Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: You.
Hello and welcome to a Wonder Care podcast. I'm Sheena Mitchell, pharmacist and mum of three. I combine healthcare and practical advice to support you on your parenting journey.
[00:00:14] Speaker B: I am delighted to partner with one of my all time favorite products, salon plus, this is the world's 1st 100% natural dry salt therapy device. It's clinically proven to relieve a wide variety of allergens and respiratory conditions. This salt therapy method has been trusted for generations and has become hugely popular worldwide. As more and more people recognize the superb results achieved from a natural and noninvasive method, this device will help you breathe easier and sleep better.
[00:00:46] Speaker A: Today I'm talking all things congestion. Unfortunately, there's a rise of entrovirus, rhinovirus, and lots of other viruses that cause a runny or blocked nose. A runny nose can be so distressing for babies, in particular because they use their nostrils to breathe when they're feeding at nighttime. Things can get worse because of the dry, cold air and the fact that your baby's lying flat on their back, mucus can sometimes get a little bit thicker and more difficult to drain. What often develops then is called a postnasal drip, where you have thickened mucus or secretions running down the back of your child's throat. This can cause irritation in their upper airways and cause coughing at night. There are lots of different ways to try and reduce the impact of congestion for your child during the day. I love to use a saline nasal spray. I like these because they're drug free, natural, and they just work by clearing the nasal passageways and also because of the saline content of them, they can sometimes calm the nostrils down. There's so many different brands out there. One of my favorite products is the calpal saline spray. This is because it is suitable from birth and it's really quite gentle. They also do one that's called a blocked nose spray and just keep an eye out when you're shopping because this one is only suitable from three years and over. I'll pop a link to these in the show notes another product, which is a little stronger spray wise, but is actually extremely handy because the spray will work at any angle. It's the steremar baby nasal spray, so you can use it while cradling your baby in your arms. Obviously keep them a little bit upright, but it's not as hard to administer as the caliphal spray. Some people prefer to use saline drops and there's lots of different brands of them on the market. I find a spray gets up a little bit easier myself, but really it's down to personal preference. There's also the snuffle babe saline nasal spray and this is also suitable from birth, like the calpal one. I will say that the calpal one can be kept for twelve weeks after opening it, whereas the snuffle babe one can only be kept for eight. So just something to keep in mind for young babies. I'd recommend using an nasal spray about ten minutes before a feed and use it before bedtime as well. If you're finding nighttime is a really big challenge, a humidifier can be really useful. We stock the medisana one again. I'll pop a link in the notes, but it can be left running overnight in their bedroom. And it is a real help because it adds humidity to the air and it can help to keep that mucus thinner so that it doesn't get as clogged up in your baby's air passageways at night. Sometimes this can be really helpful if your child is not getting more than a couple of hours out of using a nasal saline spray. This runs all night and it stops mucus from accumulating in the chest. It can help to reduce the risk of infection and it offers great relief for the symptoms of coughs and colds in babies. You can also actually add a couple of drops of snuffle babe vapor oil, which is a gentle blend of lemon, pine and tea tree oil. And it's a natural decongestant and it has antiseptic and antibacterial properties, so it helps to kind of soothe and clear your baby's breathing at night. This can actually be added to the medicanic humidifier. There's a little aroma section on the side of it, not into the main drum. But if you don't have a humidifier, you can just add a few drops of it to a bowl of warm water, which is placed out of reach. You can also put a few drops on a damp cloth and put that on a radiator if the radiator is going to be on in the evening. Other things that can help with congestion are to tilt the bed a little bit. It can just stop the mucus from getting trapped and irritating their airways during the night. You can also use a nasal aspirator. They can be quite daunting to use, but they are quite good at sucking persistent lumps of mucus out of the airways. Snuffle babe actually do a really nice hygienic one which has a clever little filter in it because it helps you to suck through a mouthpiece to really loosen any mucus from the nostrils. I know it sounds really gross, but this one is hygienic. Don't worry, you won't ever suck up any surprises, so that's a relief. This sounds like a simple thing, but if your child is old enough to blow their nose, do make sure they do it regularly and use good hand hygiene practices afterwards. Make sure they're drinking loads because being hydrated can really help to prevent mucus