4 week old really snotty

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My 4 week old baby caught a cold around 10 days ago from my older daughter. I caught it too but it seems to have cleared up , however baby still really snotty and stuffy. She cant lie on her back when its really bad and even elevating mattress doesnt work. Sometimes she settles in her carseat but not always. Her nose isnt runny just sounds really rattly and like she is really struggling to breathe, poor thing. Have tried snuffle babes and putting olbas oil on a tissue near to where she sleeps but niether seem to help. Should i take her to docs? or can I get something from a chemist- saline drops? nasal aspirator? Should a cold last this long?
Also bottle feeding but she seems to want to feed quite frequently sometimes after two or two and a half hours, probably because of cold but worried about overfeeding her. Any advice?

My DD is 11 weeks and has been really snotty since about 2-3 weeks old. Seems to be never ending.

We had huge problems with ds being just like this, think his "snuffliness" was due to him being prem and on a ventilator though. I can list all the things we tried! Damp towel with drops of olbas oil on radiator, saline drops (you can get them from chemist - very difficult to get into a struggling baby's nose!), nasal aspirator (ditto saline drops - also may not do anything if her nose isn't actually runny), sitting in steamy bathroom before bed, elevated cot, erm...sure there was more but can't remember... Consultant prescribed us some drops that were meant to decrease nasal secretions, but that was only after 2 months or so and they didn't work.

As she is so young and is having trouble breathing, I would definitely take her to the GP. They can check that it's all upper airways and the infection hasn't gone to her chest. Otherwise I don't think it's uncommon for a cold to last 10 days - huge sympathy though, I know exactly what it's like to sit up at 3am with a baby who's struggling to breath! Have you got a sling? This helped my ds as it kept him upright and I could get on with other things while he slept.

Thanks fearscape- her chest does seem to be a bit rattly and she sometimes wheezes a bit too. Will make an appointment with doc but in my experience doctors are reluctant to prescribe anything for young babies- is there anything they can do if she does have a chest infection? Have a toddler who had similar problems from about 12months old, repeated chest and ear infections- now waiting to see an ear nose and throat specialist, so maybe it runs in family! Boo
Have got a sling but weirdly enough in the day time she seems better- is now asleep in car seat. just as day progresses towards night she gets worse and more difficult to settle!

If she has a chest infection I expect they will give her antibiotics. Ds never did though, gps would just say "oh it's all upper airway, he'll be fine". Felt like shaking them!! but in fairness don't think there was much they could do. Sorry to hear about your toddler, must be exhausting having to look after 2 snotty children

Well toddler seems unaffected by snot now! just used to it I guess and she is off to Nursery today so easy for me with one. Hope she improves soon though as she seems like a pretty chilled out baby apart from that. Did your 'snotty baby' just grow out of it? or did anything finally clear it?

oh you have worried me now. have appointment on friday at gp's. what was wrong with your ds kelly. my dd does not have temperature and sometimes her breathing is ok. seems to come and go. am holding her now and she doesnt sound too bad. she isnt crying all day or anything. should i be doing something sooner iyo.

kelly you never said what was wrong with your ds. what were symptoms that ended up with him being in hospital?
I am only asking as I have been through all this with a toddler but whenever she did have an infection had raging temperature, off her food, occassionally vomited, really lethargic etc. Only symptom in my baby is the struggling to breathe, stuffy rattly nose which i can feel rattling a bit in her chest also. doesnt seem seriously ill imo. what was your experience?

Thanks for that. Will assess situation and might go later. I am same as you with attitude to number two child- feel you should be more chilled out and not rush to gps every 5 mins but certainly if i get more worried about her i will be straight there. Was just assuming that there was nothing a gp could do and would just be told oh its a cold and will be building up immune system etc..... heard it all before with number one child and ended up at emergency doctor twice!

If the rattling is also in her chest this could be quite serious in such a young baby (ought to stress at this point I'm not a health professional - just going on my own experience!). I would ring your surgery and say you have a 4 week old baby having trouble breathing and ask to see someone today, Friday seems a long time to wait. If they can't see you I would at the very least ring NHS direct, might go to A&E. Also have a look at her chest and see if it is drawing in at all around her ribs when she breathes as this can be a sign a baby is really struggling. Don't worry about overreacting, it is far far better to have gone to the doctor for no reason than to end up with a seriously ill baby!

Btw in answer to your question my ds suddenly grew out of it at 6 months. But we were under consultant care because of his prematurity and she had checked him out and assured me he was ok.

Do hope it's all a worry over nothing and she's fine - but better to get it checked

Does she eat dairy? My ds gets it thru my breastmilk and it makes him extremely snuffly too. I no longer eat dairy as a result. If she's lactose intolerant the cold from 10 days ago may have masked the symptoms of lactose intolerance.

OR...it could just be that she's still affected by the cold. My ds caught a cold at 3 months and took 1 month to shake it off. Don't forget that her immune sys is barely there at this tender age, but if you are worried please see a health visitor/ doctor - they can't usually do much but they can at least put your mind at rest.

Good luck!