What to give baby for runny nose: Baby with a runny nose? 6 remedies that really work

Baby with a runny nose? 6 remedies that really work

Few sights are sadder than a baby runny nose, but as any parent can attest, it’s far from uncommon during baby’s first year — particularly during the latter half. 

“Thanks to a transfer of maternal immunoglobulins to the placenta late in pregnancy, babies are born with much of their mother’s immunity,” says Dr. Dipesh Navsaria, associate professor of Pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. “However, this immunity lasts until roughly 6 months of age. When those immunoglobulins wear off, babies’ own immune systems have to do the work, which is why we see so many more illnesses — including colds, which cause runny noses — around this time. While it may be distressing to parents, it’s completely normal.”

“Thanks to a transfer of maternal immunoglobulins to the placenta late in pregnancy, babies are born with much of their mother’s immunity. However, this immunity lasts until roughly 6 months of age. ”

DR. DIPESH NAVSARIA, PEDIATRICIAN

Regardless of how common runny noses are for infants, moms and dads just want to help their little one feel better fast. Fortunately, there are a number of things parents can do to help alleviate the discomfort (and annoyance) that often accompanies a baby runny nose. 

Why does my baby have a runny nose?

Most runny noses are caused by viral upper respiratory infections — or colds, as most people refer to them, says Navsaria. 

“Influenza and other specific respiratory viruses, such as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), may also cause a runny nose,” he notes. In some cases, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) notes that COVID can cause nasal congestion or a runny nose in babies.

Less common causes of baby runny nose are: 

• Sinus infections.
• Irritation from a foreign body in the nose.
• Irritation from something in the air. “Oil or scent diffusers can cause irritation in some people, including babies,” notes Navsaria.  

Keep in mind that not all runny noses are the result of an infection or irritation.

“Cold weather can cause a temporary runny nose in anyone,” says Dr. Amna Husain, a pediatrician at Pure Direct Pediatrics in Marlboro, New Jersey. “During winter, when the air is dryer, more mucus is created to keep the nasal passages moist.”

How long does runny nose last in babies?

An infant runny nose caused by the common cold should last a little over a week. 

“Cold viruses tend to last about 10 days total,” says Navsaria. “Runny noses will often last less than that 10-day period, but probably by only a day or two.” 

If a cold lingers for two weeks or more, Navsaria recommends having baby evaluated by their pediatrician to rule out other, more serious viruses, such as RSV or sinusitis. 

How do I treat baby’s runny nose?

Wondering how to comfort and care for a baby with a runny nose? There are a number of ways to treat this common ailment at home, using items you probably already have in your medicine cabinet, cupboard or fridge.  

1. Bulb suction

Runny noses can be treated by using gentle bulb suction or another suction device like the NoseFrida to clear the mucus from the baby’s nostrils. (A good time to try this is right before feeding to help baby breathe better so they can nurse or drink their bottle.) However, if you’re using a bulb syringe, it’s important to proceed with extreme caution since it’s difficult to see how far up baby’s nose you’re going. 

“When you stick a bulb syringe bluntly into baby’s nostrils, you can cause some rebound congestion as those delicate membranes are poked and prodded,” says Husain. “I prefer devices like the NoseFrida or the Clearinse Nasal Aspirator, which stay outside baby’s nostrils while still allowing mucus to be removed.”

“When you stick a bulb syringe bluntly into baby’s nostrils, you can cause some rebound congestion as those delicate membranes are poked and prodded.”

DR. AMNA HUSAIN, PEDIATRICIAN

2.

Saline drops 

Whether you’re using a suction device to remove mucus or simply are wiping baby’s runny nose with a rag, try loosening things up first with saline. 

“My preferred way to treat runny noses in babies is with saline drops or saline spray — the drops are easier with an infant,” says Husain. 

These help break up any mucus or congestion, which will make it easier to remove.

3. Plenty of fluids

Regardless of the reason for your little one’s runny nose, fluids are always a good idea. According to the Mayo Clinic, liquids are key in avoiding dehydration, which, in turn, can cause congestion. There’s no need to give baby extra fluids when they have a runny nose, but make sure they’re taking in their usual amount of breast milk or formula. 

