My 2 Month Son Is Very Congested!!

Hi, E..
These tricks always helped with my babies when they were congested.
--Put some Eucalyptus or Lavender essential oil in the humidifier. Those aromatic oils are good at opening up the breathing passages.
--Give the baby some chammomile and lavender tea. Both plants are antiviral, antibacterial, mucous cutting, and safe for babies. Steep 1 Tbsp of each herb in 2 cups hot water for 10 minutes. Strain and let cool a bit. Give the warm tea to the baby in a bottle (or cup or dropperfeed, if you're averse to bottles). Give at least 1/4 cup of the tea 3 to 4 times a day. Both herbs will also help the baby sleep.
--Put a drop or three of breast milk or chammomile tea in the baby's nostril. The baby will usually snort out a lot of mucous. It's easier to get the mucous out this way than with the bulb syringe. Repeat on the other side once the baby is done snorting.
--Let the baby sleep upright in a carseat or propped up with pillows to promote drainage.

Babies can't voluntarily sniffle and blow their noses, so the secretions build up and they sound much sicker than they actually are. Best of luck. Hopefully she'll be feeling better soon.

love,
M. Singleton
mama, midwife, herbalist

My name is M. My daughter is 9 month old and we have been using Ceron-DM. You can get that medican from the doctor. It is a decongestant. We have been using this med. since she was just a couple of months.

When my younger daughter had that problem, we had her sleep in her (infant) car seat. We just put it into the crib with her buckled in. That kept her head propped up and the congestion wasn't as bad. You might try that if you haven't already. The bulb was also indispensable to clear out her nose.

Another thing we did was bring the car seat into the bathroom while we showered so that the steam helped to clear up her sinus. I hope this helps.

My son is going through the same thing right now, only with a cough on top of it. My pediatrician recommended the same things yours did along with warm baths and steam from the shower to loosen up the congestion. It has taken time, but he is getting better. Hang in there!

E.

Ask your Dr if you can use the Vick Vapor Plugs with a baby that young. If so they are wonderful, fill the air with that smell and help my kids a ton with congestion at night. When my daughter was 6 weeks I had to take her to the hospital as she wasn't feeding with her congestion and they had to put tubes in to suck out a TON of mucus. The saline and the sucker are the best thing for young ones.

Hi E.,

Try Vicks Vapor Rub ONLY on the bottom of his feet, and place socks on him at night. This seemed to help my kids.

Hope he feels better and you get some rest too!

Blessings,
C.

Sounds like we both have the same problem. I have a 13 week old and I have took her to the dr. for the same issue. She said a lot of babies in Phoenix have this problem due to the dry weather. She told me there's nothing I can do besides humidifier, proping her up when she sleeps and using the nose drops with the booger sucker. Let me know if you find any solutions. A.

You could put a small pillow or folded towel UNDER his mattress to elevate his head a little while he sleeps. This should help some with the drainage.

Hope he is feeling better soon!

D.

Take him outside for a few minutes during the night, with a blanket :), that seems to help my kids. OR the hot steam shower.Good luck

When my son had this problem, we learned that he was having a problem with reflux. Doctors missed it at first and we went through all the pulmonary stuff. He was throwing up and he didn't have projectile vomiting. What he was doing was refluxing up to the top of his esophogus and going back down. As soon as we got a Gastro doctor and he had a fundoplacation, all the congestion and breathing problems went away. It was wonderful.

I am not saying that this is a problem with your infant and I am not trying to scare you. Just something to watch out for if it continues or gets worse.

If your child is on dairy products I encourage you to get RID of them. Dairy is the number one cause of congestion, ear infections, etc.!!

Can offer you too much advice. I went through this with my son who was born last December. I was in the same boat...Nasal drops and an aspirator (sucky thing). The have shown that only one type of humidifier actually helps (the hot kind I think) and that the other one has no real benefit so you might check that. Was your son born C-Section? Mine was and that was a major cause of his respiratory problems. C-Section babies do not get the junk taken out of their systems as well as vaginal births- FYI.

I know exactly what you're goin thru. What i found very helpful was steaming up the bathroom and sitting with my daughter in there every night and morning for about 15 minutes. I am not sure why that helped, it just did. Good luck!!

