Your baby cannot sleep at night for a long time, is naughty, snores. This indicates that the child has a blocked nose, the mucus accumulated there prevents him from breathing freely. The newborn is not yet able to blow his nose independently, and therefore the mother needs to periodically clean the baby’s nose with the help of special tools. The article will discuss how to clean the nose of a newborn correctly so as not to harm the mucosa and effectively clean the airways.
Causes of nasal congestion in infants
- Underdeveloped organs of the nasopharynx. Frequent nasal congestion in newborns is a common occurrence, since they have not yet fully formed the airways. In the first days of life, a lot of mucus accumulates in the nose of the crumbs. Often sneezing, the baby releases its nasal passages from the accumulated fluid. An inexperienced mother will decide that the child has a runny nose and will begin to treat him by digging in nasal drops. Before doing this, you need to consult a pediatrician, but is it necessary to do this? A small amount of mucus in the nose is normal for newborns, and over time this problem will disappear. Also, the nasal mucosa can swell due to frequent spitting up after feeding. Serious cause for concern may be snot (muconasal secretion) of infectious origin.
- Dry air. The cause of dryness of the nasal mucosa and its congestion may be too dry air in the room where the baby is. Therefore, the air in the bedroom, especially in winter, must be periodically moistened with an air humidifier, and the room itself should be ventilated daily (for 15-30 minutes).
- Infections In winter, not only babies, but also adults are often susceptible to colds, flu. Signs of a cold in an infant:
- Labored breathing.
- Night snoring.
- Heat.
- Dry or wet cough.
- Redness of the throat mucosa.
- Allergy. In the off-season, allergic children can begin hay fever, the so-called allergic rhinitis on pollen.
- Anomalies in the development of the structure of the nasopharynx and respiratory tract. Pathologies of the development of respiratory organs can be detected only when the surgeon examines the child.
- Foreign body. Ingestion of a foreign body in the baby’s nose is life-threatening. Any small detail: a button, a feather, a piece of food, once in the nasal passage, can advance further and cause respiratory arrest.
Causes of crusting in the nose
If the child does not have a stuffy nose, then you should examine the sinuses for the presence of crusts in them. Crusts or “boogers” are formed from dried snot, villi and dust. Overdried warm air compresses the mucus, and it sticks to the walls of the nostrils in the form of crusts. Frequent drying up in the nose is a sign of a lack of moisture in the child's body. Especially often, artificers suffer from this. What to do in this case, how to clean the nose of a newborn from "boogers"?
Pre crusts need to be softened. For this, such tools are suitable:
- a solution of salt and warm water (1 tsp. salt per 1 liter of water);
- sodium chloride solution (saline);
- nasal drops based on sea water for infants (Aquamaris, Aqualor, Salin, Humer, Morenazole).
One or two drops in each nostril of any of the solutions will be enough to soften the dry crust.
Important! Some mothers use breast milk to flush their nostrils. In no case can this be done, since dried milk is an excellent medium for the growth of bacteria.
After softening the mucus, you can proceed to the cleaning procedure. Many mothers often turn to the children's doctor with the question: how to properly clean the nose of a newborn if he constantly turns his head and behaves uneasily?
First of all, the child's head should be fixed. It is good if there is an assistant who can hold the child’s head. If the mother is alone, then with one hand she presses the baby to herself, fixing it at the chest, and drops dripping with the other hand. As for the frequency, then you need to clean the sinuses every day during normal hygiene procedures, such as while swimming.
Sinus cleansers
Every mother should know how to clean the nose of a newborn on her own. The nasal sinuses of the baby are tiny, and therefore all actions must be done very carefully. You can clean them with a cotton flagellum, cotton swab, rubber douche and a special nasal aspirator. Let's consider each method in more detail.
Cotton Flagella
How to clean the nose of a newborn with a flagellum? A short rope rolls from a piece of cotton. A cotton strip is alternately inserted 2 cm into each nostril of the baby and scrolls. In this case, the child's head should be raised and fixed. Actions are repeated until the sinuses are completely cleaned. You can make tampons (turundochki) from cotton pads. In this case, each half of the cotton pad is divided into two parts. Each part is rolled into a turunda (tampon). The resulting swab is carefully inserted into each nostril and cranked there. The disadvantage of this method is that with a cotton cone it is bad to pull out “boogers”, but nasal mucus can be cleaned without problems.
Cotton bud
How to clean the nose of a newborn with a cotton swab? You can clean your baby’s nose with a cotton swab. For such procedures, it is better to choose sticks with plastic, rather than with wooden rods. The plastic rod is more flexible. You should also pay attention to the well-attached cotton tip so that the cotton wool does not remain in the nostril when cleaning. How to moisten cotton wool to clean the nose of a newborn for disinfection? Cotton wool can be moistened in warm salted water, in oil, saline, liquid paraffin.
Rubber syringe
Before use, the syringe must be washed in warm water with soap or sterilized by boiling in water for 30 minutes. How to clean the nose of a newborn with a rubber bulb? Before use, release all air from it by holding the ball. Then insert the tip into the baby’s nostril and open the ball, so that all the mucus and “goats” will be inside the syringe. Before each use, the rubber bulb must be boiled and washed thoroughly with soap. The tip can be treated with weak hydrogen peroxide, then rinsed.
Nasal aspirator
A nasal aspirator, or, in everyday life, a "nozzle suction pump", is a device with which you can efficiently and painlessly clean the nasal passage. The only drawback: high price.
There are 3 types of nasal children's aspirators:
- mechanical;
- electronic;
- vacuum ones.
Modern devices consist of a tube and a container for collecting mucus. The simplest aspirator is like a silicone-tip syringe. Mechanical units include aspirators with a “mouthpiece”. A mouthpiece or a long plastic tube with a cone-shaped end is inserted into the baby's nasal passage, the mother inserts the other end of the tube into her mouth and sucks out the mucus that enters a special reservoir.
Electronic aspirators are battery powered. They not only clean the nasal cavity, but also moisturize it.
The vacuum device joins the vacuum cleaner. The hollow elastic tube of the aspirator is mounted on the tube of the vacuum cleaner, and the device is connected to the network. In this case, you need to adjust the suction force, otherwise you can damage the auditory tube. Pressure should not be very strong - it is very important!
Each device has a detailed instruction for use, which indicates how to clean the nose of a newborn from snot. After each use, the aspirator tip must be thoroughly disinfected by rinsing in boiled water or by treatment with hydrogen peroxide.
Conclusion
A runny nose in a young child is an extremely unpleasant disease, because the usual methods of treatment effective for adults are not applicable in this case. It is not always possible to show the baby to the doctor. In any case, every mother should know how to clean the nose of a newborn baby so that this procedure does not cause him much discomfort.