4. A cool mist humidifier

“Whenever there’s a runny nose or congestion in environments where the air is dryer due to indoor heating, I recommend using a humidifier to help moisten the air,” says Navsaria. “It can help keep the mucus from thickening too much in some cases.” 

The AAP says to use a cool mist humidifier for children (because hot water can result in burns), as well as cleaning and drying the humidifier each day to prevent mold and bacteria growth.

5. Petroleum jelly

While it may be a knee-jerk reaction to do something when your infant has a runny nose, in many cases, a baby runny nose isn’t all that terrible.  

“We often think a runny nose or nasal congestion is more distressing to young children than it is,” says Navsaria. 

“We often think a runny nose or nasal congestion is more distressing to young children than it is.”

DR. DIPESH NAVSARIA, PEDIATRICIAN

He says sometimes all you need to do is gently wipe away any nasal mucus that is running out of your baby’s nose, and if your baby’s skin gets red or irritated, you can rub a little soothing petroleum jelly on the area.

6. Avoid decongestants and menthol rubs

Before giving your baby any kind of medication, it’s best to speak to their pediatrician, but overall, medications such as decongestants and antihistamines are discouraged before age 2. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), these medications can have serious side effects, such as convulsions, rapid heart rate and even death.  

Additionally, avoid using any kind of menthol rub on baby. 

“I don’t recommend mentholated rubs (like VapoRub),” Navsaria says. “They don’t actually reduce congestion and, if applied too heavily, can have systemic absorption and cause problems.”

According to the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), using Vicks VapoRub can cause the body to produce more mucus in order to protect the airway. Since children’s airways are significantly more narrow than adults, such an increase can have severe effects on their breathing.

Common cold in babies – Diagnosis and treatment

Diagnosis

If your baby is younger than 3 months of age, call his or her doctor early in the illness. In newborns, it’s especially important to make sure that a more serious illness isn’t present, especially if your baby has a fever.

In general, you don’t need to see the doctor if your older baby has a common cold. If you have questions or if your baby’s symptoms worsen or don’t go away, it might be time to see the doctor.

Your baby’s doctor can generally diagnose a common cold by your baby’s signs and symptoms. If your doctor suspects your baby has a bacterial infection or other condition, he or she may order a chest X-ray or other tests to exclude other causes of your baby’s symptoms.

Treatment

There’s no cure for the common cold. Most cases of the common cold get better without treatment, usually within a week to 10 days, but a cough may linger for a week or more. Antibiotics don’t work against cold viruses.

Try to make your baby more comfortable with measures such as making sure he or she drinks enough fluids, suctioning nasal mucus and keeping the air moist.

Over-the-counter (OTC) medications generally should be avoided in babies.

Fever-reducing medications

You can use OTC fever-reducing medications if a fever is making your child uncomfortable. However, these medications don’t kill the cold virus. Fever is a part of your child’s natural response to the virus, so it may help to allow your child to have a low-grade fever.

For treatment of fever or pain in children, consider giving your child infants’ or children’s over-the-counter fever and pain medications such as acetaminophen (Tylenol, others) or ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, others). These are safer alternatives to aspirin.

For children younger than 3 months old, don’t give acetaminophen until your baby has been seen by a doctor. Don’t give ibuprofen to a child younger than 6 months old or to children who are vomiting constantly or are dehydrated. Use these medications for the shortest time. If you give your child a pain reliever, follow the dosing guidelines carefully. Call your doctor if you have questions about the right dosage for your baby.

Children and teenagers recovering from chickenpox or flu-like symptoms should never take aspirin. This is because aspirin has been linked to Reye’s syndrome, a rare but potentially life-threatening condition, in such children.

Cough and cold medications

Cough and cold medications aren’t safe for infants and young children. OTC cough and cold medicines don’t treat the underlying cause of a child’s cold and won’t make it go away sooner ⸺ and they can be dangerous to your baby. Cough and cold medications have potentially serious side effects, including fatal overdoses in children younger than 2 years old.

Don’t use over-the-counter medicines, except for fever reducers and pain relievers, to treat coughs and colds in children younger than 6 years old. Also consider avoiding use of these medicines for children younger than 12 years old.

