A stuffy nose can often unsettle your baby – especially since new-borns only know how to breathe through their nostrils at first.
Clearing your baby’s nose helps her to breathe much easier but understandably a lot of babies don’t like this removal process and many parents find this to be a tricky job, so don’t worry if you find it difficult.
How to clear your baby’s nose
We’ve got a step-by-step guide to help make sure you are prepared on how to clear your baby’s nose.
Step 1 – Be prepared
Before you start, make sure you have your equipment around you so you’re not scrambling for it during the process. The best tool we recommend to use is a rubber suction bulb syringe with a long pointed tip.
Step 2 – Stop baby wriggling
The minute you start going near her nose she’ll start wriggling and trying to break free. Ask your partner or a friend to hold your baby’s arms by her side to stop her wriggling.
Step 3 – Loosen the mucus
For this step you need a saline solution. This can be bought from a health centre or you can make it yourself at home with ¼ tea spoon of salt mixed thoroughly with 8 ounces of warm water. Make a fresh batch everyday – don’t use old solutions from days before. Also, make sure you boil the water before adding the salt to sterilise and kill any dangerous bacteria.
Add only 1-2 small drops of the solution into your baby’s nostril, this will moisten the mucus and make it easier to remove. The solution won’t hurt your baby but she may feel a little discomfort.
Step 4 – Removal
- Squeeze the air out of the suction bulb syringe and place it at the tip of a nostril.
- Seal the other nostril with your finger so the syringe can suction out the mucus.
- Point the tip towards the outer side of the nostril to prevent causing irritation. Let go of top of the syringe to suck up the mucus.
- Now remove the syringe from your baby’s nostril and then squeeze the air of the bulb of the syringe to expel the mucus into a tissue.
- Clean the point of the syringe and repeat the steps with the other nostril.
If your baby is resisting too much don’t force it, leave it for a bit and try again later.
