My 10 Week Baby Has a Stuffy Nose Every Night.

Hi M.,
I'm pretty much going to agree with what most people have said. When my baby was around that age and had the same problem, my doctor's medical assistant recommended the following:

1. Put a humidifier in her room
2. Give her saline drops
3. Have her sleep propped up.

Before I transfered her to her crib, we'd let her sleep in her car seat (I know some people voiced this isn't a good thing, but this is what my doctor recommended, and that was the first time she slept through the night!) Once in her crib, we bunched up a blanket under one end of her mattress so she was at an angle. It really worked. I hope you have luck with it.

We had the same problem! Here are things that helped us a bunch:

1. babies have small nasal passages, so some amount of noisy congestion is normal.
2. a cool mist humidifier at night aimed right at the baby.
3. saline nasal drops
4. a nosefrida!! no kidding, the best money I've ever spent. www.nosefrida.com Those silly nose bulbs don't work worth a dang.

Good luck!

Saline is the best solution for a baby with a stuffy nose. My baby has the same issue and we just have to saline him quite often. It's completely normal.

You do not sound crazy.

You are MOM and mom's heart always reaches out!
It is better if we over-react, than if we won't catch the moment to pick it up to prevent worse trouble.

Here is the olden method of wise moms of the times when there were not much medications used:

take a square (about the quarter size of bandanna) piece of a cheese-fabric (they sell it in walmart and at Jo-Ann's, btw.).
Take a tooth of garlic. Peel the garlic, and cut it to tiny little tiny-beady pieces with a knife.
Place all the cut garlic on the cheese-fabric square in the middle. Make a tiny bundle out of it.
DO NOT COVER the garlic more than just this one layer,
as the idea is: this garlic will smell, evaporating its fumes around your baby.
Now, I take a little string and tie the bundle together,
then place it as close to the baby's nose when she falls asleep. I make the fabric so big only because at night when she stirs around, the too tiny bundle would get lost in the folds of her sheet and in the midst of night you do not want to chase this bundle around. if the fabric is big, then you always easily find it to place it close to her nose again.
keep doing it every day, changing the garlic.
It is the most powerful herb!
Now, here is another option:
IF SHE LIKES a pacifier,
then I made the bindle really tiny,
and TIED it right to the ring of the pacifier.
it did not bother my kids a bit, but the garlic smell was all around their nose,
and in three days ALL the stuffiness was always gone.

Also, a tiny drop of honey on the pacifier always helped them to get over stuffiness: honey in excess is not recommended, but a little drop once in a-while is not harmful, but healing.

Good luck, and all the best, M.!

Hi M.,
My baby also has a stuffy nose every night - sometimes I give her some infant tylenol, and I also use a humidifier...the humidifier really works wonders...she had a cold a few weeks ago and she was really stuffy then and no matter how hard I tried to suck the mucus out of her nose with that chintzy bulb it didn't work...so I recommend the humidifier, and it also helps to prop her up when she is sleeping cuz it's easier to breath!

Hi M.,

Have you tried using a humidifier? This really helped my son get through the winter. Also if you can get a nebulizer and add some eucalyptus to it, that is also beneficial.

Good luck,
L.

You don't sound crazy just like a worried mom, perfectly normal and yes there are some OTC's you can give her at night...Dimetap is a great one fro little ones, just call your DR and ask what dosage is ok, most pharmacist can help you with that also, the OTC's aimed at nasal problems are the only ones that really work. Also try a humidifier or vaporizer also ask the doc about which one will work in your area. The stuffy nose happening at about the time of her shots is most likely a coincidence, it is that time of year for allergies and what I call spring colds happens in my house like clockwork. Hope she feels better soon!

M.,
My daughter was like that as well when she was young.
The best thing that I found were the baby version of the Vicks plug ins. I think they are by Vicks. They have just enough in them to open them up, and they last for around 12 hours. It is much better than giving medicine to your new baby. It has menthol in it. Hope this helps. B.

My pediatritian reccomended Children's Dimetapp, and I LOVE the stuff. Just make sure you consult your doctor for dosing, or follow the label to the letter. My daughter is 19 lbs (19 months also) and I can give her 3/4 of a tsp.

You do not sound crazy... you sound like a loving mom. You said she hates her nose being cleaned out.. all kids do. If this works then do it. It is only a short time and doesn't hurt. You might look into allergies. My kids had them very early on. Dust and animal dander are the biggest. We live in the country and have pets. They have gotten used to blowing their noses and changing the sheets if the dog gets in bed.

I don't know about medicine, but something that helped me was using a humidifier and letting my newborn sleep propped up in a vibrating chair. You can buckle so she is safe, but being propped up helps her breath. She may even sleep better in general this way.

