Why does a newborn sneeze?

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Why do newborns and infants sneeze often?

When a baby sneezes, parents begin to take a closer look to see if the baby is sick. Grandmothers ooh and ahh, complaining that the parents have caught a cold in their newborn.

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We will tell you in this article what dangers lurk in tiny sneezing and why babies do it in the first place.

What is sneezing?

A child masters the ability to sneeze even before he is born, but for the first time he can demonstrate this skill to the world only after birth, when the airways are filled with air.

Sneezing is an unconditioned reflex designed to protect a person from the penetration of foreign and potentially dangerous bodies and microorganisms through the nose and nasopharynx.

By sneezing, the upper respiratory tract can be freed from dust and accumulated nasal mucus. Immediately before sneezing, the child experiences a tickling sensation in the nose, takes a quick breath, fills the lungs with air, and there is a sharp forced exit through the nasopharynx.

The characteristic sound is formed due to the position of the tongue and the glottis; the tongue rises and closes the nasopharynx. The intensity of exhalation at the level of the glottis in newborns and infants is very high - air is pushed out at a speed of about meters per second.

This entire lightning-fast process is regulated by special nerve cells at the level of the medulla oblongata. Receptors from the nasopharynx quickly transmit a signal through nerve cells to the brain about the invasion of something that has no place in it, the nasopharynx, and the brain gives the command to decisively expel the uninvited guest out.

Newborn sneezing

In the first months of life, babies have a very convincing and compelling reason for sneezing. The nasal passages and lumens of the upper respiratory tract of a baby are very narrow, and the reflex act of sneezing is the only way to protect them from the negative effects of the environment.

The very first “sneeze” is very often heard in the delivery room. This is how the baby tries to get rid of the remnants of mucus that filled the nasopharynx while in the aquatic environment of the mother’s womb. In the future, the baby may sneeze often; he has more than enough such reasons.

Typically, intense sneezing continues for up to 3-4 months, then gradually subsides. The manifestation of this protective reflex does not always indicate an illness, but in all cases, without exception, it is a signal for action on the part of the parents, because if the baby sneezes, then there is a reason that mom and dad have to find.

Causes

Physiological

The structural features of the nasal passages determine the very fact of sneezing. But for parents, the true reasons that trigger the reflex reaction mechanism remain unknown. And the most common and, by and large, completely harmless reasons lie in the fact that the mucous membranes of a child in the first 2-3 months of life are actively populated by microflora.

Since the immune system is still weak, the body reacts more vigilantly to microbes that try to settle in the nasopharynx. They have virtually no chance of getting to a place where they could show pathological activity.

The newborn sneezes less often. However, a child at 2-2.5 months can begin to sneeze almost constantly, this is due to the end of the process of colonization of microflora, now the baby’s mucous membranes have become a little more similar to adults.

The baby may sneeze for natural reasons even after feeding, if milk particles enter the nasopharynx during sucking.

There is evidence of a connection between the sucking process and sneezing, and many medical scientists are confident that the process of intense sucking itself can irritate the receptors in the nasopharynx. Then an erroneous signal is sent to the brain and the “sneeze” basically happens for no good reason.

This entire completely natural process can be accompanied by a so-called physiological runny nose. It manifests itself in the fact that in a dream the baby sniffles and grunts his nose.

Normally, nasal mucus remains clear and liquid. If dry crusts begin to form in the nose, the mucus thickens and changes color to yellow, yellow-green, gray-green, then this is a reason to think about the possible pathological causes of sneezing; such rhinitis can no longer be considered normal and natural.

Pathological

By sneezing, the baby’s body often reacts to the appearance of allergens in the nasopharynx. Such a runny nose is already considered allergic and may well be complicated by the addition of a bacterial infection.

You can distinguish normality from pathology by the accompanying clinical symptoms. If the baby not only sneezes, but also coughs, if the mucus thickens, and nasal breathing is difficult not only during sleep, but also during the day, during waking hours, if the child breathes through the mouth, then there is a possibility that the phenomenon is of an allergic nature.

Let’s immediately make a reservation that the baby must have special genetic prerequisites for allergies. If mom or dad are allergic, then frequent sneezing with impaired nasal breathing, red eyes, lacrimation, and coughing in the baby most likely indicates an allergy.

Familiar allergens can cause such a reaction in a baby - plant pollen, house dust, mold, skin flakes from pet hair, tobacco smoke and even mother’s harsh perfumes. In response to the ingress of such particles, the baby’s body will reliably react with a reflexive loud “sneeze.”

