Home Cures for Stuffy Nose for Babies

If you're a parent, when your baby is sick you may feel helpless. This is especially true when your child has a stuffy nose, since over-the-counter medications were taken off the market for babies and young children. However, the best treatments for stuffy noses are generally home remedies, anyway.

Avoiding Dryness

• Start with the room where baby sleeps. Run a humidifier or vaporizer in the child's room, following manufacturer's recommendations. The moisture in the air will aid in clearing the baby's nose. If an infant's nose is especially stuffed up, take the child into the bathroom and run the hot water in the shower, close the door and let the room get good and steamy. Also, keep the child well hydrated. Give them plenty to drink. For older infants, consider a fun cup and or straw or offering Popsicles if the child doesn't seem too interested in drinking. Breastfeeding infants should continue nursing as normal. If the congestion interferes with nursing, try to keep passages as clear as possible before a nursing session.

Clearing Nasal Passages

• Infants can't blow their noses to clear the mucus, so the best thing to do is to use saline drops and a bulb syringe. Use the saline drops, following directions on the bottle. These are not medicated drops, so you may use saline drops as needed. Allow the drops a minute to work, then squeeze the bulb of the syringe and insert into baby's nostril, pointing toward the side of the nose. Release the bulb and suction the mucus. Remove it, and squeeze bulb repeatedly while pointing the tip into a tissue. Then continue working in the same manner until both nostrils seem clear. If the child hates this process, you might need another helper to do it. Distraction might help you keep child calm while you do this. Try to stay calm and speak in a positive tone to the child while you suction out the nose.