plug in is another easy option. At 6 months I started to use the Johnsons vapor wash when they take a bath. At 5 months it is just too early to use decongestant. If you are worried about your baby not breathing sleep in the same room as them, you will never regret being close to your baby when they are sick.

I'm not sure about how to help with the nursing time, but when my son has a cold, we load his room up with vapor things. We have his mattress slightly elevated at one end, we plug in the humidifier, and I have one of those vapor plugs that plugs into the wall. I swear it was one of the best things ever invented! You just insert a little vapor-filled pad and plug it into an outlet. It has certainly helped my little guy! Check some of the other brands of cold things like triaminic or motrin. Some of them may be safe to use, or call the doctor and ask. Sometimes they say it will be fine to give your child. Good luck!

You've probably already done this, but in case not...

We have our son's crib mattress elevated (slightly) on the head-end, and have a cool air vaporizer going while he sleeps. It helps more than I imagined it could.

Good luck!- hope your little one feels better soon!

M.

Our 7 months old is going through the same thing. We raised one end of her mattress by rolling a baby quilt and placing it under the mattress. We also use Vick's baby rub. And have her hangout in a steamy bathroom.

we also suction her nose and it sounds stuffy when she nurses right after. Some of it is in her throat and clears as she swallows. If she refuses to nurse I have pumped and offered a open cup which did work.

You got some very good advice for all of these moms. One thing that wasn't suggested, or at least I didn't see it, was that your little one might and I mean might be starting to teethe. That would explain the ear infection with the runny nose. The croop came along all on it's own (nasty croop). Just keep doing what you're doing and add some of the other suggestions to help you and your daughter thru this period of time.

My favorite way to help with this thing is rubbing on some essential oils- organic and herbal stores often carry them. Use eucalyptus globuious and or peppermint to help clear the air ways. Rubbing on their chest will help calm the coughing/ croupe.

Also a good eucalyptus steam bath will do wonders.

have you tried vicks baby rub? thats what I use and it help my daughter sleep better.
P.

This sounds totally weird, but it works. Rub Vics Vaporub on her feet and then put a pair of socks on her before you put her to bed. I know...sounds crazy, but if it works for her, its an easy solution.
Hang in there, I hope she gets better soon.

Hi just a suggestion for sleeping (my little one had same breathing/congestion issue during a cold and for acid reflux) sleep semi-upright. You can elevate the head of her crib matress by place a folded towel or even a phone book underneath the mattress. Or you could let her sleep in car seat or proped up on her boppy- though I would probably just do the boppy for naps in which you can watch her- as the other methods seem a little more safe. Good Luck!

My son had cronic stuffy noses when he was little and we just elevated the head of his mattress by putting a blanket under it. This did wonders for his breathing as well as the baby vicks. When ever he laid down his nose got stuffy so pritty much the whole time he was in a crib the head was elevated and we had no further problems. Now he seems to have grown out of it. I hope this helps!

When my son was younger he used to have a stuff nose all the time. It's getting to be that time of year where it just seems like our little ones are always getting "sick".

What has worked for us in the past is putting a pillow under the crib matress so she is sleeping at an angle and also run a cool mist humidifer in her room while napping and for the evening. Make sure her door is most of the way shut so it gets humid in her room.

I wouldn't give her any OTC meds at this point. She's to young and she will build her immune system by getting these little colds. Plus meds just prolong the problem and they don't shorten the duration of the cold.

Since you're nursing I would stay away from dairy. Dairy causes a lot of secretions in infants. You could try boosting your vitamin C intake and see about taking some zinc too. Before taking more vitamins I'd check with a naturopathic pharamists first or perhaps some one at Campbells. If you're looking for a great holistic pharamacy in the Des Moines area I'd call Balance Rx in Pleasant Hill. The number is ###-###-#### The website is http://www.pleasanthillrx.com/

We use Balance Rx for just about everything! We try to stay as far away from any Rx drug and any OTC med as possible. I'm not a nature freak or anything like that just I've learned to much in the last 3 years that freak me out about OTC and Rx meds.

I hope she's better soon and let me know if I can help more!!!