Have you tried Saline Drops before she goes to bed? It's hard, they hate them but they really do work.

You really shouldn't give a baby that little any OTC meds. They are even saying kids under 2 shouldn't have that sort of stuff - benadryl, tylenol cold, etc - any decongestants or antihistamines. There have been severe (and sometimes tragic) side effects in infants and it just doesn't seem to be worth the risk. A stuffy nose may be uncomfortable, but it won't really hurt them or do any permanent damage. There are alternatives.

Babies always hate it when you use the bulb syringe on their noses, but it really is the best approach. If it seems hard to get the gunk out...try a couple drops of saline first. She won't like it..trust me. You have to try to be fast. :o) Also a humidifier in her room would probably help. We've also had success with vick's baby rub on the chest and (believe it or not) the soles of his feet.

I was very worried about vaccines too...I asked a lot of questions and read a lot. In the end we opted to get our son fully vaccinated. There can be complications, as with any sort of medication/medical procedure, but it really is extremely rare. Become knowledgeable and make the decision that is best for you and your child.

She might be allergic to the shots or something. I would try a naet treatment with her. (www.naet.com) I go to Dr. Chernoff and she is wonderful, she helped my son with a lot of things..... And it's all natural.

Hope this helps.

C.

Try using ocean drops - it really helped us - our daughter is now 10 months old and she used to almost always have a stuffy nose until about 7-8 months or so - I used to always have the ocean drops and the nose cleaner at hand and now I can't remember the last time is needed them! She fussed when I cleaned her nose too - but that did help the boogers come out :). Also a humidifier in the room at night might help too (we still use one with Grace) - put it near the crib but not pointed right at it.

And remember not to believe everything you read on the internet! :)

It's so normal to worry about the safety of our children. I just feel bad you're not getting any sleep. I hadn't heard about the SIDS correlation with vaccines. It's good she is getting vaccinated though, because the other illnesses she could get could be very dangerous to her! Have you tried using saline drops for infants? You can get them at walmart. I use them all the time with my 5 month old and I have since birth. My Dr said it is VERY normal and common for babies to get stuffy noses all the time, not just related to vaccines, because they are primarily nose breathers and get very congested quickly. If you use a couple of those drops in each nostril every 3 hours throughout the day and at bedtime, that might help to liquify everything and help it to be clearer?? I would still try to clean it out because that will help her. Even though she hates it, she might get used to it over time. My son used to hate it (just like he hated having his diaper changed), but now he's used to it and realizes it's just what happens and there's nothing I can do. (: Good luck!

grape juice is great for cutting through phlegm. Milk causes phlegm so cut that out of her diet (and yours if you are nursing). have her sleep with her head elevated, I use a fisher price rocking chair, or a car seat can work too. Lastly get a small jar of horseradish from the grocery store and hold it where she can smell it. That clears things out in a hurry.

I do not do vaccinations for my children. Look through other posts on vaccinations, I know someone gave information about a treatment to reverse the effects.

I had a similar experience with one of my babies. We just used the saline (salt water) nose drops before bedtime and used a cool air humidifier in her room and it took care of the problem. Good luck!

My baby is about the sme age and has had the same problem. This is what we have been doing according to the dr and it has been helping. Along with using a bulb syringe and saline drops, make sure to have a humidifier or vaporizer going 24/7. Have the baby sleep more upright to help gravity do it's thing, but I have been told not to sleep them in the car seat because they are really hard and can hurt little backs, so bouncers or something softer is better. Give the baby a bit of water after each feeding to help clear away the milk she just drank. Also, something I heard a long time ago and have used with all my children is to put vapor rub on the bottom of her feet and then put socks on. I don't know exactly how it helps, but it does. One way the dr told me to know if it is getting bad is if the baby can hardly eat or sleep. Since they are only used to breathing out of their noses, they will struggle with that. I also think it is probably a coincidence that she was vaccinated and then got stuffy. It is that time of year. Good luck, and I always say better safe than sorry when it comes to my children. I would rather take the baby to the hospital and have them send me home, then stay at home and worry, or worse...

Hi M.,

Everyone has given you great advice. I would stay away from the honey, though. You are not crazy, I would watch mine breath even when they weren't stuffed up:)

What I would do when my kids were about that age and I need to clean their nose, I would swaddle them. Prop them up in one arm and put saline drops, (Ocean is name brand, but generic are fine) in one nostrile. Wait about a minute, and suck out with bulb. If she is swaddled, her hands are out the way. If you put the saline in her nose while she is lying down, then it will go down the back of her throat and she will probable not like the taste. Repeat on the other side. Try the humidifier as has been suggested. Be sure you clean it frequently. If this continues for a while you should check with the dr., she might have allergies.

