Home Remedy for a Wheezing 5-Day Old Newborn

Wheezing in your newborn can sound like a whistling sound in his chest when he is trying to breathe. For babies up to two months old, chest congestion and "junky breathing" can be due to their narrow nasal passages having some old dried up milk that has run up the passage during nursing or simply mucus or saliva.

Home Remedy

• According to babycenter.com, you should use a rubber bulb syringe to remove mucus or dried up milk from your baby's nostrils. You can find these in the baby section of any department store. Before you use the syringe to suction out any mucus or dried up milk from his nose, use saline drops to moisten and loosen up the particles first. You can buy drops or spray at any pharmacy. You can also make your own at home by dissolving ¼ tsp. of salt in 8 oz. of warm water. Store this in a covered glass jar.

  When you are putting the drops in your baby's nose or using a saline spray bottle, remember he will cry. Remember, this procedure is not harmful to your baby so long as you are doing it carefully. Do these following steps before feeding him so he won't gag and spit up food.

  Put your baby in your lap, between your knees with his feet against your tummy. Put 1 or 2 drops of saline in each nostril with an eyedropper or squirt once or twice if you are using saline spray. With your syringe, suction each nostril once and remove the debris from the syringe into a tissue. Do not suction your baby's nose more than two or three times a day, and don't add saline drops for more than four days.

  If you notice your baby is experiencing heavy breathing and "caving in" of the chest which persists for hours at a time, call your pediatrician.