I have three children who have all been sick over the past several days.? It started with my son who is 4, then passed to my daughter who is 3 and now both me and my baby boy (2 1/2 months old) are fighting it.
It kinda made me laugh in the hospital, after I had the baby, and the doctor said to try and keep my other children away from the baby when they are sick.? I honestly tried over this past week to keep everyone separate, but the more I tried – the more my other 2 wanted to touch and kiss the baby – runny noses and all.? Every hour I would catch my son leaning into the baby’s swing rubbing his yucky nose against the baby’s face.?? I mean it was inevitable that the baby would get sick!
It is really horrible though.? My baby is sooo congested, he can hardly breath.? He is coughing & sneezing and it just about kills me to see such a tiny human being suffer.
My mom has been putting her 2 cents in (2 hours away – by phone) that I need to call the doctor and find out what to do.? She always makes a big deal about stuff and says that I am too lax when it comes to stuff like this.? I promised her that if the baby wasn’t better by Monday I would bring him to the doctor.
When I had my first child, the hospital sent us home with this bulb like thing that I found out later was called a “nose aspirator”.? I had no intentions of ever using it (just like the anal thermometer, but that is another story) until my little one got so sick at 4 months old and needed help getting the snot out of his nose.
So, I have to admit, that YES I have used “The Bulb” on my children on more than one occasion.? Now that my 2 older ones can blow their own noses, it has been nice not having to worry about “The Bulb”.? I put it away quite a while ago until my husband told me that I needed to get it out yesterday and use it on our new baby.
Boy do I hate that thing!
How the heck do you use it?? How far do you stick it in their nose?? What direction should it be pointing – back?? up?? I never can get the thing to work right!? After much struggle yesterday afternoon, as my husband looked on and the baby was screaming bloody murder – finally – frustrated and at the end of my rope, I tossed “the bulb” to my husband and told HIM to do it.? And of course, he cleared the baby’s nose without a problem.? Go figure!
So, the reason I am bringing this up, is because I am wondering how you all feel about this torturous tool – the Nose Aspirator.? Are you FOR it?? or AGAINST it?
Please take some time to comment on your own experiences.? Maybe I won’t feel so bad if you all feel the same as I do!? LOL
Oh and please vote!
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have to admit and lived and died for that item when my kids were little.
now at 16 and 19 i think they would be a little annoyed if i tried it on them
Do *I* use the aspirator? No. I won’t fight that fight with the kids. But I happily hand it to my husband and let him do it. We even found an automatic one at W@l-mart.
The biggest reason I believe in it…a friend of mine and twins just weeks after mine. She put them down in their bassinets one day to sleep when they were just a few weeks old, and she got in the shower. When she got out, one of the babies was blue and not breathing. Thankfully, he is just fine, but the doctor’s told her that he had gotten congested and because he couldn’t clear the phleghm on his own, it had drained while he was lying on his back sleeping and blocked his airway.
Aspirate away.
I used it on both my girls, but I was afraid to stick it up their nose. I just stuck it in their nose. Does that make sense?
I’m glad to hear that I am not the only mom who would not do the anal thermometer. I hated those things.
Yes, I used it, but hated it the whole time. Phlegm can block a baby’s airway, and I was always scared NOT to use it. The one I had had a short stubby plastic tip though, not the long skinny kind, and I think it was easier.
I found this on eHow:
http://www.ehow.com/how_4599642_clear-mucus-infants-nose.html
Good luck. I’ve used them on my kids but that was so long ago I can’t remember how I did it! I do remember that it was not a big deal at all to do.
They aren’t that bad nor are they hard to use at all. I used it on my son when he was born all the time! lol I personally think they are wonderful little tools… it’s not like a infant can clear his own nose! lol 🙂 You will get the hang of it don’t worry
Yes we used these,but I don’t like them and yes it was always a fight for me as well! LOL I have used the shorter rounded ones and find them easier I believe some one else mentioned that to. I like the battery powered one someone else mentioned also,it’s quicker. We also used saline spray for in their noses,and humidifiers along with vicks rub helped my 2 sets of twins.My 15 yr old still occasionally asks for a vicks rub when he’s a little congested.hehehe a comfort thing I think. Good luck
I was worried when I first used one. (Thought I was sucking his brains out!) Wait….he’s 20 now & maybe it wasn’t such a good idea!!! Just kidding….you’ll get the hang of it!
I used it exactly once. My middle son had RSV and was hopitalized and they used the “snucker” (snot+sucker=snucker). I was desperate after we got home so I put the saline in his nose and used it. I got out nothing but blood. And lots of it. I freaked and never used it again. When they are that congested I give them a bath with vapor bath. If they are too little or vapor bath, I fill the tub with vapor bath and put the baby tub with just water in that.
There was a lot of screaming, (he was screaming anyway from being so uncomfortable) but it did the trick.