5 Weeks Old with Congestion

My daughter (now 4) was diagnosed with allergies at 2 1/2 months old. It's difficult when they're little and can not blow there own nose. It helps to put vick's vaporub on her feet and put socks on her. The vick's will absorb through the feet and help with the congestion.

Take him to another doctor or a childrens hospital; allergies or not, this shouldn't be going on this long & this doctor didn't address it. One thing you can do is prop books under one side of his mattress so that while he sleeping he might breath better. Hope you get the situation resolved.

When they are congested and the (snot ) goes into their stomach, it could make them spit up. I would think that wouldbe the problem of him spitting up, not a regualar stomach one, and their appititate isn't as good when sick either. Wish I had some good advice to clear up his congestion.

I nursed two babies within the last 2 years and have pretty bad allergies. You're in my area, so I can say the following!

My pedi told me that babies in this area CAN and DO have allergies. It is up north that young babies don't get allergies until older. He also said the fairer you are, the more likely you are to have allergies in the south as fair-skined people are genetically made up to live in northern climates-never heard that before but it makes sense to me!

That said, you CAN take Zyrtec (now over the counter) withOUT the decongestant (as this is bad for the baby and will dry your milk up) and it will be safe for the baby. It was approved by both my OB and my pedi while I was preg. and breastfeeding! There is even a generic for that now also!

Also, try baby vicks for your baby (the baby type is safer on sensitive skin-it says to wait until they are a bit older than your son to use, but it won't harm him my pedi said unless he shows a skin allergy to it and that can happen to anyone, baby or not, at any age! It is kind of tricky to find, so you may have to ask, but it is carried by Wal-Mart and I think CVS.

And there are the vicks and other brands of water-less vaporizers. And also, use the medicine trey on your vaporizer to put those methol vapors in the air to aid in his breahting.

If you can, put him in a bouncy in the bathroom with you, your family members or your hubby while you shower, or just simply run the shower on hot with the door closed and creat a type of steam room. Even if you or the others don't take hot showers, the moist air will/steam will help de-clog his sinuses.

And keep up on the saline spray!

If it gets really bad, ask your dr. They do have things they can give, but they just don't like to when they are this young. I think we got my son a perscription or were told to give him a certain amt of mucinex for decongestion at around the 8-12 week mark, so there is something they can do-they just like to exhaust all other natural methods before turning to meds at that age!

Best of luck!
T.

As a pedi nurse, I want to start out with resounding agreement to all the advice Tanya F gives. A word of caution...dr's here lately are WAY overdiagnosing reflux. So just use caution when you treat it with chemicals that change the way his little tummy pumps acid. Lots of babies just spit up extra sometimes (especially in conjunction with drainage). Ask him what besides the spitting up makes him think the baby has reflux. And remember...you are the mom and the dr is just a person. If you get an answer you are unhappy with, don't accept it. You are ultimately the one in charge of your child's medical care.

Hello N.,

yes, it's a load of BS. would you like to try and drink anise seed tea (sprouts bulk spice section). it will help you w/ congestion and settles the stomach too. the other anise "star anise" you can make that tea too and it will help increase your milk supply.

make sure they use LATEX FREE gloves whenever you go to the doctor. that's how my daughter was when she was born. kept getting little colds... a day or two after going to the doctor. now it's full blown asthma when she comes in contact w/ it. make sure the bottles/pacifiers are latex free too and anything else that comes in contact with him too.
Good luck and keep looking until you get the right answer. ~C.~

mt grandson is a preemie ,,,3 months old now ..had the same thing ...a week ago the dr put him on benidril.no problems now...ts

Reflux at that age is most likely a milk allergy.I totally agree with the BS from your doctor too!!!! Any age can be affected by allergies particularly food allergies though.Which at his age would be a cows milk allergy.My two kids are both lactose intolerant and have been since birth!
I would never give a baby prevacid but that is just me of course you do what you feel is right for your child.But you may want to research milk allergies!!

Good luck to you!!!!

--M.

