Baby Congestion - how to help a congested baby to breath

Having trouble with baby congestion? We can help you get rid of it

A young baby’s natural instinct is to breathe through their nose – even when it is blocked or congested.

Histamine dramatically increases the blood flow to the nose, causing swelling and blockage of nasal tissues.

Stuffy nose is not a condition. it is a symptom of a condition.

Congested nose is caused by a virus and within few weeks it will disappear on its own. It is therefore important to keep your congested baby’s nose clear as a blocked nose can disrupt sleeping and feeding.

One reason that babies get a lot of colds is that their immune systems are immature, making them more vulnerable to illness. Also, your child can develop immunity to only one of the more than 200 different viruses that cause the common cold at a time. Think of all the colds you've had in your lifetime. Congested baby would have to get all of those and more to be immune to all cold viruses.

In order to breathe, babies must get rid of the mucus clogging their nasal passages. But because babies can’t blow their nose, they rely on you to provide the appropriate help.

As your baby grows, he's likely to be exploring a lot and touching (and licking!) everything, so it's easy for him to pick up a cold virus on his hands. Then all he has to do is put his fingers in his mouth or nose or rub his eyes, and the virus will get a chance to set up shop.

During cold and flu season it is sometimes impossible to remain illness-free. When babies get sick, it can be especially frustrating because this condition usually associated with illness can interrupt sleep and make feeding from a bottle or breast difficult.

Colds are uncomfortable, but are not a serious health risk. However, they need to be treated properly for the following reasons:

A cold can lead to more serious bacterial infections like flu, ear infections or even pneumonia in newborns or babies.

A baby will insist on breathing through the nose, even when it is blocked. A blocked nose can make feeding time difficult, as the baby may become irritable and the mother frustrated and concerned, which in turn may affect the flow of breast milk. A clear nose is essential for feeding as the baby either has the nipple or tear in his/her mouth. <

Over the counter medications can make the breathing comfortable and gives relief from stuffy nose. The blood vessels shrink in the lining of the nose by decongestants.

It's hard to watch your infant when he's finding it hard to breathe through his nose because it's blocked. If the condition ever appears life threatening, call 911 immediately, and for chronic and severe cases of nasal congestion we recommend consulting your child's pediatrician. The advice given here is for most cases of nasal blockage.

One of the most tiring and teary-eyed experiences of a parent comes when a little baby is congested. Babies breathe primarily through their noses, particularly while breastfeeding or bottle feeding, which makes the experience all the more uncomfortable, and increases their risk of dehydration. On top of this, a snotty, weepy baby is a pitiful sight that makes this mommy cry.

We have collected some tried and true tricks for relieving baby congestion and bringing comfort. Now that the Federal Drug Administration has declared cold and flu medicines unsafe for children under 2 years old, it becomes all the more important to have alternative methods at your disposal. If none of them work and your baby is unable to breastfeed or take a bottle, this is a situation in which I recommend consulting a pediatrician or naturopath. Sick babies need to eat and drink more frequently, not less.

There is no cure for the common cold. In addition, your baby’s immune system will need time to get stronger. However, you can help by making your baby feel more comfortable and by preventing the infection from getting worse. Plenty of rest and drinking liquids are crucial, and your baby will need to be able to breathe properly to do either of these things. Stuffy noses may also linger for a few weeks even when the cold is over.

Explaining the condition called Nasal Congestion

Because a mucus nasal discharge often accompanies blocked nose may people believe the this is due to the thick mucus, but this is incorrect.

A stuffy nose is usually caused by a virus and typically goes away by itself within a week. Newborn infants must breathe through the nose. Stuffy nose in an infant in the first few months of life can interfere with nursing and cause life-threatening breathing problems.

In older children and adolescents is usually just an annoyance, but can cause other difficulties. Blocked nose can interfere with the ears, hearing, and speech development. Significant nasal stuffiness may interfere with sleep, cause snoring, and can be associated with episodes of not breathing during sleep (sleep apnea).

In children, stuffy nose from enlarged adenoids has caused chronic sleep apnea with insufficient oxygen levels and right-sided heart failure. The problem usually goes away after surgery to remove the adenoids and tonsils.

Blocked nose occurs when the membranes lining the nose become swollen from inflamed blood vessels. The air we breathe contains many impurities such as pollutants, chemical fumes, dust, pollens, mould spores, germs from others coughing and sneezing etc. Our nose acts as a filter. Anything that gets into our nose, which our body's immune defenses recognizes shouldn't be there, will cause a release of the body chemical "histamine".

