Advice needed newborn with a cold

[karen01]

Hi all

My DS is just over 3weeks old and has a blocked nose due to a cold, is there anything I can do to try and loosen it. I have dropped afew drops of very cooled boiled water into both nostrils and this does seem to work breifly, but I don't want to keep doing this.

Thanks in advance

hi all thanks for the advice. He seems to be breathing a lot better through his nose today. Had a really rough day with him yesterday. But when I looked at his mouth yesterday I was certain he had thrush so took him to the doctorsd and my diagnosis was correct, this would have also led to him being uncomfortable as DR said it was probably in his throat and nasal cavity, bless the poor little mite, but the nystan seems to be clearing it already and he is once again sleeping like a dream and taking his full feeds only waking once a night .

Are you breastfeeding? My ds had a blocked up nose when he was newborn and someone recomended I put a squirt of breastmilk up. It helped to clear it far better than the saline drops.

Not much to be honest, probably a humidifier could help (if you don't have one improvise one at the toilet by opening hot water and close the door). You can also get Saline drops at boots but they will do the same work as the drops of water in the nose. It will also help him to sleep with his upper boy slightly raised (you can put a pillow under the bed mattress or if the cold is really too bad he may even benefit of spending the night in his car seat)

Good luck (and lots of patience)

boy= body, sorry

Think saline works better. If you know anyone in FRance, a gizmo called Physiomer squirts a mist of purified seawater up the nose - v. effective.

Nose will make it difficult to feed - may find it easier in a humid environment. Obviously be careful not to chill too quickly when you leave a warm bathroom if you try that trick.

Not as good as a humidifier, but better than nothing is to leave bowls of water around. I also hang damp shirts on hangers fom curtain rails.

there is a new product out in boots called nasosal....suitable from birth. drops for the nose. i used it on ds2 when he was 2 weeks old and it was great.

Put a cushion / pillow underneath matress to raise his head slightly -

I used eucyliptus (can't spell & too tired to care) oil, called olbus or something. It says from 3 months but gp told me it was okay to use for younger. It not only cleared dd's nose but ours as well. Good luck. He will get better but it is miserable, poor wee soul.

Forgot to add. You just put a few drops on a tissue in the cot out of the babies way.

If the nasal congestion is really bad (mine was for my then 3 week old baby - his breathing sounded terribly laboured), your doctor may be prepared to prescribe Ephedrine nasal drops which is a more powerful decongestant than saline drops. When my doctor looked this up in the BNF it said not recommended for children under 3 months but he thought this was over cautious and said he was prepared to prescribe. The drops did help my son quite a lot...

Karen, how is the baby doing?

Try putting him in a steamy room, then using a nasal aspirator to suck his snot out! Pleasant i know, but us mummies do anything.
Hope he is feeling a little better this morning

Chamndra- Scott is doing fine he is still a little snuffly, and flemy on the chest. His feeds are not been disrupted though last week he gained 12oz (God knows what he would have gained if he hadn't been poorly!!!