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Babies and very young children can often suffer
from nasal congestion; this is usually brought about by having a cold.
This can cause a problem because babies and very young children are know
as "obligate nose breathers" which means that they don't really know how
to use the mouth to breathe when they are having problems with nasal congestion.
This isn't usually a problem in older children as older children learn
to breathe through their mouth and therefore get less stressed. Another
problem and factor in young children and babies is that they don't know
how to blow their nose properly to clear nasal congestion.
What can be done to help the younger child with nasal congestion?
Care should be taken when thinking of giving your baby or young child
any medication for congestion, generally cough syrups or decongestants
shouldn't be given to any child under the age of 2 years old. However,
there are a couple of techniques which the parent can use to help their
child without the need to give them medication.
* You should always make sure that the humidity in your child's room is
adequate, a good humidity when your child has a cold is around 45%
* To try and help to clear the secretions in the nose you can safely use
salt water drops, salt-water drops should be carefully put into the nose
then a minute or two later a small nasal pump can be used to suck out
and clear the secretions causing congestion. If you are unsure about the
correct procedure for doing this then ask your health care provider or
Doctor.
Congestion will become less of a problem as the child gets older; this
is due to the nasal passages getting bigger as the child grows and the
child learning the correct technique of blowing their nose.
Many parents don't think about the importance of teaching their child
to do this properly but as children learn from watching parents, most
will learn the technique quickly and easily. A good technique to apply
to nose blowing in an older child is likening it to blowing up a balloon
through the mouth, but instead blowing the air through their nose.
It is important to note that nasal congestion could be a sign or symptom
of another problem, enlarged adenoids. If the congestion is causing your
baby extreme distress and it doesn't seem to be clearing on its own or
with your help then you should seek the advice of your Doctor or health
care provider, who will be able to rule out any other condition and give
you advice on how best to deal with the congestion.
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