Sounds like a food sensitivity to me. Are you breastfeeding? I'd check the common foods first: wheat, dairy, soy, and anything with processed sugars. A couple really great resources (you may find or request them from your library) is Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon, and Your Vital Child by Mark and Angela Stengler. The thing with food issues is you have to be patient. My second child was born with "congestion" (I thought) and she was 6 months old before I discovered a whole host of foods she was sensitive to. But as soon as we eliminated them from our diet, she was a new baby! When we tested her a year later (a year of no bread and whole bunch of other foods!!!) She was clear on everything and we could add in those foods in small amounts again. Our method of diagnosis was muscle testing by our Chiropractor friend, so it was non-invasive, which was important to me.

Good luck.

J. Hackey
White Mountains of Arizona

Assuming the congestion is from a cold, you may want to try giving him a warm bath with a few drops of either lavender or eucalyptus essential oil before bedtime. You can also add a few drops of each of the oils to 1 to 2 tspns olive oil & rub his chest to help with congestion. I would also recommend, if possible, using the humidifier for more than evenings if you can & be sure to check that it has a clean filter. If you're not already, I would suggest using the bulb syringe along with the saline drops several times a day. Hope he feels better soon!

you could try a vaporizer instead of humidifier - the steam my make a difference, but at 2 months, you shouldn't use the medication that goes in it unless you use only a teeny weeny little bit. it could burn his nasal passages.
vaporub makes a product called baby vaporub.
we used it when our son was only 4 weeks - it wasn't too harsh and helped him breathe.
we also swear by a product made by badger balm - not nearly so "chemical" - it's called winter wonderland balm. it's more of a peppermint smell and not as harsh as all the others.
it's also all natural ingredients, so i don't worry about it harming his skin (clogging pores).
you could try keeping his room around 70 degrees and swaddling him with a hat to keep him warm enough. sometimes if it's stuffy, or a fan is on, it'll make things worse.
also using an elevation wedge or putting a phone book or 4 spread around evenly under his mattress on one end to keep his head elevated.

if it's 2 AM and he can't breathe, my parents spent many a long night sittin gin the bathroom with the shower on as hot as it'll go -watching water waste down the drain...
HOWEVER - i lived and eventually everybody got back to sleep.

oh - also - it's ok to use the soothing vapors baby bath on babies younger than 3 months.

if this kind of thing isn't helping - go to your pediatrician and insist that they give you more help.
usually the people answering the phone give out the same advise to everybody, but if your doctor actually sees you and listens to his chest, you'll feel better that you're doing everything you can and the doc will be sure you're doing everything you're supposed to.

don't worry - we all get trhough it - but - it's not easy to see your baby hurt... keep us posted.
we'll be thinking of you at 2AM.
s

You can prop up one end of the crib mattress with a blanket or standard size pillow. You should only prop it up and inch to an inch and a half, so that he doesn't slide down. You might also try the vopor rub for babies, but ask your doctor or pharmacist first since he is still so young. How long has this been going on? If longer then 14 days, could he be allergic to something?

hi, i have a newborn who is now 8 weeks , he also develop some secretions off n on as his big brother was sick with cold and cough.. what i do is
saline drops with suction,
i lay him on his bouncer that i have almsot flattened in a bed shape by pressing its frame,
lay him on his side,...
humidifier with all ..other members have told you
if your son is too congested try pulsatilla homepathic medicine just few drops in a bottle of tiny sugar tablets and then u break the tablet in powder just touch a bit of the powder on ur sons tounge every 2 hours a day then increase the time as he improve....
hope it helps

Hi E., I just read yesterday on MSN that now with all the warnings about giving infants and toddlers, under the age of 2, over-the-counter infant's decongestants, cold, etc. that all they need is a humidifier and saline drops. So as far as that article is concerned and it is written by Doctors and other high medical professionals, you are doing just fine. I have a 20 month old Son who gets congested a lot, but has no other symptoms of illness and I think it is just this time of year that we turn on our furnaces and the air gets dry. Good Luck with your new precious Son. I know he will be just fine.

Hi E.,

We had the same problem with our son starting at around six weeks old. After several office visits he was finally diagnosed with reflux. He was giving a prescription for Zantac and within 2 doses he was like a new baby. Our son did not have any other symptoms which made the reflux hard to diagnose, so you might want to check into this. Good luck and hang in there, I know that it can be frustrating!

T.

You might try menthol. If your humidifier already has a place, you can add the liquid and it will release it into the air. I also like the waterless humidifier by Vicks. You just plug it in with a medicated pad that you replace each time you use it. That always worked for my little girl. I have also used menthol bubble bath for babies. Johnson & Johnson makes a great one. Good luck. Also, it helps to elevate his head by putting a blanket or pillow under one end of his crib mattress. Good luck!