from thickening. So it's really important to prevent dehydration as well. Often mucus in the nasal passageways can just make your babies feel a little bit sick and off. So I definitely recommend making sure that they're drinking plenty of fluids because they just might not be as thirsty as they normally are. If your child's mucus is colored any color other than clear, so it's yellow, green or red, then it's important to bring them to the GP. And finally, if you find that your child is suffering from congestion, it's a good idea to keep an open mind. Sometimes it can be things like allergy. So even a dust allergy or a food allergy in young babies, you can get milk protein allergy, and sometimes this can actually show itself up as congestion. Congestion of a viral nature should really resolve itself within two to three weeks at most. At this time of year, I always plug in my salon plus device because it is a salt therapy device, which cleans the air from any dust particles that are flying around, and it also disperses microcrystalline salt particles into the air, which are tiny, tiny, tiny pieces of salt which are so small that your baby or child can breathe them in and they get right down into the airways. The salt sits on the mucous membranes and helps to draw out mucus so that it doesn't stay stuck in your baby's chest. It also helps to reduce inflammation, usually. I have found that anyone who has kind of chronic sinusitis problems or recurrent colds, the salon plus can really help to prevent a flare up. It is worth noting that if you're going to use a humidifier, it's really important not to use your salon plus at the same time. In fact, I'd go as far as to say remove the salon plus from the room. Even if you have it unplugged, pick it up and remove it to another room, which isn't going to have an increase in humidity because the salon plus can actually salt absorbs water, basically. So water can end up pooling in the bottom of your machine and it can wreck it. So definitely don't use it in a room or even store it in a room where you're using a humidifier. My general go to plan is that I have the salon plus on, which helps to prevent any incidences of coughs or congestion. But on the rare occasion that they do happen, I move my salon plus machine out of the room and I use a humidifier if my child is getting particularly thick mucus in the middle of the night and I don't want their sleep disturbed or mine, if I'm perfectly honest, with coughing and nasal irritation and throat and irritation. So I find it really helpful to do a combination of the saline nasal sprays and a humidifier. Or as I said, you can absolutely just put a damp towel on the radiator and even if you have a few drops of that snuffle babe oil, that really helps some people if they don't have a humidifier. Because life is expensive enough at the moment, anything that we can do without spending money is helpful for families. So even putting a few pillows on the floor of a bathroom after someone has had a steamy shower and sitting there to read a bedtime story or to do the last feed of the evening can be actually really helpful to clear the airways before bedtime. Now, I know it's not very glamorous sitting on the floor of your bathroom while doing your bedtime routine with the kids, but this is a really easy way to ensure that their airways are primed for a good night's sleep. There is another option which is albus nasal spray. Albus is a very well known brand in Ireland and it is a hypertonic nasal spray. So that means that it has a higher salt concentration and it can be a little bit more effective at pulling mucus out and reducing inflammation in the nasal passageways. It is only suitable for children six years of age and older. It also contains menthol and eucalyptus. The only non natural decongestant nasal spray which is suitable for use in children would be pseudofed nasal spray. Now this is only for children over six years of age. Again, and really it's only for short term use. It contains a drug which reduces congestion and inflammation in the airways. But always speak to your pharmacist when you're buying this product. I would always recommend using the more natural options first. I really recommend your children go and get the flu vaccine. It's absolutely free for children between the age of two and 17. And while we're speaking about nasal sprays, it's worth mentioning the flu vaccine is a nasal spray for that age group. It is a live vaccine but it is impossible for it to cause the flu illness. It literally can just cause things like a bit of a blocked nose and maybe a bit of a fever the next day. So it's not a scary vaccine. It's really easy and it can really help to reduce the risk of flu circulating within our communities. I hope you found that helpful and I will chat to you again soon. Thanks so much for listening. Please follow this podcast if you can so that I can keep it going. It really helps to support the show. You can even leave a little review that is extremely helpful and absolutely get in touch at Sheena so Sheena at Wonderbaba ie with any suggestions for episodes or with any questions that you have. There is so much to talk about and I'm happy to try and help and support your family's respiratory health in any way I can over the forthcoming month. Thank you so much. Bye.
