Snuffly or snotty nose babies

[sbarbalatt]

Most babies will develop a snuffly nose or a snotty nose at some stage. This is quite normal. However, babies are what we call "obligate nose breathers" -which means that they will insist on breathing through the nose -even though it is blocked. What this means is that babies can quickly become unsettled and this may well interfere with normal breast or bottle feeding and most certainly with sleep.
Snuffly babies cannot feed easily and usally tire quickly when they are feeding. This means that they will need to feed more often. Mum will therefore also tire and will probably get a bit cranky. The problems don't stop there though. As Mum begins to tire so her breast milk "let-down" may be adversely affected. So we now have a hungry baby that is not able to get as much milk as he/she needs - and so becomes even more unsettled. So the cycle continues.
Treatment: - This is usually very simple - just clear the baby's nose of excess mucus. This procedure can be easily accomplished by using a sterile, preservative free saline spray solution(FLO Baby Saline+). One or two quick squirts into baby's nostrils should help to thin the mucus and help the nose clear it away naturally. Alternatively the spray may well make baby sneeze - in which case the mucus will come flying out anyway.(Objective achieved!) This treatment may be used as often as required to clear baby's snuffly nose -either before a sleep or before a feed.