The swelling stimulates the nasal membranes to produce excessive amounts of mucus. Mucus is produced in an attempt to "flush out" whatever it is our body wants to get rid of.

Many newborns will have a stuffy nose for several weeks. This can interfere with sleeping and feeding, but is harmless. This is virtually never a reason to page your doctor after hours.

At rest and during sleep, nasal breathing is the natural human state. If a situation exists whereby insufficient air is taken in by nasal breathing, mouth breathing takes over. When stuffy nose forces mouth breathing during sleep, greater negative pressure develops behind the uvula and soft palate. This negative pressure increases the vibration of these "noise-makers" during sleep, helping to create the sound we know as snoring.

Call your doctor if you or your child have any of the following:

A stuffy nose along with swelling of the forehead, eyes, side of the nose, or cheek.

A stuffy nose along with blurred vision

Increased throat pain, or white or yellow spots on the tonsils or other parts of the throat

Coughing episodes that last longer than 10 days

A cough that produces yellow-green or gray mucus

A stuffy nose that lasts longer than 2 weeks and significantly interferes with your life

Your doctor may perform a physical examination, focusing on the upper respiratory system, ears, nose, and throat. Your doctor may ask questions, including:

When did the stuffy nose begin? Is it always stuffy?

What have you done to try to relieve the congestion? How well has it worked?

What other symptoms do you have?

The following diagnostic tests may be done:

Allergy skin tests (performed only by allergists)

Blood tests (such as CBC or blood differential)

Sputum culture and throat culture

X-rays of the sinuses and chest x-ray

Serum total IgE (the allergy-related immunoglobin)

Explaining the congested chest condition
This condition is a symptom rather than a disease or condition There are a several conditions that can cause a congested chest such as respiratory infections, asthma and even heart problems. There are many different ways of treating your baby's congested chest The type of treatment will depend on the cause of this condition.

This type of condition is a symptom often associated with the common cold or flu. In healthy babies, air flows easily into the lungs through tubes called bronchi. These bronchial tubes are protected by mucous membranes which produce mucus to help defend against irritation and infection.

When inflammation of the bronchial tubes occurs, the mucous membranes swell and produce a build up of mucus. Heavy coughing is our body's way of trying to clear the mucus from the bronchial passages.

When the mucus thickens and moves more slowly in the respiratory tract than usual, it can be difficult to breathe and get a restful night's sleep. This condition can also be accompanied by a nagging, unproductive cough.

Most young infants have congested chest and “junky breathing” from time to time due to saliva and regurgitated milk. This is virtually never a reason to page your doctor after hours. Holding baby upright and sleeping upright in arms or a carseat can help until you call your doctor.

What are the possible causes for this condition?

Sinusitis - can cause blocked nose condition.

Allergies - nasal congestion or discharge is a common symptom of an allergic reaction. Hay fever (also known as seasonal allergic rhinitis, rose fever, grass fever and summertime cold) is caused by an allergic reaction to substance in the air, such as pollen that can get into the nose, sinus, throat and eyes.

Although more common in spring and summer, allergic rhinitis can occur any time in response to other things that may or may not be airborne, such as mould, aminal hair, insect bites or house dust. Less commonly, nasal congestion or discharge can also occur as a reaction to "allergens" contained in milk, foods or medications. If untreated symptoms may last for weeks or even months.

Dry air - Newborn babies have tiny noses. They also have very narrow nasal passages which are sensitive to dry air. Exposure to dry air (occurring in the winter months) can dry out your newborn's nasal secretions, which in turn results in noisy breathing. Although not technically a blocked nose condition, because the noisy breathing is due to the structure of the nose and/or drying of nasal secretions and not due to inflamed nasal passages, it is often mistaken as nasal congestion.

Irritants - Irritants such as wind, dust, chemical fumes, cigarette smoke and milk (brought up into your baby's nose when he spits up) can all irritate the delicate tissues in your baby's nasal passages. This irritation results in nasal congestion and a clear nasal discharge.

Infections - Due to an immature immune system, colds and flu are very common in infancy and early childhood. A baby is likely to experience 6 to 10 colds during his first year of life. Colds and flu are caused by any number of different viruses, some of which can be transmitted from person to person through the air, but most of which are transmitted from hand-to-nose contact.