Put a humidifier in her room and see if that works. The boggies are stuck up in there, so get some nose saline and put a few drops in there. Then after a min or so sucker her nose out. I know she hates it mine did too. You just have to do it. The saline loosens all the gunk and it is easier to get it out. This is the best things I can tell you. Oh yea, give her a bath and that sometimes helps with the loosening. There is really no other way to help her besides trying to relieve the gunk. Hang in there! My daughter actually started realizing that the sucker helps and started to not mind it soo much! ;) Good Luck!

Hi M.. I am a mother of 3 kids - ages 5, 2, and 1. All 3 of my kids had stuffy noses as babies, especially during these months when it is so dry. Saline drops and a humidifier in the room are a huge help. I also gently used a wet Q-tip to clean out the inside of the babies noses, since it's hard to suction everything out. Other ideas to help are a steam before bed (in the bathroom by turning the shower on hot and shutting the door - just sit in the room for about 5 - 10 minutes). You can also elevate her crib mattress by putting a towel or two under one side of the mattress. About 2 months is when I found out that all 3 of mine had milk sensitivities and acid reflux, and I had to cut dairy out of my diet since I was breastfeeding. This could also cause a stuffy nose. If none of these methods work, I would call your doctor. Good luck!

My baby girl had this issue, and it turned out to be dairy allergies. She was allergic to the milk proteins in my breast milk, so I had to cut out dairy. Even if your little one is formula fed, there is dairy in formula. Maybe try to eliminate dairy for two weeks and see what happens? It takes 7-10 days for dairy to get out of your system.

My son also had congestion, but his problem was silent reflux. You would find other symptoms with that, though.

If it truly started because of the vax, I'd mention it to your ped when you go in for her next appointment. They may want to hold off a little bit.

For how to help the congestion, a humidifier/vaporizer might help. You can elevate the mattress by putting something underneath it. Or put baby in a swing or carseat. If this is a long term issue, though, you probably would't want to do that. I'm not sure there's much else you can do at this age. Oh, you can also drip saline or breastmilk into baby's nose and suction it out, which is a big help. It bugs them, but provides such relief afterwards. They sell little kits with saline and a nose aspirator (I think that's what it's called). I found the little kit worked better for me, because the hospital aspirator was so big it didn't fit in her little tiny nostrils!

I only have a coulple of suggestions that worked for my babies. Try Ayr saline nasal drops, you can find them anywhere near the pharmacy dept. Also, you can try raising one end of her crib so that her head is a little elevated. My crib can be set at different heights, but, if yours doesn't do that, you can roll up a towel or blanket and put it under the mattress at the top. Good luck!

I think its common for babies to have stuffy noses. What I have done for my baby is put a cool mist humidifier in her room and mine (since she still sleeps by my bed). When she was a little sick I also elevated her head by placing a pillow under her mattress. You can also use saline drops to help clear her up.
An added note- Vaccines do not cause SIDS. They are only associated with SIDS because the highest risk of SIDS is at the same time that babies are getting vaccines.

Try using a humidifier at night while your baby sleeps. It helps my son with his stuffy noses.

I just went through a breathing scare with my little one about the same age, the dr. said if you can't suck much out you can keep putting in the saline drops and the baby will swallow it all down. It thins everything out. So saline was my life line. If you don't already, have the baby sleep by your bed in her car seat. That helped me sleep but still be there if there were any problems.
One last thing, Utah Valley Hospital has a little "clinic" set up to suck out baby's noses due to the huge number of RSV cases in the winter. They do a deep suck to get everything out and help the baby sleep- a lot of parents do it at night so the baby can sleep better. You might call your local hospital and see if they do the same thing.
One more thing I learned is that babies this age are nose breathers- if they really can't breath and resort to mouth breathing for very long then you know its a serious problem. You also want to watch her chest and see if you can see her sucking in or struggling... if you can see deep depression on her sides as she tries to breath take her back to the dr.
This is such a scary problem, I am so sorry you are going through it... we didn't sleep for about a week. Good luck!

Don't believe everything that you read. Vaccines don't lead to SIDS.

Keep cleaning out her nose...use some saline drops (you can get them at any grocery store or pharmacy) and then clean her nose out with the aspirator. No baby likes it, but they are grateful after that they can breathe!

Have a baby monitor so that you can hear her when she cries out. At 10 weeks old her systems are still getting started, and you have nothing to be worried about. I, too had a baby that has/had stuffy nose problems as a infant and the saline drops and aspirator helped. She didn't like it either, but I knew that it would help her breathe better.

Good luck!