Five month old baby with stuffy nose

The nasal cavity is the main way for everyone to breathe. Although people can breathe through the mouth, it is easier to breathe through the nose, and people's physiological structure has been determined to breathe through the nose. But now many parents find that their babies are always gasping for air when breathing, and they are also more anxious. This is due to nasal congestion. If a 5-month-old baby has nasal congestion, you need to see if there are these reasons and prepare countermeasures.

1. Cold and stuffy nose

Because the baby's body temperature regulation center is not fully developed, the nasal mucosa is tender and weak, and the respiratory tract defense is poor, it is easy to catch a cold. Subsequently, acute edema of the nasal mucosa occurs, causing nasal congestion.

Symptoms: nasal congestion and runny nose, slightly red sides of the nose, and sometimes accompanied by fever.

Prevention and control measures:

1. About half a month after the baby is born, start to supplement cod liver oil in moderation; start to add complementary foods at 4 months and supplement vitamin A. You can feed some liver puree, carrot puree, and vegetable puree to enhance the defense ability of the respiratory tract.

2. When using air conditioning, the temperature difference between indoor and outdoor should not be too large. The baby's room should be around 28~30 degrees Celsius.

3. Place a warm, wet towel on the baby's nose for hot compress (not too hot), twice a day, each time for about 15 minutes.

2. Acute sinusitis and nasal congestion

Repeated upper respiratory tract infections in babies can affect the sinus mucosa, causing it to become congested and swollen, with increased secretions, which can block the sinus openings and cause acute sinusitis.

Symptoms: In addition to nasal symptoms such as nasal congestion, runny nose, and mouth breathing, more serious symptoms include fever, headache, sore throat, and irritability.

Prevention and control measures:

1. If your baby has a cold, you should actively seek treatment.

2. Once your baby has acute sinusitis, take him to an ENT doctor in time and choose antibiotics reasonably under the doctor's guidance to completely cure the disease and prevent recurrence.

3. If the baby has severe nasal congestion, you can use 0.5% ephedrine furacillin drops cautiously under the guidance of a doctor, one drop in each nostril 10 to 15 minutes before feeding, and it will usually take effect within a few minutes. However, ephedrine has side effects on babies and is not suitable for excessive or long-term use, so as to avoid causing atrophic rhinitis and affecting the olfactory sensitivity of the nose.

4. When your baby has a lot of purulent nasal discharge, you can ask the doctor to do replacement therapy to clear out the purulent secretions in the sinuses.

3. Nasal crust obstruction

The nasal mucosa has a normal amount of secretions every day. Since babies cannot blow their noses, if mothers do not clear the secretions in their babies' nasal cavity in time, the secretions will accumulate in the nasal passages. Over time, the accumulated secretions will dry and harden to form nasal crusts.

Symptoms: Nasal crusts adhere to the outer opening of the nasal cavity or deep inside, blocking the narrow nasal passages.

Prevention and control measures:

1. Clear your baby's nasal secretions in time. If there is a lot, use a nasal aspirator to remove them.

2. When removing nasal crusts, avoid picking the baby's nose with your hands to avoid damaging the delicate nasal mucosa and causing bleeding and infection.

Correct method: If the nasal crust is blocked at the nostril opening, you can use a small sterilized cotton swab to gently roll it off. If the nasal mucus is deeper in the nasal cavity, you can first drop 1 to 2 drops of saline, cold boiled water or breast milk into the nostrils to allow the nasal crust to slowly moisten and soften. Then gently squeeze the nose wings to make the nasal crust gradually loosen, and then use a sterilized cotton swab to roll away the nasal crust.