Constantly Congested

[Anonymous]

Hi

I know newborns can be congested, but Ava is always snorty and stuffy. I use saline and the suction, I even tried the humidifier. It is worse of course when she cries. Any other ideas, could it be that bad from her reflux or MSPI.

Thanks

Karen

[Anonymous]

Yes it is possible, mostly I would say from reflux. My son always sounded like he had a cold and my mom would say “oh you have such a rattle in your chest” when she held him. I used a humidifier a lot during the first year and saline, but I didn’t suction after, just let it run back. He has mostly outgrown it, but anytime he gets a cold, it is much worse than my older son with congestion. He also had tubes and adenoids removed in Feb and that has really seemed to help. He had chronic ear infections. There’s not much more you can really do until the reflux moves on.

[Anonymous]

Many reflux babies have problems with congestion b/c of the reflux like Erica said. We do the humidifier, saline and I would suction but only until he was like 4 months old b/c he fought me so much. So now we saline and then he just either blows his nose to get it out or it runs it. It also helps with ear infections b/c the bacteria don’t like to live in “salty” environments. Keeping her elevated as much as possible may help some. Cooper still has a wedge (not more than 10-15 degrees) in his crib b/c he sleeps better that way. HTH.

[Anonymous]

Agree with what the pp said. When I took my son to the ENT (ear, nose and throat) doc, he said the mucous is the body’s reaction to the reflux. The mucous acts as a protective barrier. It keeps the airways from getting too damaged from the acid.

Agree with not suctioning too much. These lovely ladies gave me that tip. I suction my son only at night, just so he sleeps better. The rest of the time, I spray saline in his nose and let gravity do it’s thing. Agree that the wedge helps. I got mine from amazon.com, but you can find the same one’s at Babies R Us.

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