How To Blow A Baby’s Nose

Introduction

If your little one is suffering from a stuffy nose, the last thing you’ll want is for your baby to feel uncomfortable.

That’s why, seeing as your adorable mini-me won’t be able to blow their own nose just yet, the job of getting all the mucus out caused by either illness or allergy falls in your hands.

Granted, while it might not be one of the best bits of parenthood, making sure that you are effectively removing all of the excess mucus from your baby’s nose will help to get rid of congestion and open up those airways – which will not only help your baby breathe better, but will also help to ensure that you, your baby and your family are able to enjoy better rest, too.

The only problem? Helping to clear a baby’s stuffy nose can often be a lot easier said than done, especially if you happen to have a particularly fussy one.

That’s why, in this article, we’re going to be talking you through some of the best ways that you can help to clear your baby’s nose. So, whenever you’re ready, just read on!

How do you clear a baby’s stuffy nose?

If your baby is suffering from congestion, then the good news is that the symptoms will be relatively easy to spot, which will mean that you will be able to treat it more quickly and alleviate your baby’s discomfort.

If your baby has come down with a head cold, or if spring has sprung and pollen is floating around, then you might be noticing that your baby is sneezing, highly congested, unable to breathe through their nose or even dealing with a very runny nose.

All of these signs are an indication that your baby’s nose needs to be cleared, the only question is – how do you go about doing that, exactly?

Though a tissue can help to relieve a runny nose, your baby won’t yet understand how to “blow” into a tissue to help clear the excess mucus, which means that you’re going to have to resort to a different method.

More often than not, most parents opt to use a piece of suction equipment (I recommend the Snot Sucker) that will be able to gently suck out all of the excess snot without causing pain or upsetting your baby. 

Using A Suction Device

The Snot Sucker that we recommended above works by creating suction with your mouth, and then gently “pulling” the mucus out of the nose and into the connected tube.

Don’t panic, though, because the Snot Sucker features a protective barrier that will prevent any mucus from entering your mouth and, while it might not sound the best – these types of suction devices really do work.

If your baby is currently struggling with a blocked or runny nose (or you simply want to be prepared in the case that they do) then we highly recommend getting your hands on a suction device that will be able to gently yet effectively extract it from your child’s nose.

To follow, as your baby gets older and enters toddler territory, it’s highly likely that a nasal suction device is going to be your best method of helping to clear out your little one’s blocked or runny nose.

However, from the ages of two upwards, you should begin to find that you are able to teach your child how to begin blowing their noses for themselves, which we strongly encourage that you do.

To help your child get the trick of blowing their own nose, all you will need to do is take a regular piece of tissue paper and hold it directly over your child’s nose.

Then, ask your child to close their mouth and pretend as though they’re blowing out their birthday candles.

This might take a few attempts to get right, but after plenty of practice, you will find that your child will begin to blow out of their nose using this method. 

Additional advice

Alongside making sure that you are following one of the methods that we have suggested above, there are also a few more things that you can do to help relieve your child of any congestion. 

First things first, alongside nasal suction tools, one of the best ways that you can help to relieve your baby of nasal congestion is by using something that is known as a saline nasal spray.

Specifically designed to be gentle yet effective, a saline nasal spray is able to quickly and powerfully thin out congestion after just a spritz or two, which makes it suitable for use on children of all ages, including babies.

If you are interested in keeping some of this handy in your baby bag, then you will need to head down to your local pharmacy store, where you will need to purchase the nasal saline spray solution over the counter, as you cannot buy it simply off the shelf.

As a side note, you should also keep in mind that this spray might not be suitable for newborns, so you should consult with your family doctor prior to using it.

Alongside using a saline solution nasal spray to help thin out the nasal congestion, another non-invasive way that you can loosen up snot is via the help of a humidifier.

A humidifier will help to increase the moisture levels in the air, which will then be able to ease symptoms of nasal congestion without any invasiveness.

Due to this, the gentleness of a humidifier makes it an ideal way to help alleviate congestion in newborns and babies, and can even help assist with any additional symptoms that your little baby might be experiencing, such as a tickly throat or a dry cough.

I hope this helps! Let me know in the comments if you have any other methods that work well.

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Categorized as Baby