one month old baby - breathing problems

[aargon]

I think our son has breathing problems at night. He`s always making a loud snorting noise through his nose when he sleeps. We consulted with our doctor who said it was normal but I really cant help but worry. I think it may be due to the aircon which could be drying out his nasal passage. My other son who is 3, had nose bleeds at night, and the doctor mentioned it may be caused by the aircon as well. Simple solution is to turn off the aircon but its just way too hot in our apartment to do this. Anyone experience the same problem? do you just leave with the heat and does your body acclimatise to it after awhile?

[sundaymorningstaple]

aargon,

I'm a mid-atlantic state yank and have been here since chris was a corporeal. I've never used Aircon at home in almost 29 years. I would agree with the doctor's advice though. My kids grew up without anything but ceiling fans (for the first 10-15 years they also had the benefit of 14' ceilings (old black & whites) and open ventilation. We now own an HDB flat and still have ceiling fans only. We have been healthy and rarely have throat problems (the few times the kids have sore throats it was because the picked it up from other kids at school). To me, while it's uncomfortable at first, once you get used to the heat, provided you aren't overweight, you body will acclimatise pretty good and you will have a lot less medical problems.

Of course, performance is from personal experience, so your personal mileage will vary......

[BigSis]

Our children like to use a/c at night but we just have a couple of fans in our room. A good ceiling fan and perhaps a standing fan for when it is really hot (as it has been lately) work well.

You don't need covers apart from a sheet really (maybe a light duvet in rainy season) and light pyjamas/all in one vest for the baby - I'd probably avoid babygros with feet in them as the baby's feet might get too hot after a while.

But if you want to stick with A/C, you could get one of those air purifier things and see if that helps.......or a humidifier, although it does sound a bit weird having something that puts humidity back into the air when you live in Singapore!

[durain]

my son was the same when he was younger. i too was very worried cause he was snorting louder than grandpa! just as worst when he fell asleep on the bus or MRT (yeah, nice rolling motion and air-con!) sometimes he would just stopped breathing for a few seconds! this is only happening when he is asleep.

anyway, he checked out OK. i think it's something about the nose passage is not developed fully and after a few months, he is breathing normal. use vicks or those vapour drop/rub helps.

as long as your kid is healthy and active without any breathing difficulty when not sleeping, then i think it should be OK.


p/s air-con only if cannot tahan (tahan = stand) the heat, and only for 3-4 hours. mostly use low speed fan with timer till early morning. had used HEPA air purifier with ioniser but makes no different.

[aster]

I tend to cool down our main bedroom with aircon before going to sleep, and then turn it off the moment I head to bed.

Most of the time I will leave the aircon on low in the living room though.

I agree that ceiling fans are best though, but living in a Serviced Apartment I really don't have a choice.

[Arsenal_fan]

aargon

Our two month old boy also had similar breathing problems and used to snort a lot. Also he found it difficult when feeding. The doctor gave us a saline spray for use. It was effective as it loosens up any blockage /mucous in the nasal cavity.

Also we did notice that the snorting used to intensify if we put on the aircon, so we stopped with the aircon. The frequency and the intensity of the snorting did go down after around a month and a half.

[aargon]

Thanks for all the replies. Unfortunately the doctor didnt give us any nasal spray but i did read that a drop of two of breast milk into his nose can help. I asked my wife to try it and she just looked at me with a frown

[durain]

but i did read that a drop of two of breast milk into his nose can help. I asked my wife to try it and she just looked at me with a frown

that's the first i've ever heard. what magazines you been reading???

anyway, look into eucalyptus oil or the saline nasal spray.