Snotty, teething baby can't breastfeed!

[Belmo]

Aaargh! :( She's 7.5 months old and usually feeds every 2-3 hours. She wants to, but every time she tries she starts choking on snot and about a pint of dribble and gets really distressed. I expressed at lunch time as boobs felt like rocks and she drank about an ounce from a sippy cup but wasn't too impressed. Apart from that she's had a few sips of water and half a jar of apple purée all day. What on earth do I do?! She's just cried herself to sleep in my arms, she always feeds to sleep. Allergic to dairy as well so I can't try formula. :( I have never had a problem I can't solve with boob before!

Have you got one of those snot suckers and some saline drops/spray? LO's hate them but they do the trick. Just squirt and suck before a feed.

You could also try feeding in the bathroom with a hot shower running, that helps clear the nose but might not be a productive environment for sleep.

The other thing I would suggest is propping her up on a pillow/raising one end of the cot once she's asleep; I think it's lying flat that makes it dry and block the nose.

My GP said infant's nasal passages are very thin and can get blocked easily when they're this age. Mind you he also said "if he's hungry and wants to feed he'll just come off every few ducks for a breath" - he didn't, he just screamed!

It'll probably last a while and won't be the last cold she gets so try and remain sympathetic and ease her discomfort as much as possible. Hope she gets better soon :)

*sucks not ducks!

We got a nasal spray called sterimar from boots. They have one for babies and it is very gentle. Better than the calpol version. It thinned the snot down and made DS sneeze it out. After the first day DS would sit still and angle his head for us to use it because he knew it made breathing easier! He was the same age as your DD when we started using it.

Thankyou both very much! Was clearly overreacting a bit, panicking she'd starve! Tried the shower and she managed a bit of a feed, will get nasal spray next although I don't fancy my chances convincing her to let me use it!

What I did forget to say was the first few times we used it someone had to hold him down whilst I sprayed it but it only comes out as a fine mist so non traumatic for baby and IIRC there is a valve on the spray so it stays sterile.