Hello- I agree with the other Mom's about the Vick's and the steam from the shower. I would also recommend if your child will allow, let him sleep upright in his car seat if he is having trouble. My doc recommended that as well as the humidfier and the saline drops to keep the nasal passages moist and clean. Night time is hard during this season because our heaters turn on more during the night to heat the house. Unfortunately, it also dries the air out alot more too, and we breath that dry air. Also, make sure his is getting plenty of fluids during the day. Hydration is crucial too.

E., have you considered that he might be having a reaction to his milk or formula? Often, people develop phlegm when using dairy products. Just a thought. I pray you get the revelation you need. Brenda

I've used this for my son and works every time!

Take a glass container (I use a glass measuring cup) and fill with water. Place it in the microwave to boil. Then take it out and add a teaspoon of cloves (either whole or powdered). Place the cup in a safe place in the room and let him sleep breathing the aroma of the cloves. Clears my son up every time!

Best wishes and Merry Christmas

C.~
http://www.TotalWellnessInfo.com

Hi E.,
Do you breastfeed? When my kids were congested, I always put a few drops of my own breast milk in their noses. Breast milk is the best for anything. Tis is nothing I invented. I'm original from Europe, and my doctors told me this. It really helped. I also had the mattress elevated a bit higher for the head so the baby can breathe easier. The humidifier is a very good thing. Keep that. Good luck with your baby. :)

I have 2 suggestions, one- Vick's makes a vapor plug in, more safe for infants since you don't want to put vapor rub on. I find my little guy sleeps better in the beginning of winter -he's now 2. Another suggestion, is if you notice he sleeps better in a swing during the day or his car seat maybe try at night as well. My premie daughter did this for the first 7 months of her life-now 3 to help with colic.
Right now my niece also 7 weeks, sounds congested her Dr. stated nothing was wrong, at least your not alone.

Hey E.! I feel for you! I had the same problem with my son for a long time. He was born is September last year and I think that this time of year is just hard on newborns. It was so bad he could hardly breast feed! Unfortunately, I don't have any great advice. I always tried to keep the fans off, which doesn't really apply in the winter. And I did the bulb syringe with saline drops (I hated this so much), which you are doing. Eventually, we found out he has bad food allergies and he was probably stuffed up from that. I'm not saying that's what going on with your son, I'm just letting you know. I think the best thing you could do is just prop him up at night with blankets so he's not lying flat. Even just let him sleep in his car seat. Keep running the humidifier and hopefully things will get better. My son just eventually got over it. Good luck!

A.

This is what I have heard from other Mom's. I have not tried and do not know if your son is too young for this, so I would run it by your Dr. first...

Here you go:

Use Vicks Vapor Rub on your child's feet to stop night time coughing


I received an email recently about how doctor's found great results in reducing a child's night time cough by rubbing Vicks Vapor Rub on their feet, then putting the kid's socks on, and letting them go to bed. Now this email stated that not only were they getting good results, but the Vicks technique was working 100% of the time. hmmmmmm, Time to test

I have a young child and now that we are entering the cold season I figured I would have the opportunity to test this method out. A week went by and low and behold he obtained a small cold with a slight cough. Well, the doctors were right. One night I woke hearing my child coughing steadily in his sleep. Remembering the email that I received a week earlier, I decided to give the Vicks a shot. I went into his room and started applying the Vicks. Now, my child is a very sound sleeper and will sleep through anything, so me applying the Vicks to his feet did not even begin to stir him from his deep slumber. I tell you this because the results were amazing. After I applied the vicks, but before the socks were even on, I noticed that his coughing subsided and his breathing was deeper. I wanted to think that this was due to the fact that I had woken him up and he was simply not coughing 'at that moment'. That wasn't the case. He had literally stopped coughing all together.

I went to bed that night and was questioned by my child during breakfast on how the socks arrived on his feet in the middle of the night... he didn't even know.

The skeptic that I am, I was amazed, however still thought that it was just luck. Needless to say a couple nights later my child was coughing again after a long Halloween night. Immediately I went for the Vicks Vapor Rub. Again, the coughing stopped upon application. I can't believe how well this works, but I wanted to share it with other parents out there knowing that a good night's sleep is like gold!

My kids have had similar problems and we've been able to solve them usually with saline drops and as someone already mentioned - a booger sucker. I just wanted to mention that the booger sucker has to be a snub-nosed bulb (not the pointy bulb they give you at the hospital). There are very few stores that carry a snub-nosed bulb but I usually have luck at Walgreen's.

For my son, saline drops before bed have really helped. You can also impact the humidity in the room by putting a large bowl of water near the bed at night.