A baby can start sneezing even at the initial stage of a viral disease, and in this the grandmothers are partly right. But only partly, since ARVI is not and cannot be the fault of the parents - no one is ever immune from viruses, and such diseases have practically nothing to do with hypothermia.

Such sneezing precedes the acute stage of the disease. Literally after a few hours, the baby may begin to have a fever, cough, and liquid secretion (snot) begins to come out of the nose profusely.

When an illness begins by sneezing, the child’s body tries to protect itself from viral agents that have entered the nasopharynx, but it is usually not possible to completely get rid of them, the disease develops rapidly and it will not take long to guess about the true causes, since the symptoms of ARVI will become obvious quite quickly.

External

Anything from the outside that enters the nasopharynx can force the child’s body to defend itself using a protective mechanism such as sneezing. It could even be lint from the diaper the baby is wearing, or particles of nasal mucus that has dried out due to too dry air in the room.

Children who were born in late autumn and winter sneeze most often, because they have to spend the first weeks and months of independent life in the heating season.

Any heaters, radiators and other heating devices quickly and mercilessly dry the air and reduce its relative humidity. The nasal mucus, even in a completely healthy baby, begins to dry out and causes the receptors to send an alarm signal to the medulla oblongata again and again.

A baby can react with a violent “sneeze” to water that gets into the nasopharynx during bathing, to a sharp change in temperature, for example, when leaving the house for a walk, if it is winter and frost outside.

The mechanism of development of the reflex in response to bright light is very interesting. Thus, babies who are exposed to the sun often begin to sneeze. Experts in the field of neurology argue that the optic nerve, when overexcited, sends the SOS signal through the same nerve pathways as the nasopharynx receptors when foreign bodies penetrate it. Therefore, the decoding of the signal by the brain may be erroneous.

If the nose is bruised, or if parents make inept attempts to clean the nasal passages with turundas, just such a reflex reaction is also possible.

Unlike physiological sneezing, the reflex provoked by external factors should not be underestimated. If this factor cannot be found, then the exposure may continue, which may well lead to swelling of the nasal passages.

Swelling, drying out and thickening of mucus will lead to disruption of normal nasal breathing, and the child will begin to breathe through the mouth, which in turn is fraught with drying out of bronchial secretions, the development of an inflammatory process in the upper and lower respiratory tract, and complications such as pneumonia and bronchitis.

Appropriate measures should be taken to prevent this from happening.

What to do if your baby sneezes?

If your baby sneezes and coughs, you should definitely call a pediatrician so as not to miss the onset of a viral infection. It is impossible to prevent it, but in the earliest stages you can help your baby survive the illness more painlessly.

If the baby sneezes and has no other signs of illness, nasal breathing is not impaired, body temperature is normal, there is no cough, appetite and stool have not changed, then most likely nothing bad is happening.

The only difficulty in this case is to distinguish physiological sneezing from “sneezes” caused by unfavorable external factors. By and large, this is not required; it is enough to make the external conditions favorable and conducive to the healthy development of the baby’s respiratory organs, and the problem will be solved.

Humidify the air

Make sure that the room where the baby sleeps is not too hot. If winter is in full swing, radiators are mercilessly drying the air, start humidifying it. A device suitable for this is an air humidifier. You don’t have to buy an expensive ultrasonic device; you can get by with a steam one.

If there is no humidifier, and the family also does not have the opportunity to buy one, you can install an aquarium in the children's room or hang wet towels on the radiators, and make sure that the fabric does not dry out every day.

It is useful to acquire a room thermometer and a hygrometer - a device for measuring air humidity. Ideally, the temperature in the child’s room should not exceed 21 degrees Celsius, and the relative air humidity should be at 50-70%.

You can adjust the temperature using special valve regulators on the heating system. If the conditions are maintained within the specified limits, then the nasal mucus will not dry out, the child will breathe easier, and in case of illness he will recover faster.

It is better to abandon the idea of ​​using a heater in a children's room. You should especially be wary of oil heaters, which very quickly dry out the air in the room. If it seems that the baby is cold, it is better to dress him warmly, but do not heat the air in the room.

Ventilate and do wet cleaning

The room where the baby lives should be ventilated at least 2-3 times a day. It's better to do this before every sleep. When airing with your child, it is better to leave the nursery and return only when the air becomes fresh.

