I’m not seeking medical advice, just some reassurance. My one-week-old has sounded congested since we brought them home, but there are no visible boogers or mucus. My partner is very anxious about every little noise the baby makes, which has made me anxious to the point of losing sleep. Our baby has a doctor’s appointment tomorrow, so I plan on discussing this with the pediatrician. Is it normal for a one-week-old to sound so congested? Is there anything I can do to help alleviate it? Our baby doesn’t seem to have any trouble breathing, is eating well, and has enough wet diapers. I’m just feeling very anxious because I don’t feel well-informed about newborns.
Newborns primarily breathe through their noses. If your baby’s nose were severely blocked, it would affect their breathing and they would cry to alert you. There are rare cases where babies have a congenital condition called “choanal atresia,” where they can only breathe by crying and may turn blue if not crying.
If your baby can breastfeed without needing to pause frequently for breaths, it indicates they can breathe through their nose. Babies with significant nasal blockage often struggle to breastfeed because they need to breathe through their nose while feeding.
It sounds like what you’re noticing is likely “stertor,” which is noisy nasal breathing and quite common in babies. As long as your baby isn’t struggling for breath, making frequent high-pitched inspiratory sounds (called “stridor”), or turning blue, everything seems fine. However, it’s always a good idea to have the pediatrician confirm this during your appointment.
Since we brought our baby home, they’ve experienced congestion issues that continue intermittently even now at 4 months old. Despite multiple doctor visits when it’s severe, nothing abnormal has been found. We suspect it may be allergies, which we hope will improve as their nasal passages grow, they were incredibly small as newborns and in the early months!
It was quite frightening and caused a lot of anxiety initially, but our baby is healthy and content now.
I remember thinking about this when we brought the baby home. It does improve over time. Their nasal passages are very narrow, so even slight congestion can make them sound congested. We placed humidifiers throughout the house and maintained humidity around 40% near the bassinet. Occasionally, we also used saline nasal drops to clear their nasal passages. Apart from that, it’s mostly a matter of waiting and letting time help.