How can I help my baby sleep?

[Fortuny]

DC is only congested at night, what can I do?

Background: 4mo DC had a cold in December that lingered for 6 weeks with terrible congestion that made sleep go to shit.

It's now cleared up, or seemed to have. No visible snot or difficulty breathing and day naps are fine, he does have very mucousy nappies but I chalked it up to dribble.

However, nights are totally different. He'll go down for 40-60 minutes and then snort himself awake with dry sounding nasally breathing, he's really distressed breathing and pawing at his nose. I've had to put mittens on as he kept scratching his face. I can get him back to sleep in 5 mins but then it repeats again until I just give up and go to bed (co-sleep) my presence seems to calm wakeups.

Our bedroom averages 18 degrees and just under 60% humidity which is at the higher end of the recommended bracket, so I don't think a humidifier is the answer.ive been using saline spray before bed, I did use nosefrida during the worst if the cold but there's nothing to suck now and I read that overuse can increase the issue.

Sounds like allergies. My son was congested at night whenever I ate wheat in the early days.
If you're breastfeeding it could be wheat, dairy, soya, nuts, eggs, among others. If formula feeding it could be cows milk protein allergy. Or it could be environmental like pets, detergent or dust.

Can you lift the head of the cot / whatever he's sleeping in so he's not flat on his back?

I also used to put a bowl of boiling water in the room with a drop or 2 of olbas oil, just helped to clear the nose (obv keep well away from baby)

Interesting, did he grow out of it and were there any other symptoms @Scramble1805? DC had reflux initially but now possets a lot and also sneezes/hiccups all the time

I have terrible sinuses, really hoped DC wouldn't 😒

That sounds awful for your little boy ☹️

When mine have been congested I found skin to skin helped (their face on my breast), so co-sleeping.
But as a PP suggested there might be a different cause, colds don’t last so many weeks.

Yes we had symptoms of silent reflux too but I saw these as two separate issues. I experimented cutting out different foods and noticed his nighttime snufflyness stopped without wheat. I suspected this would ease as we got closer to 6 months (he's 6.5m now) and his digestion could mature a bit and I was right. I can have the odd bit of cake or a biscuit with no affect on him now.

However on a similar matter, MIL mentioned that DH had been snuffly as a baby, which got me thinking. As DH has always had issues with phlegm in the morning I suggested trialling wheat free for him too. 2 days without and completely clear airways!

So we have a lot less of it in our house now.

Ooh I'd love to solve both our sinus issues. How long do you think it took to see a positive impact on your son?

Wheat free does sound daunting, I am 90% carb 😬 I've got some learning to do clearly!

It was only a couple of days I think, not long. But it didn't solve the other "reflux" issues. I say that because I'm now a bit dubious, I think he's just an unsettled clingy baby really.
But it certainly made nighttime feeds easier.

Also might not be wheat, could be something else but to me it all sounds like an allergy to something.

Good luck, it wasn't a huge change for me but for DH it made him a bit grumpy about not being able to fill up on bread anymore 🙂