N., I'm a 54 year old grandmother who's 3 1/2 yr. old grandson went thru something that sounds just like this. It started at just a few months but we couldn't get anything to work. The removed his adnoids but that didn't help much. Finally they sent us to a Gastonologist ( I think that's how it's spelled ) anyway, they did several test and found that the opening in the bottom of his little tummy going in to the intestants was the size of a pencil rather that the size of a nickel as it should be so his food was not digesting. They dialated that opening at 19 months. He weighed 17 pounds & was very small for his age. The vomiting & reflux stopped as well as the breathing problems cause from the reflux. His teeth are in bad shape from the vomiting and his iron became dangerously low. He still snores like a little freight train but so does his Dad. So we will get to that later. He is now very healthy & we wish we had found this sooner You might try a tummy Doctor, it was a simple procedure. I pray that your little one's problem will be taken care of soon. Bless you & your family.

there is a naturopath in abilene. her office in in the health house. consider it as an alternative. i have 2 daughters 5 and 9 and neither one has ever been to a mainstream doctor. you don't have to do what she recomends but why not try as an alternative. it works! i am a busy divorced mom with a dead-beat ex who is the father of the kids and i do all on my own..the only way i am able to deal is to keep us all healthy..what have you got to loose?
sorry for you and baby..good luck!

My son is 15 months old, and it seems like since he was born, he's had all kinds of boogers in his nose. At about 2 months he started sounding stuffy, like he was sucking back snot, especially when he was feeding, but when I used the sucker, I rarely got anything out. One day his breathing just got progressively worse throughout the day to the point I was scared for his life. He ended up having the croup for which he had to take breathing treatments and a bacterial infection in his nose for which he took antibiotics. I don't know about acid reflux, so I really can't give you any advice there, and the other advice I've read seems pretty good, but if he starts sounding like he's whistling or wheezing when he's breathing and/or develops a barky (like a seal) cough, he might have the croup. They can give him a shot of dexi-something-or-other and/or breathing treatments for it. And like someone earlier said, if his boogers are anything but white or clear, there's probably some sort of infection. I hope he gets better soon. I know how worrisome it can be when your little one isn't breathing well.

I'm no expert, but...first of all I would take him to a different doctor if he isn't getting relief for the stuffiness. You are right...it is bs that he is too young for allergies. No one doctor knows everything. Get a second opinion. He is probably nursing less because he can't nurse well with his stuffy nose (this happened to my daughter). I would try to do the saline/snot sucker right before you nurse and see if that helps. You are probably getting less when you pump because your body adjusts to how much milk he is taking which has obviously been less. Your body will produce more when his stuffiness goes away and he starts back to eating more. This is totally normal. I would be really careful about what you take for your allergies since you are nursing. Be sure and ask your doctor first. Don't know how you feel about "natural" remedies, but have you tried lavender oil?? Put the baby tub inside the big tub (with water in the baby tub like you are giving him a bath). Run hot water in the big tub so it gets steamy in the bathroom and add a few drops of the lavender oil to the big tub (NOT in the baby's water!). It has the same kind of effect as vicks or something like that but he is too little for those things. It really helps with the stuffiness (great for adults too in the shower). Good luck! Keep at those dr's until you get some help!! :)
PS Try not to use that snot sucker more that 2 or 3 times a day. That will inflame his nasal passages and make things worse

Hi N....

Both my sons were born with allergies and because my husband and I were allergy sufferers most of our lives our children had been born with eczema, not to mention other issues due to allergies. I also suffered with acid reflux too. For my son we tried everything people suggested for his allergies and the only thing that worked for us, allergies, acid reflux, headaches, the list goes on, was this stuff (thank God)...I've included the weblink, check it out for yourself. It's safe for your infant and there is alot of science behind it done worldwide. May God bless you.

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If it is reflux, congestion does flare up due to the acid/food coming back up. My son battled with this his 1st year of life. Besides taking his Prevacid daily, we raised the head of his mattress and he slept on an inclined wedge (sold at Babies R Us). This seemed to help both the reflux and congestion.

Sounds crazy, but if you put a little bit of breastmilk in his nose this should help him breath too. Try doing it before you feed and maybe he'll nurse longer. As far as your question about him not wanting to nurse longer...if his weight is fine there probably isn't much to worry about. My son had trouble gaining weight the 1st several months, which made nursing very stressful!!! His pedi had me pumping a min. or so before nursing him to get the milk flowing, then nurse my son, then pump afterwards and feed him some of that (to be sure he was actually drinking enough). His reflux bothered him so bad that he wasn't an efficient eater. I'd be nursing him more often than usual b/c he'd spit up so much and/or wouldn't eat enough at each meal he just stay hungry! I don't blame the poor babies...it's like having acid creep back up into your throat while laying down....it burns and they start associating it with eating....therefore, they eat less.

Also forgot to say---I tried eliminating milk/dairy from my diet to see if this helped his spitting up. And it did.

Having a reflux/congested baby isn't fun, but know that it does get better with age. Don't hesitate to email me with further questions. My 1st dealt with reflux and now my 9 month old is battling it as well.

