For the longest time, I’ve believed that I have had the worst sleeper of a baby – literally because we didn’t feel like we enjoy long nap times or undeterred hours of sleep. (Little did we know that this was status quo in parenthood).That was until Z had his first bout of cold and nasal congestion, at somewhere around a year, just before his flu shot was due. Babies are obligatory nose breathers, which means that a blocked nose causes them a lot of discomfort. All conceptions of poor sleeper fell through once this condition added to our sleep time woes. We hadn’t counted our blessings thus far is what I would say. Because a blocked nose and a baby’s sleep are the worst enemies for new parents, who are imagining the worst that their baby might be going through:

”Perhaps he can die of suffocation because of the inability to breathe” was on top of my negative thoughts. Sheesh! The things sleeplessness can make you think!

But baby Z made sure that we don’t nod off to sleep laying down on our beds and had us hold him upright because that was literally the only position he could sleep in. Not one night, not two, but for many nights straight.

I’m the type of over-worried parent who consults the pediatrician an hour after it is established that there’s an impending cough/cold at the corner. The main reason I contact them is to reassure myself (obviously) that it’s nothing majorly worrisome and secondly in hopes that the doc would prescribe meds to help the baby and give him relief. To my surprise, the pediatrician prescribed nothing – no cough medicine or such to help him – nothing but one nasal drop! I did a fair bit of googling like I always do, and I had to agree that the doctor’s approach was right – There is usually no need to frantically chug medicine down the babies throat. A cold (or even cough or fever for that matter) is a sign of infection and the baby’s body is at a stage where they are building immunity to fight against the disease.

“A cold is self-limited, and patients will get better on their own in a week or two without any need for medications. For older children, some OTC medicines can help relieve the symptoms—but won’t change the natural course of the cold or make it go away faster,”

– FDA

Armed with the Nasivision nasal drops and a snot sucker tool, we tried our best to alleviate our little baby’s suffering by religiously using this and were overjoyed when this really helped him sleep.

Disclaimer: I’m no doctor even though I claim to have the vast knowledge (conferred upon me by my knowledge assistant Google), so please consult your doctor before you follow my recommendation.

Here’s what helped us whenever our kid had a cold/ cough:

• Saline nasal drops like Nasivision and a snot sucker. Remember to always keep the baby upright when administering the nasal drops.
• Keep the baby hydrated – Lots of age-appropriate fluids. Give more drinks than usual. Extra fluids can thin out her mucus so their nose won’t be as stuffy and they’ll cough up all that gunk more easily. Most drinks, like water, juice, and milk, are fine. Warm liquids like chicken soup can soothe a sore throat.
• Easy to digest food
• Sleep on an incline.
• Keep bedding clean.
• No eucalyptus, eucalyptus oils or vicks or such for babies below 2.

Directions to use Nasivion

• for 0-1 years: Nasivion® Mini 0.01% Nose Drops – Up to the age of 4 weeks, instill 1 drop of the solution into each nostril 2-3 times per day. From the 5th week of life until the age of 1 year, instill 1-2 drops into each nostril 2-3 times per day or as directed by the physician.
• for 1-6 years: Nasivion® Child 0.025% Nose Drops – 1-2 drops into each nostril 2-3 times per day or as directed by the physician.

For more happy nose stories, check out http://happynosehappymom.com/ 🙂