Congestion & dark circles under eyes of 10 week old

[carmen358]

My baby is 10.5 weeks old and has developed dark circles under her eyes the last day or two. She's also super congested sounding (more than "normal" newborn congestion in the morning which she also has but it usually goes away after we get up) tonight. Yesterday she didn't sleep much and was much fussier than usual. She slept fine last night. Today she has been sleeping lots but is very fussy when she's awake. She has been really happy and smiley before the past 2 days. She doesn't seem to have a fever. Any suggestions?? Should we take her to a doctor???

[Kelly1101]

Don't have any idea, but I'd definitely give the doctor a call and describe this. It may be nothing, or they may want to have a look.

[Alisse]

Are you using a humidifier at night or is the air well hydrated? In the first few months we battled congestion and boogers a lot until we gopt a good humidifier.

[tzs]

i don't have any experience but i thought i remember reading this was a food intolerance thing...specifically dairy i think.

[RiverandJulie]

My 3 mo old just had similar problem, turned out to be a cold. He was fussy and having trouble eating on Wednesday. (Looking back I think that was the first day he was sick ane he had a sore throat). Wed night he was conjested, but slept well. Thursday conjested and fussy. I kept an eye on his temp, he never had a fever. We did call the dr. (he was 10 weeks preemie, so we are extra careful). They said no need to bring him in unless he had a fever.
We got a cool mist humidifier and kept it in whatever room he was in. By Friday he was fine during the day, but a little stuffy at night, today he seems fine.
Sounds like you are experiencing a little cold. Keep an eye on her temp, but it is cold/flu season.

[claddaghmom]

That sounds like a food intolerance...dairy?

[slimkins]

I second the possible dairy intolerance. I was in a bit of denial about my son having it until he broke out with eczema. The signs were there, but I didn't think it really was an intolerance since he wasn't spitting up, he didn't have blood in his poop or some other signs. He did always have the circles, congestion and bad gas on pretty often.
I also didn't think *hope* he had a soy intolerance, but much to my dismay.... he did.

[carmen358]

Thanks, everyone!

I thought about the dairy thing - I'm going to experiment and cut it from my diet and see how that goes. Any idea how long it takes to become apparent that dairy is a problem? She slept really well last night. She's still stuffed up today but not as fussy and is able to nurse fine. We will also consider a humidifier but we don't really live in a dry area...although we have been sleeping with the heat on since she was born (we co-sleep) so the outside climate may not be relevant.

Ugh, it's hard not knowing

[carmen358]

We ended up bringing our baby into the emergency at children's hospital because she started coughing quite often. The ped. there said it was likely RSV - mild at that point. He said to watch her breathing and bring her back if she was labouring to breathe. Other than that - he said it would likely get worse and could last up to 2 weeks. It has gotten worse - very congested and coughing but she is still sleeping fairly well, nursing and seems relatively happy. We've been doing steams in the bathroom twice a day and saline drops 3 times a day. I tried using the bulb syringe in her nose but nothing comes out and I don't have the heart to try harder. Any other suggestions to ride this out?

[tzs]

sorry she ended up being sick and hope she gets better.
and keep enjoying dairy!