My daughter caught a bad cold around the same age and her pedi prescribed CP-DEC DM for her. It is a cold medicine, and it really helped with the symptoms. I felt safe using it because I trust her pediatrician. We also really like the Vicks Baby Rub - it is vicks vapor rub without the menthol and it has worked great. Some nights she would wake up coughing, and I would rub a little on her chest, and she would be able to go back to sleep easily.

My daughter (9 mos) has had a lot of sinus congestion lately, and the doctor had me use a "Hypertonic Saline" solution that I made at home (2 qts warm water, 2 heaping tsp. of sea salt/kosher salt and 1 tsp. baking soda) and use it to irrigate her sinuses to clear it all out. I have a friend who used it on one of her kids to get a bad infection out. For me, the doctor had me lay her on her side over the sink and use a nasal aspirator to push about 1 oz of the solution through her top nostril and through her sinuses 2-3 times a day. It comes out the bottom nostril and mouth. OF course, my daughter SCREAMED, but it helped clear her up. The friend's doctor had her lay her daughter on her back and put it in her sinuses then suck out the mucus with the aspirator. My friend told me it sounds like their going to drown or something, but they are fine. It might be something to consider to help loosen the congestion and get it out. It's not fun, but it works, and when I did it, it pushed a bunch of mucus out her nose with the saline. The nice thing is that since it's saline, it's not going to be an unnecessary drug being put into their system, and if it doesn't work, you can always try something else.
Good luck

When my kids were really stuffy, my Dr said to give them Little noses decongestant drops, after I did the saline drops and sucker thing. It seemed to help.

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J.

The same thing happened when my little girl was around the same age. Both she and her older brother were stuffy so I took them to a new doctor since I had just moved to a small town. He just said to suction her nose and that she was too young for any type of medicine. But she was still stuffy a few days later and with her being so young I was worried. So I drove an hour and half back to my original doctor in the town we had moved from and had him just check her out as well. He actually checked her mucous for RSV, and sure enough she had it! I was SO PISSED the first doctor didn't even bother to check her. I NEVER went back to him. She wasn't bad enough to be admitted in the hospital, but it made me watch her extra careful, and the doctor would call to check on her. I basically did the same thing you are doing. She slept in her car seat as to be propped up and I had no sleep since I was literally sticking her in the bathroom with hot shower for steam every 2-3 hours.

I guess I am saying this not to scare you, but to tell you if your instinct is telling you there is more going on, then see if you can see another doctor.

Hi there. When my second child was born she was doing great until about three weeks of age. I thought she had come down with a cold noting that she was born in mid-January. But the cold lingered and she also temporarily lost her voice, meaning I could not hear her cry unless she was very nearby.
I was formula feeding and per her doctors advice I switched her to soy formula and she cleared right up. She was allergic to the milk based formula and it caused an over-production of mucus.
When my third was born and we were still in the hospital I noticed and the dr. also suggested I put my son on soy due to the excessive spit up.

try a chiropractor that believes in Wellness Care.
Clearview in Acton is great - don't know what area you are in.
It is amazing.
S.

N.,

My first question would be what color is the snot... believe me I've seen many a snot noses. If it is yellowish or light green or darker green it is a sinus infection... whether or not he is running any fevers. Trust me on this one. My youngest son started with a stuffy nose (probably allergies because we all have them) at about 2 months, it only got worse, nothing helped even prescription meds to clear it up. It was green but because he was not running any fevers then "it can't be an infection". Oh yes it can.

It actually turned out my son was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis (not to scare you- but if it doesn't get better or reoccurs -you may want to check this out with the doctor as it can begin with stuffiness and also lack of weight gain)... he had a bad sinus infection that was untreated for a couple of months. Ended up on antibiotics for over a month to clear it up.

Hope it turns out to be nothing but as parents we need to stay on top of things like this. another thing you might try and it would depend on how open minded you are... is the chiropractor. It can be that something is out of whack just slightly and not allowing sinuses to drain. My nephew was colicky and would hardly eat well and didn't sleep very good. Finally talked my sister into taking him to a chiropractor and within 3 treatments he was eating a full feeding and sleeping 5-8 hours at night.

D.

You have probably got some good advice on what to do. But, Hear is what my doctor told me to do with my sone at/around that time. They are to young for any meds right now so just use a bilb to suck any mucus/snot out of his nose and use saline mist spray in each nostril this will keep his inside of the nose moist and flushed out, when it gets dry up in there it allows things to grow, and a cool mist humidafier will help as well.

Hope this helps.

