3 month old congested - posted here to get more responses

flirtycuddle wrote: My son is 3 months old and congested as all heck. He has been since he was born and every time I take him in the doc says its just him clearing out all the stuff from his birth. It's been 3 months so I really doubt that. Right now I am in the middle of switching over insurance so I can't just take him for something liek this. He doesn't sleep well even in his car seat sitting up right and eating is a pain in the butt for him and he only eats like 2 oz every now and then for maybe a total of 20oz a day. What can I give him?? besides the nasal aspirater and saline drops?

MyBrownEyedBoy replied: For a three month old, you can't really give medicines without a doctor giving you guidelines as to dose. I wouldn't suggest giving decongestants to an infant anyway. As to the congestion, is your son breast fed or formula fed. I ask because if he's FF he may have an allergy.

MyBlueEyedBabies replied: you can put a cool mist humidafier in his room. That with the salinea nd nose sucker is it. the cold stuff doesn't work on littel guys so
Johnny has his second cold at 7 weeks so though it hasn't been the whole time he has been congested most of it.

flirtycuddle replied: He is formula fed and we have him on Nutramigen since 3 weeks due to allergies to milk and a bad reaction to soy formula. I have been doing the nose thing since he was born and I never seem to get much if anything out but then am hour later he is screaming cuz hes having a hard time breathing. His old doctor put him on antibiotcs at 2 weeks old cuz he thought it might be a sinus infection but the meds made him more congested. It started to clear up to where he was able to sleep all night but now since we moved to a new state it has gottenworse again.

paradisemommy replied: well this surely isn't a cure all but when my babies were congested, what helped was sitting in a bathroom with the door closed and running the hot water - so it's all steamy..

humidifier works wonders for us but otherwise...big hugs..hopefully a new doctor can help you out cause i don't think there is anything more frustrating than a congested baby..my daughter was sick a few months back and was totally congested - for a good week straight at least she couldn't sleep cause as soon as she'd fall asleep she'd wake up gasping and as she was eating (she's breastfed) she would have to pop off cause she couldn't breathe..i made an appt. with the dr. and he wouldn't give her anything and basically told me we had to wait it out.. not a fun week...

is there a reason why your wife didn't breastfeed, if you don't mind me asking?? because it sounds like with all his allergies that bf would be the best for him...

flirtycuddle replied: Umm this is his mom lol not his dad. I tried bf while in the hossy but even with the lactation consultant and nurses to help he never latched on right and would just cry every time I tried. If I did get him to latch on he would stay for a min or 2 then pop off and not go back on. The lactation consultant even issued me a hospital pump to use and when I pumped at 3 days pp I didnt even get a drip out. When he did latch on right after he'd spit up any ways so the doctor on call got worried about him dropping a pound in less then a day and told em I had to formula feed or he'd be admitted for losing to much weight. I started ff and he seemed happier and better but then he started spitting up again. I was released from the hossy and took him to the pedi I wanted him to see and he told to me try bf again and I did and amazingly I could feed him 4 or 5 times a day bf and he'd latch right on but was still spittin up left and right I was also supplementing with formula cuz he wasnt gaining weight. I tried cuting out everything and he still spit up really bad so we went strict formula on enfamil AR and it didnt work so then Soy and that just made him scream and refuse a bottle so finally after the doctor was no help I went and bought the Nutramigen and used that and he was 10x happier and sleeping better and such and gaining all the weight just spitting up alot still so we tried Zantac and he was on that for 3 weeks and he stopped spitting up just about all together but got really gassy and his belly was all bloated so I stopped the Zantac right after we moved to a new state. But this last week or 2 he has been over congested and now is spitting up alot and has dihreah diapers most of the time. I am jsut waiting for my insurance to kick in so I can get him checked out right but if he doesnt start improving on my df's next day off I am taking him to the clinic.

paradisemommy replied: I'm SO sorry.. I don't know why I thought I was talking to your hubby..

was he ever diagnosed with reflux?

flirtycuddle replied: He was diagnosed with esphogitus and reflux but what I understand was teh same thing. He was put on the zantac cuz he was eating about 45-50ounces a day and the doctor thought it was him confusing his esphogitus pain with hunger pain. So the doctor told me to use the zantac 2x a day for 3 weeks and then see if it helps. It did but it just made him bloated and gassy and then in turn fussy but he wasnt spitting up. I could handle the spitting up more then the screaming baby from pain of gas that even the gas drops never helped.

mom2my2cuties replied: Ok please do not take this wrong at all - but could it be that you are over feeding him? It sounds like he is eating a whole lot for a 3 month old. And maybe it's just been too long since I have had a 3 month old

ashtonsmama replied:


Good luck Lynn!

flirtycuddle replied: About the over feeding that is what I thought also when he was eating 40+ ounces a day and his doctor assumed he was confusing the hunger pains with esphogitus and gave him zantac. Since he has been on Zantac (now off) he was eating no more then 32 oz a day which is normal from what I have been told. With his nose so stuffed he is eating maybe 20oz a day and from what I understand they need at least 24 a day. Oh yea not to mention he is just under 20lbs so he is abig baby to.

Jamison'smama replied: By any chance was he a C-Section baby? Mine were and they are congested for a while after birth since most of the mucus isn't "squeezed out". For aspirating, I would tilt the baby's head back--drop in the saline-not puffs--about 3 drops, wait 30+ seconds then suck everything out that I could.

There is a baby Vicks--it is not the regular Vicks vapo-rub--it is natural ingredients like eucalyptus . I am not sure what age you can start using it but I used it at about 3 months. You can also put it or regular Vicks on your chest, put on a T-Shirt and lay them on you so that they get a little of the fumes.

Good luck--I know how frustrating it is!!

flirtycuddle replied: I was thinking of using the baby vaper rub but have no idea how early you can use that on them. Yea he was a c-section also