nasal congestion in 6.5 week old

[rakishchick]

i've tried a saline nasal mist (baby simply saline, bought at babies r us) and a "baby breathe easy balm" (like vicks but with natural ingredients and no petroleum) but nothing seems to help. i'm afraid it is affecting her feeding, since she is gaining weight slowly (2-3oz a week) on top of the tongue-tie that we are working to correct.
when i nurse her, i use cradle hold and cross cradle hold. any suggestions?

[ShanaV]

My babies have their first cold now too. They have runny noses, congestion, mild fever and some coughing (which seems to be from post nasal drip). I was reading about using breastmilk to clear it (instead of saline) bc it has antibodies and other good stuff. I tried dripping a couple drops in and then suctioned out with a bulb syringe, but it was kind of a PITA. I've mostly just been suctioning out snot with the bulb syringe. This is also my first experience with a baby cold, so I need help too!

[Knitting Mama]

Also try running a very hot shower and closing you and the baby into the bathroom. The steam should help loosen gunk.

[SuzieQ3417]

I've heard you don't want to get over-aggressive with suctioning because it can inflame their airways more and make them more congested (i.e. suction a few times a day rather than every hour). You can also try propping one end of whatever they're sleeping on to give it a slight incline, which theoretically should help with nasal drainage (this is easier to do if they're in a crib or bassinet, but if you're co-sleeping you could try putting a few books under the head of your bead). Sorry you've got a sick baby!

[somegirl99]

In addition to the great suggestions above, I also found that letting my LO nap upright as much as possible (in a wrap) helped a lot.

[SeattleRain]

When my baby had congestion,, he really enjoyed sitting in the bouncy chair because of the incline. If you don't have one, I'd highly suggest it for this purpose. We put Daniel in the bouncy chair in the bathroom and just steamed him right up.

[neonalee]

Dealing with my first baby cold here too (as well as me, DP and DSD), jeez it sucks!! Poor guy breathes so loud and wet!! We tried the blue bulb and a battery operated nasal thing too. Screaming like he was "being dismembered" is a really accurate description! It brought us to tears the first couple times and still makes us feel absolutely horrible. I also think, if he's crying that hard he's just producing more snot, ya know?

Anyway - I ordered from Amazon and received last night the nose Freida. I touched under and around his nose with it while he was feeding and at random times to get him used to the sight and feel of it. Then, we gave him a bath in the steamy bathroom this morning and cleaned his nose afterwards. The thing really works (it's hard though)!! I had also heard that the bulb thing could bruise the inside of their nose so I feel a lot better about this thing. I think we'll do the bouncy chair in the bathroom tonight before we clean his nose again as the saline makes him scream just as bad as the bulb thing!