2 weeks old with a blocked up nose

[Ryoko]

Nasal aspirators are rubbish, Nasal drops don't seem to work, nothing to see when looking up his hooter except the left one looks more closed then the right.

any help please, he sounds awful making piggy sounds and being all congested, when he is asleep it all sounds alot better just a faint whistle when he breaths in.

My DD2 got her first cold at 2 weeks too.....it's horrible when they're so tiny isn't it? Try putting a couple of saline drops up each nostril then using the aspirator, put some olbas oil on a tissue or muslin and leave it near his head, put the shower on in the bathroom to create steam and sit in there with him for a little while (obvioulsy need to make sure he doesn't get too hot......not easy in this weather!). Also raise the head of whatever he sleeps in (or carry him in a sling so he's upright) If you're at all worried about his breathing you should take him to the GP to be on the safe side XX

He's not got a cold, he's just had a bunged up nose for about a week now, it's been steadily getting worse, I wonder if he has allergies.

I was thinking of having a bowl in the same room as him with some vicks and hot water in it but it says not for kids under 6 on it so I'm not sure if it's ok for him to breath it in so young.

you can get baby vicks, used to put it on by boob above ds's nose when bf-ing.

My DD had a blocked up nose from when she was born and still does - she's going to be one in two weeks!

Unfortunately some babies just have this.

With our DD, we bought an Olbas Oil Vaporiser as it's battery operated and we have to use it every night. But, a suggestion for you when it comes to refills, buy some Olbas Oil drops and re-use the same refill by just adding a couple of drops to it every few days - saves a fortune on the refills as they're not cheap.

Also second what others have said, slightly raise the head-end of the mattress - just put a folded up towel under one end.

It's a real worry when they can't breathe properly but the vaporiser did wonders for our DD.

HTH

Ryoko,
My dd and ds both had blocked up noses as newborns. HV and Dr said it was probably because they'd swallowed a lot of mucous on delivery (!) - and obviously being newborns and mainly on their backs, it takes a long time to expel this. I was convinced ds had some kind of allergy as he was so on/off bunged up. I'm afraid we found it pretty hard to find anything that really resolved it, apart from time, but it did pass, and in the meantime, I agree slightly raising the mattress can help.

My daughter is about the same age and had a slight blocked nose which luckily seems to have cleared itself but my health visitor did suggest to take her into the bathroom when the shower was on for the steam to help soften anything up the nose then she said to tickle the bottom of the nose with a cotton bud (not to stick it up though!) to make her sneeze and hopefully it'll clear any mucus quicker.

if you are breastfeeding, squirt some breastmilk up her nose! It thins the mucus to make it easier to get rid of.
It works, really

Not all nasal aspirators are rubbish. Have you tried the Nosefrida?

www.nosefrida.com/

Amazon sell it and it works like a dream on all snot-related situations. I bought it for using on ds2 when he was a few months old and was totally blocked up, but I have also used it on ds1 (4) as he refused to blow his nose and was regularly full of snot. He didn't like it much, so quickly learned to blow!

The output is a bit gross, but it really does work and is pretty cheap too.

Am having the same problem with my daughter, who's also 2 weeks old - have tried the NUK aspirator but it's too big to have any effect; saline drops don't seem to do much either. Have put some Olbas oil on a tissue and placed it a couple of feet from her head, but not sure what effect it's having. Have raised the head of her crib and pram mattress but she still doesn't seem happy laying on her back - we're assuming it's because of being so snuffly. Haven't tried the shower option yet, though.

The big problem for me is that she's feeding dozens of times a day - presumably because she can't breathe properly. So I'm constantly feeding for about 5-10 minutes at a time, till she packs it in herself, then having to do it all again 15 minutes later. In between feeds, if I put her down on her mat or in her pram she lasts 5 minutes at most before she starts crying for me - again, presumably she's not getting enough milk to keep her satisfied. Then she latches on for a few sucks and stops again.

