Congested baby

[beccy1604]

Hello, just wondering if anyone has had anything similar and can give me a light at the end of the tunnel.

My little one was born 23rd Dec via csection (possibly relevant as all the gunk wasn't squeezed out in delivery!).
For the past 3 weeks she has been struggling with a stuffy nose. At first I had a cold so thought she had caught that from me, and also wondered if it's just dry air with it being winter and heating being on. It's been 3 weeks now and it's just getting worse.
I have tried everything possible, humidifier, nasal aspirator, saline drops, snuffle babe oil, snuffle babe vapour rub, steamy bathroom, wet towel on radiator, next2me on an incline and nothing is easing it. Sometimes she is getting snot out on her own and other times there is nothing to come out (same when using aspirator).

Has anyone gone through this and found a way to help their baby? Or how long did it last for? It's really getting me down that I can't help ease it for her and I'm worried with how long it's going on and it just getting worse.

HV and GP have been absolutely no help as she has plenty of wet nappies and is feeding okay. She seems to be worse on a night and can't sleep as she is choking, so I'm literally sitting up holding her all night so she can sleep, so I'm sleep deprived which won't be helping my low mood either. She hasn't had a temp either. They have just said if she struggles to breathe or shows sign of infection get her looked at. Is choking during the night not counted as struggling to breathe? She sounds absolutely awful.

Just looking for advice if I'm missing something or if anyone else has had this with their little one and how long it lasted? Sorry for the long post! It's my first baby and I'm just worried I guess!!

Didn’t want to read and run, this must be so worrying. Have you tried getting a video of her at night so you can show the GP how bad it is?

I think I saw somewhere that babies have a really good choking/cough reflex to get stuff up - mine was quite a sicky baby and I was worried she’d choke on it sleeping, but pretty sure a health pro told me that.

Yeah we did and they weren't interested. Just Said ride it out. I had also mentioned PPD and how I'm getting no sleep which is adding to it, and obviously how worried I am. I was even crying about it but they just said babies sinuses are so small!

This is the same as my baby - 4 weeks old via c section. Very blocked up and snotty overnight for weeks. We’ve had some success as getting snot up with saline. GP was very relaxed about it and said to ride it out which I’m trying to do but the sleep is very minimal and it’s horrible to see them unwell.

sending hugs 🥰 in a way reading your post made me feel less alone although I’m hoping your wee baby is better soon x

@beccy1604 we're having the same - my daughter is 6 weeks old and so congested. Also using humidifier and have some vapour oil in warm water tonight (which is now cold and useless but did help at the beginning).

Have you raised the cot slightly? Also, not sure if your breastfeeding but I'm trying to feed her in more of an upright position. Because it's not awful 24/7 I'm hoping she grows out of it, my GP and HV were equally not as helpful, I'm sorry to hear that they didn't offer you more support for your PPD x

Hi OP, midwife here and new 2nd time mum!

Didn't have this problem with my 1st but now have our second son who is just over 6 weeks old.

Recently has been very very sniffly, congested, windy and generally snorts like a pig when cross or excited! But has put on a good amount of weight (5lbs birth weight now 9lbs) and feeds okay ish- bit of clicking and slipping every now and again but otherwise has an effective latch.

Had our 6 week check and the GP found he had a 'high arched palate' apparently this can cause the issue we're experiencing.

I'm ashamed to say that despite my experience it never crossed my mind as I've never seen it in my career, although I know of it and that it can occur.

Might be worth having an oral assessment if you haven't already?

She does have a slightly high palette. We paid privately to get a tongue tie release and she also goes to body work (baby chiropractor) once a week and have been for 5 weeks now. They said the high palette shouldn't really affect her. We feed her sitting upright and pace feed. Make sure we wind her after each feed, and her wind has massively improved (doesn't hold onto it and often burps on her own).