New born with a mucus problem.

[montanamoondog]

One of my 8 day old twins is having a mucus problem.  Her nose has lots of yellow thick mucus that makes it hard for her to breath sometimes.  What has alarmed my wife and I is that she seems to have a great deal of it in the back of her throat which she has choked on 2 times in as many days.  The mucus in her troat is clear except for some formua. I was able to use a suction bulb on her nose and mouth both times.  It was difficult but successful. The two times it has happened we heard a brief cry and choke then looked over to see her gagging on it.  It rattled in the back of her throat then she cleared it and I got it with the suction. She has no fever.  She is bottle fed Infamil newborn power formula.   Not sure if this is a cold, allergies or acid reflux. Has anyone experienced this before? 

[Gator-mom]

This is a couple days late, but still thought I'd respond...

You know, there are so many different things that can cause mucus and in a baby, esp as young as yours, they just don't have the ability to clear their throats like we do.  You can try a mist humidifyer to thin the mucus and keep on the bulb syringe, but if he/she is still having trouble, I personally wouldn't mess around and would take in into see someone.  You just don't want your baby to not be able to breath!

Doesn't sound too much like asthma unless he/she is also wheezing or has retractions and nasal flaring.  Reflux is usually just formula regurgitating and shouldn't really have mucus in it.  If it doesn't clear, definitely check it out.  It's unusual for such a young baby to be "sick" and they don't like to mess around with those little ones!

[~Adorkable~]

congrats of the twins, they are a wonderful thing!

and welcome to MDC!!!  i would talk to someone that you trust in the medical community, your twins are probably very little and you dont want another thing for them to deal with. meanwhile yes a humidifier does help a lot of things, one of my twins has a rattle of wet in his chest for the first moth or so and humidity was the cure big time.

also please be careful with the bulb syringe, it can hurt delicate tissue, specially if it seals to their nostril and then sucks to hard, they are very useful, just use a gentle touch.

again a huge congrats, my twins are 5 months old and i am sitting her with a huge smile remembering 8 days.  please come join us on the parenting multiples pages!

[Llyra]

I think that if you have any doubts about all being well, you should speak to a healthcare provider about it. I am very conservative about anything involving breathing, and newborns. My son (also a twin) had a lot of breathing issues in his early days, though he was nearly-term, and a good size at birth. It is probably just related to immaturity, but if it were me I'd want somebody knowledgeable to take a look.

Please be careful with the bulb syringe-- the PP is right, that it can damage sensitive tissue if it's used to often or not gently enough. Plus, some babies do develop things like oral aversion, when the syringe is used too vigorously or too often. It's a good tool, but it needs to be used with care.