It is not out of place for an adult’s nose to get blocked. When this happens, the average adult knows what to do to feel better. Just like adults, babies also get stuffy in the nose. However, unlike adults, they cannot do anything about it on their own. It is, therefore, the responsibility of parents to help a baby breathe well.
How Can Parents Help a Baby Breathe Properly?
There are quite a number of ways parents can help a child that has a stuffy nose breathe properly. One of these ways is through the use of a nasal aspirator. There are situations in which parents have to buy a nasal aspirator from the market after having a baby. Some other times, when people have a baby for the first time, they get a newborn kit which usually comes with a rubber bulb syringe.
How to Make Use of a Nasal Aspirator
As a new parent, it is a good thing to get a nasal aspirator. That, however, is not enough. You should be able to make use of a nasal aspirator after having one like this.
The first thing to be done when looking to make use of a nasal aspirator is to get some nasal saline. Once you have this, squeeze some of it into your child’s nose. Doing this will help the mucus in your child’s nose get soft and make it easy for a nasal aspirator to be used in getting it out.
If you are not sure where to purchase saline, you can make one at home. To make nasal saline at home, you should mix 8 ounces of warm water with ¼ teaspoon of salt. After you are done making use of this mixture for a day, you should not go ahead and make use of it another day. After the end of the day, every mixture you have prepared should be disposed of. At the beginning of each day, you should prepare a fresh mixture of salt and warm water and store it properly.
Positioning Your Child
Now that you have your nasal saline ready, the next thing to do is position your child properly. The right position to keep your child while trying to make use of a nasal aspirator in freeing their nose of mucus is to ensure that the chin is slightly tilted up. The next thing to be done at this point is to put a couple of saline drops in the child’s nostrils. After doing it, ensure that your baby’s head remains in one position for a while.
After making use of the saline to soften the mucus in your child’s nose, you might not need to go on and make use of a nasal aspirator as the congestion in your child’s nose might ease up.
Making Use of a Rubber Bulb Syringe
To make use of a rubber bulb syringe, you will need to make a vacuum by squeezing the air out of the syringe’s bulb. Once this is done, you should go ahead and put the rubber tip of the syringe in the child’s nostrils. Go on and suction out the mucus in the nose by gradually releasing the bulb.
This is the point you should take out the syringe and expel the mucus by squeezing the bulb. Clean the syringe and do the same to the second nostril.
After going through this entire process, if your baby’s nose is not free from mucus for a period of five to ten minutes, put in some more saline drops into your baby’s nostrils and repeat the suction process.
There are times you will have to go through this process more than once to get the results you desire. Also, there are times you might not really get the result you desire. If you do not get as many results as you desire after going through this process three times, you will have to end the process for one day. If you carry out this process more than three times in a single day, then your baby’s nose lining will be irritated.
That’s not all. You should also note that saline drops should not be used for over four days consecutively. This is because if it is used consecutively for four days, it might do more harm than good to the nose.
The entire process involved in getting mucus out of the nose of a baby should be done very gently. If you put on some force into getting this done, you might cause the baby to bleed or their nasal tissues to be inflamed. When this happens, instead of congestion to reduce, it could get worse.
Being gentle with your baby might not be the easiest thing to do as there is a likelihood that they will resist. If you have a baby that puts up resistance now and then, each time they resist, you will need to let them be for a while.
How to Keep Your Syringe Clean
If you must get the best out of the use of your syringe in keeping your baby’s nose free from mucus, you will need to keep your syringe very clean.
To keep your syringe clean, make use of soapy, warm water in cleaning it just after making use of it. To get the bulb clean, put its tip into the soapy, warm water and squeeze it. Doing this will make it take in some water. Go on and shake the water in the bulb slightly before you go on to release it.
After going through this process, make use of clean warm water in rinsing the bulb. The last thing to be done when cleaning a syringe is to position it in a way that water can sip through its tip.
Conclusion
You might not be entirely comfortable when making use of a nasal aspirator if you are doing so for the first time. If you fall into the class of people that are not sure if they will get the entire process right, you do not have to worry. Every nasal aspirator comes with instructions that can make its use very effortless.