T.

my son was like that for 6 weeks. turned out he had the flu.
it took three visits to the doc, but we got a diagnosis, great right. wrong. hes to little to tkae anything.
so we did get this cough medicine though. it helped with congestion. everytime he got sick he was alot of drainage.
if you are still haveing this problem, put bricks on the end of his crib where his headis. so it elevates. ( bricks under the feet) and use you humidifier almost constantly. i also used baby vicks. and vapor rub baths.
suction as often as needed i was told. but everyone is different. 3 weeks later he finally cleared up. but he has reflux too. so we sit up for a while after eating. usually helps to be held in an upright.

You will probably think I am nuts but try Vicks Vapor Rub on his feet covered with warm socks. This will help clear up the congestion and doesn't hurt the baby.
For your milk production to increase pump every two hours on whichever side he isn't nursing on at the time for 15 min. Your body will produce supply based on demand.(I have been going through a very similar situation this last week with my allergies and my 3 month olds congestion)

It is BS about him being too young for allergies. I have an 11 month old son who has been on allergy medicine (as needed) since he was 6 weeks old. We had similar problems: he was sneezing all the time, runny nose or congestion, etc. The Pediatrician put him on a prescription medicine called Ceron DM and we have had a lot of luck with it.
Good Luck!

This may sound odd-but are your or your husband of celtic
origin? I ask because I am trying to sound an alarm- there is a possibility that your son is allergic to wheat. If you are ingesting- and you are because unless you buy wheat and gluten free it is impossible NOT to eat these
ingredients- so is your baby. Being Celtic is a very small part of this issue but an indication of where to look. If this is the case change your diet. My grandson had issues,
the medical commuity, good as these folks are, did not recgonize what was happening. It took a dietician and nutrutionist to see this was perhaps the problem. For my grandson this was not good. He was a toddler before we figured out was happening and almost died. Every kind of scary diagnosis was given. His parents changed the food and WOW- we have a very healthy, active little 5 year old. He is just great. I have made it a point to let Mom's know about this issue. It is amazing what organic or home grown and wheat free/ gluten free food can do. This lifestyle has even lessened the colds, etc. all of us used to suffer through.
This may not apply to you.

Both of my children suffered through all of this. My son slept in an infant carrier for months. It was terrible-
he was too large for this and I was worried he would turn over. He slept in my bed sitting up for a very long time so I could hear him if he needed to have his airway cleared. He is now grown, we adjusted. My point here is that while nothing seemed to work but time he did
outgrow the blocked airways. By the way, now at 32 and wheat free he is almost never ill and his allergies are no longer symptomatic.

I am a mother of a six month old little girl. She got sick when she was a between one and two months. I have talked a lot with a midwife that has been a lot of help. She has sent me a lot of different vitamin supplements. One of them is Congaplex it is made by Standard Process. It is REALLY great for snotty noses it dries it up and will help from getting sick. One of the things that I really like about this is that everyone in the family can use it. You just adjust the amount of the capsule that you give them. At the age of six months we use anywhere from half to a whole capsule every three hours. Also, remember that with the saline drops you have to use them ALL day. At first I thought that you could only use it when you change their diapers but when it is bad you have to use them every thirty minutes or so. What that does is break up the snot so you can either suck it out or they can swallow it and pass it out. I hope that this might help. I know some people are worried about giving their kids something that the doctor does not give but I am trying to solve health issues with nutrient rather than prescriptions.

There's a few things you can do. Put a few drops of breastmilk in each of his nostrils (instead of the saline). Also invest in a good sling and carry him around. That way you have your hands free to do your other activities and baby is still getting what he needs!

Also are you getting a lot of gunk out of his nose? If not make sure that you are pointing the sucker right (took me 3 kids to get it down to an exact science...as well as know only the red ones from the hospital work for suctioning!)

hi N.,
i would like to suggest juice plus. you can take these capsules made of purely fruits and veggies and that will be passed on thru your breast milk. my son had allergies and asthma all before the age of one and by the time he was two, my mother informed me of juice plus. he takes the gummies for kids now and has little if any symtoms of allergies and none of asthma. please consider, it is purely natural with just the right amount of the daily servings needed. my mother is a distibutor and if you are interested you can go to her ____@____.com/+cs68273
God bless.

Did you take your son to his pediatrician? I think I would take him to an allergy specialist and/or a naturpathic doctor. I had BAD allergies when I was a baby but back then there were no allergy specialists so our family doctor started eliminating things from my diet and my environment. One of those things was our dog and another was my angora muff. There are many things that can cause allergies, even things in the air, soap and other skin products, laundry detergent and softeners, and mold. Congestion is one way your body tells you there is a foreign invader present. I hope this helps.