Can't help thinking that if she wasn't snuffly, she'd be feeding and sleeping so much better, but don't want to be a panicky mum if there's some easy remedy we can try...

eikey, pop a finger between youor boob and her nose to create a better airflow?

Will give that a go, thanks! Am also getting quite frustrated with professionals telling us different things - doctor said put her on her front if she's more comfortable that way (she is), but midwife and HV are sticking to the 'only on her back' guideline! Obviously don't want to increase any risk of SIDS just to get beyond a blocked nose, but would love her to be able to sleep and feed comfortably.

Also I think the football hold give more air to their little noses as well. I do this with DD when her shoulder hurts (broken clavicle, and thanks to the MN'ers who suggested it!) and it does seem she is less snorty-like!

They are (IIRC, but dont take it as a given) only supposed to lie on their front once they can roll...BUT there are some things on the market that allow them to sleep on their sides safely..will have to ggogle it, but I remember my sister did it for her DS who liked being on his tummy and it seemed to work well.

I've never seen Baby Vicks, am reluctant to try Olbas or Vicks because both say they are for older babies/children.

whats the point in the Olbas for kids?, I read it in a shop it's more money and says it's not for kids under 3 which is exactly what the normal olbas says.

Some babies are just hungery, my boy eats 3 ounces at a time, he was eating every 3 hours now he wants the same amount every 2 and a half hours + he drinks water in between, I think I will have to get the SMA for hungery babies instead of the normal first milk.

Ryoko, my ds had blocked nose from approx 2 weeks old. Doc said was just a newborn thing and would stop at 6-7 weeks, Doc was absoultly right. I did try saline drops but no good. Try not to worry.

Well I've still not seen this Baby vicks stuff, he is 3 and a half weeks old now, his basket is propped up a bit, I've tried vicks in hot water which worked for a few hours, I've tried Olbas on muslim which don't seem to do anything, I've tried the drops which are useless, I got a saline spray which gives slight relief for a short time.

He's getting upset keeps crying and bashing his nose about, he's probably going to give himself a black eye again cos of all the flailing limbs.

he keeps me awake at night his nasal sounds are so loud.

Midwife said to take him to the GP and see about getting a referral to an allergy specialist.

GP said give it a few weeks and he's too small to be tested for allergies.

Thing is I know milk allergies can cause blocked noses and I don't drink milk so he had no exposer to it in the womb.

I was a vegan for 12 years (due to BSE fears and concern over farming practices), when I started eating animal stuff again I couldn't drink milk, it made me sick.

I'm really tempted to switch him for a week from his SMA newborns formula to the SMA Wysoy formula to see if that helps but I'm not sure if it's a good idea to radically change his diet just to see.

DS2 had this from about a week old - Ryoko I stopped having any dairy and it made no difference I have to tell you.

I was told by 4 different docs that it is quite normal for newborns to have a lot of mucus from when they were in utero. If your DS was born at all early it can be worse. It really shouldn't bother them although it does sound horrendous. I was told that as their nasal and throat passages are so tiny that even a very small amount of mucus will make a lot of noise!

It's hard as you want to be able to help them, but I think its worth waiting it out a little bit longer. If he is sleeping alright at night i would bet it is bothering you more than him!

My DS's stopped, literally overnight at aorund 9 weeks. I know that probably seems quite a long way away for you now though!!

my dd is now 7 weeks and has had a blocked nose from birth..we were told it was due to her being born quickly and having inhaled a bit of mucous..she then started with a rash, colic and sticky eyes..I cut dairy from my diet as three of my others had cows milk intolerence and she is like a new baby...however..with regard to switching to soya..you must discuss it with your gp as the soya milk is lower in some of the things your baby needs and also can cause tooth decay..so do check first..also you get it on pre scription so no need to buy it..howeverr I would give it another couple of weeks as it could purely be excess mucous that your baby needs to shift