In winter, during periods of frost, you should only ventilate for a couple of minutes, since too cold air is also dry, but in other seasons the ventilation time should be increased to minutes.

Wet cleaning in the children's room is done daily, without using detergents. Household chemicals that contain chlorine are especially dangerous. It is this substance that, when released into the air that a child breathes, most often becomes the cause of allergies.

Declare war on house dust

In the room where the child sleeps there should be no carpets, long-pile bedspreads, or large soft toys, since all these things accumulate dust very quickly and in large quantities, which not only makes the child constantly sneeze, but can also cause a fairly strong allergic reaction. .

Dust also accumulates in books, and therefore they can only be stored in a room in a cabinet behind glass. The leaves of indoor plants should be wiped daily with a damp cloth, like all other surfaces.

Protect your child from allergens

Plant pollen and animal fur are not the best environment for a newborn baby. It is advisable to send flowering plants and a cat and dog to live in the next room or in the corridor.

You should wash your baby's diapers, undershirts and bedding only with hypoallergenic baby powder, the use of which is approved by dermatologists. If the baby shows a tendency to allergies, then the same powder should be used to wash the clothes of all people who come into close contact with the baby, pick him up, and help care for him.

The child's clothes should be made from natural fabrics and should not be too bright. Bright things with cartoon characters are things that contain textile dyes.

It is best to give preference to ordinary white cotton undershirts and rompers and the same bed linen and diapers, and the child will have time to show off in bright fashionable things when he grows up a little.

Do not give your baby medications at your own discretion, and do not introduce complementary foods too early.

A nursing mother needs to monitor her own diet so that food allergens do not pass into breast milk. It is advisable to give a formula-fed infant only a fully adapted milk formula; if funds allow, then it is better to generally give preference to a hypoallergenic formula.

Avoid using soap and other baby skin care products too often. A mother should not actively use perfume, especially if she is breastfeeding.

Give your baby water

Problems with the consistency of nasal mucus, as well as a host of other health problems for the child, can be avoided by remembering to often feed the baby regular boiled water from a bottle or teaspoon.

It is advisable to give it to your baby between feedings. The amount of fluid is determined by the child’s needs: babies who are bottle-fed need to be given more water than babies who are fed mother’s milk.

Rinse your nose

You should not give your child vasoconstrictor drops if he is just snoring. Firstly, a runny nose may turn out to be physiological, and, secondly, a rapid drug addiction develops to this group of drugs.

You can rinse your child’s nose several times a day with a saline solution prepared at home from boiled water and salt, or with a ready-made pharmacy “Aquamaris” or saline solution. Do not use sprays for this; it is best to instill liquid into the nasal passages using the most ordinary medical pipette.

Protect your baby from bright light

Make sure that the sunlight does not “hit” the baby’s eyes, so that the artificial lighting in the room is sufficient, but dim. The visual organs are not yet ready for such stress, and sneezing in response to bright light is not the only reason to protect your child.

What not to do

  • Smoking in the room where the baby is growing, as well as in the car in which it is transported.
  • Avoid walking if your baby sneezes. Sneezing is a reason to go and get some fresh air away from traffic and large numbers of people, and not a reason to lock your baby at home for fear of hypothermia.
  • It is incorrect to use an aspirator to remove excess nasal mucus. Repeated use of such a device increases the risk of infection.
  • Heat the room, fearing that the baby will get sick.

Neonatologist Guzel Usmanova will talk about why a newborn sneezes in the next video.

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Causes of sneezing in infants

The health of the baby is a subject of constant concern for parents. The slightest disturbance in the functioning of any body system causes them to panic. Therefore, every mother should know how to help her child in simple situations. Parents often come to the therapist with the question: “The baby is sneezing, what to do?” Every parent can find that the newborn is coughing and sneezing, but not everyone knows what to do in this case.

Firstly, you should find out why the newborn sneezes often, the reasons for this reaction of the body. Knowing the reason will allow you to act according to the situation. Only awareness will allow you to begin an effective fight against the runny nose.

Physiological factors

If a newborn is sneezing and coughing, this is not necessarily due to illness.

Often, a newborn sneezes a lot due to natural physiological reasons. The fact is that up to 2.5 months, children develop respiratory passages.

The Eustachian tube, which connects the nasopharynx and the tympanic cavity, is still in the process of formation. As a result, when breastfeeding, the baby may have a tickling sensation in the nose, which causes sneezing.

