If your baby struggles to breathe, but doesn’t have any fever or colds, he or she might be experiencing a newborn reflux congestion.
Infant congestion and reflux are common in babies because their nasal passages are still small. They might experience congestion in their nose or it may sound as though the congestion is in their chest, but sometimes it is just because of the milk or stomach acid irritating their airways during reflux episodes.
Fortunately, there are several effective methods to alleviate reflux congestion and of this is using a nasal aspirator. This device can remove your baby’s thick and thin nasal mucus and allow them to breathe easily. It is safe to use and it does not hurt your baby’s nasal mucosa.
Understanding the Connection: How Reflux Causes Congestion
Infants may sound congested even without having a cold. In some cases, this congestion is because of infant reflux. When your baby spits up or milk flows back from the stomach into the esophagus, small amounts of milk or acid can reach the back of their throat or nasal passages. This irritation causes swelling and mucus buildup, leading to that stuffy or snuffly sound.
Because of the babies’ tiny nasal passages, even a little bit of mucus can make breathing more difficult, especially when lying flat.
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Recognizing the Key Symptoms of Reflux-Related Congestion
Since babies can’t understand or explain how they feel, you should watch out for signs of reflux-related congestion, such as:
- Stuffy or noisy breathing, especially after feeding
- Snorting, gurgling, or snoring sounds when lying flat
- Mucus or milk coming out of the nose after spitting up
- Occasional coughing or throat clearing
- Trouble breathing while feeding or sleeping
Optimizing Feeding Techniques to Minimize Reflux Episodes
If your baby is suffering due to the problem of reflux related to congestion, you can alleviate it with several feeding techniques.
- Responsive bottle feeding
This technique helps reduce the amount of milk in the gut at any one time and therefore helps with symptoms. When your baby is a difficult or sensitive feeder, growth and volume are often a worry; therefore, the thought of your baby just taking a small bottle can be stressful.
- Paced bottle feeding
The milk is delivered more slowly using this method, which prevents large volumes of milk from being swallowed in a short space of time.
- Cluster feeding
A breastfed baby who is being fed responsively and who is gaining weight, reducing cluster feeding can sometimes be helpful. While cluster feeding really helps comfort your baby, it can exacerbate reflux as it doesn’t leave much opportunity for gastric emptying.
- Feeding your baby in an upright position
Positioning your baby in an upright position during bottle feeding or feeding on their left side may help with symptoms of reflux during and after feeding. Placing your baby on their left side increases the distance from where the milk sits in the stomach to the opening to the oesophagus.
- Feeding your baby in a laidback nursing positionÂ
Breast fed babies can be fed in a prone position, on their stomach, by using the laidback nursing position in left side lying by using the side-lying position and in an upright position by using the Koala hold.
Safe Positional Changes to Help Reduce Congestion and Spitting Up
The position of your baby during and after feeding can significantly affect congestion, spitting up, and reflux. Here are some safe positions for your baby to reduce congestion and spitting up.
- Upright Position
During and after feeding, hold your baby for at least 20-30 minutes. In this position, the gravity will help keep the milk in the stomach and reduce the likelihood of it flowing back into the esophagus. It helps clear nasal passages, too, which can reduce congestion and stuffy sounds.
- Left Side-Lying Position
Place your baby on their left side to help keep stomach contents away from the esophagus. This position is extremely useful for babies who are prone to frequent spit-up or reflux. Supervision is necessary when your baby is in side-lying positions, ensure that he or she is on a firm, flat surface when resting, too.
- Laid-Back Nursing
For breastfed babies, laid-back nursing allows your baby to feed in a semi-reclined, prone position on your chest. As mentioned earlier, gravity will help the milk stay in the stomach.
- Koala Hold
Hold your baby upright, straddling your lap or shoulder, with their head supported but elevated slightly above their stomach. This position is beneficial for both breastfed and bottle-fed babies, especially if they tend to spit up or experience reflux during feeding.
- Gentle Left Side-Lying for Sleep
If you have an older infant who is sleeping independently, place them on the left side at a slight incline to reduce post-feed reflux.
At-Home Relief: Methods for Clearing the Nasal Passages
Most cases of infant congestion and reflux subsides after some time, and you can do some at-home remedies to clear your baby’s nasal passages. Here are some of them:
- Nasal Aspirator
A nasal aspirator is one of the safest ways you can use to clear the blocked nose of your baby, particularly when the blocked nose is due to reflux. You might want to check Baby Nasal Aspirators from Momcozy. You can safely remove the mucus using this tool through the safe settings of the suction level. This will give your baby immediate benefits and enable them to breathe and consume more easily.
- Keep Your Baby in an Upright Position after Feeding
Ignoring the presence of the reflux, the most effective thing you can do after feeding your baby is to hold them upright for 20-30 minutes. You can carry your baby on your chest. In this way, gravity will keep the milk in the stomach, thus avoiding the regurgitation of milk into the throat or nose.
- Don’t Make Your Baby Lie Flat after Eating
Make sure that you don’t put your baby down flat on their back immediately after feeding, because this will increase the chance of milk going backward. Instead, hold them erect when they are awake in either a supportive bouncer or stroller.
- Make Sure You Burp Your Baby Well
After every feed, make sure that you burp your baby well. Don’t put your baby in a car seat or bouncy seat because being scrunched up like that with a full belly makes it more likely that your baby will spit up.
Differentiating Reflux Congestion from Colds or Allergies
It can be difficult to tell whether your baby’s congestion is caused by reflux, colds, or allergies. Here’s how you can differentiate the three so you can respond appropriately and get medical advice when needed:
- Reflux-related congestion
This occurs right after you feed your baby and may be accompanied by spit-up, coughing or gagging. The congestion often improves when you hold your baby in an upright position. Infants generally don’t have a fever or other symptoms of infection.
- Cold-related congestion
If it’s cold-related congestion, it often comes with additional symptoms like a runny nose, sneezing, fever, or irritability. Congestion may last several days and can worsen at night.
- Allergy-related congestion
Allergy-related congestion may appear as persistent nasal stuffiness, watery eyes, sneezing, or skin reactions. Allergic signs often happen in response to triggers such as certain foods or dust.
When to Seek Immediate Medical Attention for Severe Symptoms
If your baby is congested and shows any symptoms of infant congestion and reflux, call your doctor immediately.
- Green or yellow runny nose
- Has a hard time breathing
- Existing or progressively bad congestion
- Stops eating or keeps on vomiting
- Has low weight gain
- Looks tired or somnolent
Long-Term Management Strategies and When Reflux Typically Resolves
Don’t worry because most cases of infant congestion and reflux improve naturally as your baby grows. For many babies, reflux symptoms significantly decrease by 6-12 months of age and often resolve completely by 18-24 months.
Here are long-term management strategies for your baby:
- Use responsive and paced feeding to avoid overfilling the stomach, keep them in upright positions during and after feeds.
- Keep your baby slightly inclined or on their left side after feeling, avoid laying flat immediately after feeds.
- Track foods or formulas that worsen your baby’s symptoms.
- Burp your baby thoroughly after every feed.
- Use safe methods to clear nasal passages, like nasal aspirator or saline drops.