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Lifestyle and home remedies

Most often, you can treat an older baby’s cold at home. To make your baby as comfortable as possible, try some of these suggestions:

• Offer plenty of fluids. Liquids are important to avoid dehydration. Formula or breast milk is the best choice. Encourage your baby to take in the usual amount of fluids. Extra fluids aren’t necessary. If you’re breastfeeding your baby, keep it up. Breast milk offers extra protection from cold-causing germs.

• Suction your baby’s nose. Keep your baby’s nasal passages clear with a rubber-bulb syringe. Squeeze the bulb syringe to expel the air. Then insert the tip of the bulb about 1/4 to 1/2 inch (about 6 to 12 millimeters) into your baby’s nostril, pointing toward the back and side of the nose.

  Release the bulb, holding it in place while it suctions the mucus from your baby’s nose. Remove the syringe from your baby’s nostril and empty the contents onto a tissue by squeezing the bulb rapidly while holding the tip down. Repeat as often as needed for each nostril. Clean the bulb syringe with soap and water.

• Try nasal saline drops. Your baby’s doctor may recommend saline nasal drops to moisten nasal passages and loosen thick nasal mucus. Look for these OTC drops in your local pharmacy. Apply saline nasal drops, wait for a short period, and then use a suction bulb to draw mucus out of each nostril.
• Moisten the air. Running a cool-water humidifier in your baby’s room can ease nasal congestion. Change the water daily and follow the manufacturer’s instructions for cleaning the unit.

Preparing for your appointment

If you need to see your baby’s pediatrician or family doctor, here’s some information to help you get ready for your baby’s appointment.

What you can do

Make a list of:

• Symptoms you’ve noticed in your baby, including any that may seem unrelated to the reason for which you scheduled the appointment.
• Key personal information, such as whether your baby goes to child care or has otherwise been exposed to someone with a common cold. Include how many colds your baby has had, how long they lasted and whether your baby is exposed to secondhand smoke. It might help to make a note on your calendar the day you realize your baby has a cold.
• All medications, vitamins or supplements your baby is taking, including dosages.
• Questions to ask your doctor.

For a common cold, some questions to ask the doctor include:

• What is likely causing my baby’s symptoms?
• Are there other possible causes?
• What tests are needed?
• What’s the best course of action?
• My baby has other health conditions. How can I best manage them together?
• Are there restrictions we need to follow?
• Are there over-the-counter medications that aren’t safe for my child at this age?

Don’t hesitate to ask other questions you have.

What to expect from your doctor

Your baby’s doctor is likely to ask you questions, including:

• When did your baby’s symptoms begin?
• Have they been continuous or occasional?
• How severe are they?
• What, if anything, seems to improve them?
• What, if anything, appears to worsen them?
• Has the nasal congestion caused your baby to eat or drink less?
• Is your baby having as many wet diapers as usual?
• Has there been a fever? If so, how high?
• Are your child’s vaccinations up to date?
• Has your child taken antibiotics recently?

Your doctor will ask additional questions based on your responses and your baby’s symptoms and needs. Preparing and anticipating questions will help you make the most of your time with the doctor.

By Mayo Clinic Staff

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Proper treatment of the common cold in children

A common cold usually takes 7-10 days or more to develop, depending on the type of illness that provoked it. Serious illnesses, such as some types of acute respiratory viral infections (ARVI), as well as chronic rhinitis caused by specific infections (syphilis, tuberculosis, gonorrhea) are treated simultaneously with the underlying disease in specialized medical centers.

In this article we will talk about how to properly treat a simple infectious rhinitis in newborns, infants and older children. It is important that parents caring for sick children have some knowledge of how to properly care for a child with a cold and why this is important. nine0003

How to properly treat a runny nose in a child?

First aid

In all cases of a cold in a child, before starting any medical treatment (i.e. drug treatment), you should try to alleviate the child’s condition with available means:

1. Raise the head of the bed on which the child is lying. To do this, a pillow can be placed under the shoulders of the child, so that the head and upper body of the child are located in relation to the body at an angle of 40–45? (make sure the child is comfortable in this position). This will make the phlegm that forms in your nose easier to pass and you may not need to use any medication. nine0003

2. If a newborn or infant has a very stuffy nose with phlegm, you can try to suck out the mucus from the nasal passages with a rubber bulb or a conventional syringe. In general, sputum suction is used to help children who cannot blow their nose on their own. To suck out sputum, you can use a regular rubber bulb with a fairly thin tip or a regular syringe without a needle. The tip of a pear or syringe should be inserted into the nasal passage of a child with a runny nose carefully, so as not to injure the mucous membrane. Mucus is sucked out first from one, and then from the other nasal passage. This procedure can be repeated as often as needed. nine0003

Do not let the sputum dry out!

