We all have a cold. My cold is in the viscous-mucous, relatively asymptomatic endstage, while Sarah is peaking with a sore throat, a hoarse voice and a stuffy head. Molly is just getting warmed up, with a stuffy nose that she doesn't know how to blow. How maladaptive is that, to be born not knowing how to remove bodily fluids from your nose?! Oh man, the sound of it rattling around in her nasal cavity makes me want to scream -- it's so frustrating! I hate having uncontrolled snot in my sinuses; I may just be projecting, but I can't imagine that Molly enjoys it either.
So we tried one of those bulb syringes in an attempt to clear her nose, but we can't seem to get the hang of it. I'm not sure if the nasal contents are not dense enough, or if they are too dry, but nothing is emerging (but it does make her gag a bit). I compress the bulb, seal it to the nostril, slowly release the bulb -- and then what? Isn't this the part when the schmarky emerges and the baby breathes a deep sigh of relief like in an Ultravin commercial? Anyway, if anyone has suggestions for decongesting a snotty baby, please feel free to comment, or email me at wireworm(at)telus(dot)net.
5 comments:
Yikes! Here I come to Tanorthanaka Jr for my weekly dose of cuteness, only to find a sad, tragic tale of a snotty 2 month old. Poor Molly... poor Molly's parents.
I feel your pain! It's a horrible, horrible sound....
Thanks for the good wishes, folks. Extensive napping cuddles with Mom's baby-expert cousin on the weekend cured Molly of all that ails her. She is back in fighting form, and is currently listening to Sarah read Dennis Lee while breastfeeding.
Ah, a nice short cold! The best kind!
Just in case you need advice in the future .. my brother had great success with his own special means of dealing with that lingering snot in the child's nose. What better vaccuum is there than your own mouth?
Yes, that's right.
Yup. Makes me shudder each time I remember him doing it. Oh - there. Another shudder.
Is there some harm here in trying? You be the judge.
Hi Guys,
In Hungary they sell a thing called a baby-vac (I guess, it sounds better in Hungarian). Anyhow it is a little tube-like contraption that you hook up to the vacuum and is sucks the snot out. Folks here swear by it. Never heard of it before I got here, possibly it isn't authorized in Canada, but here the doctors and nurses all recommend it. I just checked to see if I could find any sites about it and I found this one, so you should be able to get it in Canada. It is a pretty nifty contraption.
www.babyvac.ca
Thanks for the suggestions. Yes, Kirk, after marshalling my courage, I attempted a rather weak mouth suck at the suggestion of my father (his mother used to do this, so I decided that I could too). It didn't work due to the snot viscosity, but she appeared to think it was rather odd. I can see it being very simple and doable (though probably not popular).
Thanks for the vacuum suggestion, Big Jen. I'll keep that in mind for the next cold!
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