Congested and Snoring at almost 1 month old?

Both of my girls have been kinda stuffy from day one, but things seem to be getting worse. Suctioning the nose is non-productive, because the problem is "higher up". We've tried the "Little Noses" saline drops, and that only helps for a few minutes. We can't find the "Little Noses" decongestant drops locally and I don't want to over-suction to the point of tiny little bloody noses. We did buy a humidifier for our/their room earlier this week. But no change so far with that.

I don't want to freak out because its ALWAYS really dry here in the winter, so everyone in the house is pretty congested. However, its starting to effect their feeding and now their sleeping too. Genevieve won't take a full feed now. Many times, she's even sucked on the bottle for 20+ minutes and got nothing out of it. McKenna is now snoring and waking herself up constantly!

What else can I do to try to clear them up? When should I start to worry about pneumonia?

Thanks in advance for any advice,
Laura

 

I don't have a lot of suggestions, but I would definitely contact their pediatrician at this point since it's affecting their eating and sleeping. At this point in their lives, those are the most important things they do!

I also wanted to comment that my girls are just 1 day older than yours! They were IUGR babies, so are still quite small (under 5 pounds). Good job on growing yours so big!

Suzanne

 

Have you considered a dairy intolerance? I cut dairy out of my diet around 3 months (I breastfeed) and my DD's stuffy nose cleared and she quit spitting up as much. It took a few weeks for the dairy to work out of our systems, but it worked...FWIW

eta: My older sister has a little girl a week younger than our twins. One day, early on, she was dangerously congested--couldn't breath well (scary for my sister ). My sister had given her formula that day, normally she BFs. She talked to the doc and a formula switch was recommended. So my sister switched her to a non dairy formula and it seemed to work. Again...FWIW

I'd contact your doc!

 

Till you talk to the pedi you might prop them up while they sleep(in a swing or boppy). It will help them breathe better.

 

A few things:

Jake and Becca are just getting over their first cold. Jake was very congested and we went to the DR and she was more aggressive with the bulb syringe then we have been. After she did it, Jake was a new baby.
So consider being a bit more aggressive - it may irritate their nose, but you can get the "snot" out.

Creating a "steam room" can help - running the shower real hot and sitting there with the babies.

I agree with what pp said about propping the babies. We have been working on transitioning to the crib - but this cold has derailed us. The kids love to sleep in their carsets or swing.

 

My twins had this "congestion" early on as well. I thought they were snotty, but it was Reflux. Silent reflux only comes up to their throats and noses, rather than making them spit up. You can't get it out with suckers or saline and it's usually worse at night. It's thick milky-mucus and it will definately affect how they eat. Babies will refuse to eat if they can't breathe. It hurts, too. Talk to your ped about reflux medication. (Zantac, Prilosec, Reglan) They have worked wonders for my babies.
Hope this helps. Always keep a bulb syringe nearby, they are life-savers.
Misty

 

If it were me, I would take the babies to the doc. My doctor told me that snoring at the age of your babies is a problem and should be checked out. Hope they feel better soon! It is awful having sick babies!

 

my vote would be possibly dairy intolerance or reflux since it's getting worse.

Teri D

 

My son had larynxgomalaysia. It is simply a condition where his larynx is soft/immature. They grow out of it by a year. By son grew out of it by 5 months. He breathed and 'snored' so loud that people commented whenever we were out. It was constant.

It is such a big scientific word that seems scary but there is really no threat at all. There is nothing you can do but wait it out but it is nice to have an answer as to the very loud and constant breathing.

My son has reflux too so we were first told it was connected but after it continued I was still concerned and brought it up to the ped. again. An ENT confirmed it.

Just wanted to share so you could mention this term to your Dr.

 

my twins are both still like that. We have started using Johnson's vapor bath at night. I put it in the water and I even sometimes if its really dry in here I will boil a huge pot of water and put some of the vapor bath in it to boil. it has helped us so far.

Good Luck !

Keri