I just read that Catie suggested chiropractic adjustments and I 2nd that! My entire family is adjusted every week. It's the best thing you could do for your child! Also when my son was little we did infant massage where you take your index fingers and just brushed the sides of his sinuses from the nose out just ever so lightly and that helps a lot too! My son saw Abby Miller ###-###-####) at the Des Moines Acupuncture Clinic.

Along with all of the other suggestions you have gotten, we also use a vicks vaporizer right by the crib. We got ours at Walgreens but i believe you can get them at wal-mart also. You buy little vick strips to put in it and plug it in.

I used baby vicks on my children. The baby one is made with natural ingredients and isn't as strong. To this day they ask when they have a cold if they can have some vicks.

They make a vicks vapor rub for infants...I used it last winter on my little one. I found it at walmart.

My 5 month old also had a bad stuffy nose that was always worse at night or when he was lying down. We started putting him in his swing to sleep so that he was more upright. It worked very well. As for the breastfeeding maybe you can try using a bottle. That way she can be sitting up slightly more than if she were nursing.

Just hold her like a football when nursing her so she is semi-upright. Then have her sleep in her car seat or a bouncy chair so her head is elevated until she starts feeling better. She is 5 months old, and probably moving more, so the car seat is probably the safest place to put her. You can hold the handle and gently swing the seat back and forth until she falls asleep or your arm starts to fall off.

My sister in law was told that when you baby's back in not aligned right they will have frequent ear infections. She was told to hold her baby upside down by the ankles (carefully of course) for a minute each day to help realign his back. Never had to deal with ear infections here so I really don't know for sure if that helps:)

I am having the same issue with my 4 month old. I found some information on this website

http://www.mothernature.com/Library/Bookshelf/Books/48/19...

I found some useful info on there, maybe you will too

I hope your little one feels better soon!

As crazy as this may sound, rub some Vicks Vapor Rub on her feet before you lay her down. It works miracles!

poor baby! have you tried vicks on the soles of her feet? it sounds wierd but it works in minutes. just rub on nd then put her socks on. elevating the bed a little might help as long as it doesn't make your little one slide off. a humidifier will help with the croup as well. hope she's all well soon!

I would suggest Baby Vicks it seams to work great. I would not recommend putting it on the feet though. Put a little on her back and chest about 15 or 20 minutes before bed and let it work a little bit. It does wonders. Also a cool mist humidifier they have a pediatric one that I bought at Wal-Mart that does not make the room cold it blows out a lot finer for little one then the regular ones. This helps them breath it in better becasue the water droplets are alot smaller. Good luck I am going trough the stuffy nose and cough right now too. This has seemed to work the best so far this week.

I can't believe nobody's mentioned saline drops yet! These were a total lifesaver for my 2nd baby who developed a cold when she was only 2 days old!! My ped recommended Ocean (not sure of spelling) saline drops but I've also heard that Little Noses is also good. You can ask the pharmacist. All you do is lay her down and drop 2-3 drops in her nose. She will either sneeze out a big glob of snot, or you'll soon start to see some goo in her nose which you can then suck out with the aspirator. My ped said not to do the aspirator unless you can see something in the nose, otherwise it might irritate her nose. Good luck!

my 26 month son has had the same thing happen to him sence he come home from the NICU. I have to give him neb treaments every night and he was on and off the steroid for the first year of his life because of it and i have also put his bed at a incline or let him sleep in his car set and that has helped alot it lets all that muses dran and just build up. my docter has told me not to use the saline nasal spray
because of my sons brething problems and was on a heart monter for the first year of his life. but he is doing good now.

I am not sure how to clear up the nose, but have you tried letting her sleep more upright? Either elevating her crib mattress or even letting her sleep in a swing or stroller. I know this isn't a habit you want to get into, but if it helps while she is all stuffed up it might be worth it.

Hi J. - I know somebody already suggested this but we elevate the head of the crib by putting a folded blanket underneath one end - it props them just enough to allow them to breathe a little better. The cool mist humidifier works (I'm not a huge fan because it seems to make the room cold - however, it works) and also Vicks makes a baby rub that you can put on their chest - that seemed to help mine as well. I know this isn't a great option for you - but I have spent a few nights sleeping in a chair with my babies when they were super stuffy as well - 1 or 2 nights seemed to do the trick so they got enough rest to start healing properly - I was always exhausted those days but they seemed to feel better! Good luck!