Tips to Help Congested Baby

breast milk syringe

I have a congested little baby on my hands. She just has a little cold, but between a low grade fever, her coughing all the time, and a very very snotty nose, it’s seriously the saddest thing in the world. She just has a little whimper and it breaks my heart. We obviously live in Kentucky and we are basically the allergy city of the whole universe. It’s awful. Everyone in Kentucky has allergies, so it’s no surprise that our little girl has them too. This is the second time since she’s been born that she’s had a little allergy flare/cold like this. This time around, I was better prepared for how to handle this. The first time was a lot of trial and error so I figured I would share some of my tips in hopes to help y’all!

Breastmilk

I am all about using breast milk for different purposes than just feeding. I mean, it’s free, it’s healthy, it has everything you could ever need it in! So, as I was researching how to unclog the snot in her nose there were two remedies: saline drops and breast milk. For either of them, you just put a couple of drops in their nose and then suck out the snot. I know, it sounds gross, but that’s what you do! Basically the saline or breast milk just help loosen up the snot so it’s easier to get out. I just put a little bit of breast milk in a syringe, lay her on her back, and put a couple of drops into each nostril.

breast milk syringe

Nosefrida

Next, what to suck the snot out with…I have found probably one of the greatest inventions of all time to help get that snot out! It’s called a Nosefrida!!

nosefrida

Okay, let me explain…Yes, you literally have to suck the snot with your mouth, out of your babies nose. BUT, there is a filter in the middle that will not allow anything to go past a certain point. They also have extra filters you can buy to replace them periodically. In my opinion, it is the most effective way to get snot out of the baby. On top of being very effective, it’s also very easy to clean. The blue part at the bottom pops right off and you can clean it and pop it right back on.

I feel as though I must disclose that Raelynn doesn’t like the NoseFrida at all. Every time I use it, you would think I am sucking her brains out. She screams bloody murder the whole time. She can also now anticipate what I’m about to do whenever I get the NoseFrida out to use on her. As soon as I am done, and she realizes she can breathe, all is well. The NoseFrida is SO much more effective than a regular bulb syringe. Not to mention…do you ever really get the bulb syringe clean…It’s almost impossible to get all of the moisture out when cleaning, therefore, it leads to this…MOLD…would you want to use this on your baby? I know I wouldn’t.

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What didn’t work for us.

We have also tried things, that again, are solely my opinion, did not work. In order to loosen everything up we tried the whole turn the shower on as high as it will go and let it steam. We blocked off any opening where the steam could get out of the doorway with a towel. Yea, she coughed a little, but I honestly believe we both just left the bathroom a hot sweaty mess and I don’t think it helped loosen anything up. We tried it a couple of times, one time I even got in the shower with her. I made sure the water was nowhere near her. It never worked. I’m not a fan of this. If it works for you, that’s great! Hey, it’s cheaper than buying the nose saline spray.

Another thing we have tried is a humidifier. Now, this could be because we bought a cheap one, but again, in my opinion, I really don’t think this worked for her. We tried it every single night while she was sick and after she was sick. When we took the filter out, we could clearly see there had been dirt removed from the air, but did it really help her congestion? I’m not sure. I believe if we bought a fancy schmancy humidifier that it probably would work wonderfully, but we ain’t got the time or the money for all that.

The waiting game is the hardest. Every morning when she wakes up, I pray for no poor little cough or no snotty nose. For us, it’s usually gone in about a week which means we still have a couple of days.

Hope this helps some of you mommas!