The easiest way is to put a saline solution into a child’s nose: In the case of a cold in newborns or infants, as well as a cold in older children, it is important not to allow mucus to dry in the nasal passages – this can completely upset nasal breathing.

In order to prevent mucus from drying up in the nasal passages, wetting the nasal passages with saline solution is recommended. To do this, you can use ordinary saline, or you can just use a solution of ordinary table salt in water. nine0003

Saline solution instilled 3-4 drops into each nostril. It is desirable that at this time the child lies with his head thrown back. The first entry of fluid into the nose can be very unpleasant, causing coughing, sneezing, or even the urge to vomit. However, after several instillation procedures, such sensitivity of the nasal and pharyngeal mucosa disappears. The procedure can be repeated every 30-60 minutes. It is important to ensure that the mucus in the nose does not dry out. The saline solution helps thin the sputum and make it easier to excrete from the nose of a child with a runny nose. nine0003

Instead of saline, some experts recommend using oily liquids, such as vitamin A or vitamin E oil, available from pharmacies. Such liquids not only prevent sputum from drying out, but also moisturize the nasal mucosa, relieve irritation, and have a regenerating effect.

Medications to relieve nasal breathing

In some sources, of course, you can read about the “danger” or “inappropriateness” of the use of decongestants (the so-called all types of drugs that, when instilled into the nose or when taken by mouth, facilitate nasal breathing) in treatment of acute rhinitis in newborns, infants and older children. nine0003

We must give credit to our colleagues for noting that such drugs can indeed cause some complications and that, if used incorrectly, they can aggravate the child’s condition. We note right away that the complications of the common cold do not arise because of the drugs themselves, but because of their illiterate use. It is absolutely unacceptable to treat children with decongestants intended for adults and give the child medicine when it pleases.

Below we will review some of the drugs recommended for the treatment of the common cold in children, but first we note that failure to treat modern decongestants can cause complications such as sinusitis. The fact is that all nasal sinuses (two maxillary, two frontal, ethmoid and sphenoid) open with small openings into the nasal cavity. Microbes are expelled from the sinuses through these openings. With a runny nose, children develop severe swelling of the nasal mucosa, which leads to complete closure of the holes that communicate the nasal cavity with the cavities of the paranasal sinuses. As a result, microbes accumulate in the sinuses, which eventually cause sinusitis – inflammation of the sinuses. nine0003

How do nasal breathing medicines work?

There are two large groups of drugs that facilitate nasal breathing: local (topical) and systemic decongestants. Both those and other types of cold medicine act in the same way: they constrict the vessels of the nasal mucosa. Due to the narrowing of the vessels, the swelling of the nasal mucosa decreases and nasal breathing is partially or completely restored. It also opens the communication channels between the nasal cavity and the paranasal sinuses, thereby reducing the risk of developing sinusitis. nine0003

What medicines are used to treat the common cold in children?

First, let’s draw the attention of parents to the specifics of drug production: the same drug is produced by different companies under different names. However, on the packaging of the drug or in the instructions for its use, the active substance is always indicated, which is the same in all drugs of this type. Therefore, when buying a medicine, pay attention not to the commercial name, but to the name of the active substance that is part of the medicine, as well as to the concentration of the active substance in the preparation. Below we present several such examples. nine0047

A cold in a child: how to treat it correctly

Shcherbakova Alla Anatolievna
nine0003

Pediatrician

Clinic “Mother and Child” Savelovskaya

Many parents are ready for the fact that babies will pick up common, including seasonal infections, which is typical for childhood. Some parents study the methods of treating SARS and colds in advance, read about it from experienced mothers in blogs and diaries, consult with doctors they know, and watch medical programs. But even despite the fact that the child’s body has a powerful immune system from birth, this protection is imperfect. Therefore, no matter how informed the mother is, when the child becomes ill, she has a lot of questions that require qualified answers. nine0237