Enlarged adenoids - Tonsils and adenoids are glandular tissue near the entrance to the breathing passages. Although you can see tonsils by looking in your child's throat, adenoids are located behind the nose and are not directly visible. Tonsils and adenoids are part of our body's defense against infections.

They filter out bacteria and viruses entering through the nose and throat and produce antibodies to help the body fight infections. Sometimes tonsils and adenoids can become infected by the germs they are trying to eliminate; they then become sore and swollen. Generally adenoids get larger between birth and 4 years of age and then become progressively smaller.

However a child may be born with large adenoids, which have developed while he was in the womb. Enlarged adenoids can cause nasal obstruction. In severe cases, they can block nasal passages completely. Enlarged adenoids can also cause sleep disturbances.

Foreign bodies - A foreign body refers to any object that is placed in the ear, nose or throat that's not meant to be there. Children under the age of 5 years are curious and occasionally put small objects, such as beads, dried beans, popcorn, nuts, buttons, marbles, paper, pebbles, plastic toy pieces, foam rubber or small batteries up their noses.

Children are often afraid to admit they have put an object into their nose, so many parents only become aware of the problem when their child develops symptoms.

Overuse of some nasal sprays or drops - Although overuse of decongestant nasal sprays is a common cause of congested nose for adults, it is rarely the cause of stuffy nose in infants and small children because decongestant sprays are not recommended for children under the age of 6 years. Decongestants can become addictive and actually cause nasal congestion condition to get worse.

Be wary of over-the-counter nasal decongestants sprays as prolonged use of these sprays may damage the delicate tissue in the nose and sinuses. Rebound blocked nose and inflammation of the nasal membranes can be caused from overuse of nasal sprays.

Suggested remedies for baby blocked nose

Over-the-counter medications treat symptoms but do nothing to treat the cause. In situations where symptoms are mild no treatment is necessary. Your child's natural defenses will heal the problem with time. By "jumping in" with the use of medications you may be interfering with his body's natural healing processes and prolong the symptoms (particularly if the wrong medication is used).

Where symptoms are more debilitating or distressing for your baby/child medications may be helpful. No remedy works well for all children and all remedies can cause side effects. The advantages and disadvantages of using medication needs to be carefully weighed up. As you can see there are lots of different causes of nasal congestion in babies.

There are also many different types of remedies used to treat different symptoms. Each one can acts in a different way. Be sure you understand their purpose before giving your child medications.

Saline nasal drops or sprays - A saline solution of 0.9% sodium chloride in water is available in nasal mists, sprays and drops from your local chemist or drug store. Saline nasal drops or sprays can be helpful to wash out the nose, which may assist in relieving congested nose due to "irritants". Saline nasal drops can also be used to moistens nasal passages irritated by dry air. However, they will do little to relieve a congested baby from other causes. Saline solution, which is a similar consistency to tears, contains no medications and can be used liberally at your discretion.

Chest rubs - Chest rubs make you feel as though they are helping because camphor, menthol and eucalyptus oil makes nasal passages more sensitive to cold air. However, studies have shown chest rubs offer no proven benefit in reducing the symptoms of congested nose or nasal discharge. (Chest rubs or vaporizer fluids do not contain a decongestant). Chest rubs can be irritating when placed directly onto your baby's skin.

Nasal aspirators - If your child is too young to blow his nose, an infant nasal aspirator (bulb) may help to remove some of the mucus. If the nasal discharge is thick and sticky, loosen it by putting 2 or 3 saline nasal drops into each nostril. Because blocked nose is due to inflamed blood vessels and not blockage from thick mucus, trying to remove the mucus will provide only minor, temporary benefit. The upset to your child in clearing his nose using a nasal aspirator may not be worth it, so it is not essential that you do so.

Common Questions and Answers (FAQ)

Q: What is nasal congestion?
A: Nasal congestion results from inflammation of the lining of the nasal passages. It is caused by a swelling of the blood vessels, excess fluid in the tissues, and an increased secretion of mucus.

Q: What causes nasal blockage condition?
A: Congestion of the membrane lining of the nasal passages results most commonly from upper respiratory infections caused by a wide variety of viruses, i.e., the common cold. It may also be caused by pollens and other irritants in the air.

Q: What is a congested chest?
A: Congested chest is a symptom rather than a disease or condition There are a several conditions that can cause a congested chest such as respiratory infections, asthma and even heart problems.