According to pediatricians, sneezing in newborns has a simple explanation: while the baby was in the womb, mucus accumulated in his nasopharynx, and after birth the body strives to clear the airways, which were not previously used since oxygen came with the mother’s blood.

A characteristic feature of newborns is the location of the nasal passage at a special angle, as a result of which edema and inflammatory processes rapidly spread to the larynx, trachea, and bronchi. Therefore, you need to be able to recognize the disease at an early stage.

Also, a newborn sneezes and this is normal when the mother is breastfeeding. This reaction is due to the fact that the Eustachian tube has not yet formed. When a baby suckles, he feels a tickling sensation in the nasopharynx. This causes him to sneeze periodically.

Other factors

If the nature of this body reaction is not allergic or a cold, then you should not worry. Soon your breathing will return to normal on its own.

Children and adults sneeze for the same reasons. The exception is newborns and infants, in whom this phenomenon is due to adaptation to the environment.

An infant exhibits all the natural reflexes characteristic of adults. Pediatricians note that a newborn sneezes in order to clear the nasopharynx of irritants. An infant sneezes often because his nostrils are still very small and even a drop of mucus can cause such a reaction.

If your baby coughs and sneezes, you need to rule out the development of bronchitis.

An infant may also sneeze for the following reasons:

1. Dry air (this is often how infants react to the start of the heating season).

2. Accumulation of dust on various objects with a porous surface.

3. The presence of allergens (wool with saliva, animal secretions, pollen, cosmetics, unusual food and various chemical compounds).

4. The presence of smoking people near the child. The baby begins to cough, sneeze, tears appear, and redness appears on the skin.

5. Conversion of nasal mucus into dried crusts. As a result, the nerve endings are irritated and the baby sneezes.

Possible allergens

The answer to why a newborn sneezes may lie in their diet. Sometimes allergies are caused by the inclusion of a new product in the diet.

If a mother is breastfeeding, she needs to adjust her diet to eliminate the presence of potentially allergenic substances in milk.

If parents suspect that pet fur is the allergen, a clinical sample should be submitted to confirm their concerns. If the result is positive, getting rid of the animal is not the only way out of the situation. Perhaps the problem will be solved by the use of shampoos and sprays to reduce wool allergy.

Also, during the period of breastfeeding a child, it is advisable for parents to quit smoking or at least wash thoroughly and change outer clothing after smoking.

If you regularly ventilate your child's room and humidify the air, pathogenic bacteria will die.

Cold factor

If a newborn baby sneezes frequently, develops snot, has a fever, or starts coughing, these signs often indicate a cold. The likelihood of its occurrence is quite high, since the immunity of a child under one year old is still weak and easily reacts to the causative agents of acute respiratory infections - viruses, bacteria.

A runny nose can be caused by slight hypothermia, and overheating can also be dangerous: due to loss of moisture through excessive sweating, the natural protective mechanism is weakened.

The nasal cavity is a favorable place for the active reproduction of pathogenic bacteria. As a result of their penetration into the body, mucus is deposited in the nose, making breathing difficult.

In turn, all past diseases contribute to the child’s developing immunity more actively.

Causes of hiccups

It is not uncommon for a newborn to hiccup and sneeze frequently. The causes of hiccups can be different, but sometimes wrapping the baby up warmer is enough to eliminate it.

Hiccups also occur due to physiological factors.

Often this symptom is a consequence of the child’s incorrect angle of inclination when feeding or overeating. Since the baby still has a small stomach, when it stretches, the diaphragm experiences pressure. This causes convulsive attacks. At the same time, the remaining milk is pushed out - belching occurs.

If a mother is bottle feeding her baby, the cause may be an incorrect nipple. Often the shape of this device leads to the swallowing of air bubbles along with the contents of the bottle, which causes hiccups.

The baby's nervous system does not yet have enough control over the diaphragm, but over time everything falls into place.

Temperature norm for children of different ages

When a 4-month-old child sneezes after measuring his temperature, parents often panic. However, it is worth considering that the norm for this age is 37 degrees. In addition, the evening is characterized by increased temperature, and the morning - decreased.

If a 6-month-old child sneezes and has a very high temperature, this may mean the presence of ARVI or influenza. At this age, the normal level is considered to be 36.6.

If the baby coughs and sneezes, but there is no fever, the presence of acute respiratory infections can be ruled out. However, the child should still be shown to an otolaryngologist, who will help determine why a newborn baby is sneezing.

If a two month old baby sneezes

If a child sneezes at 2 months, drinking plenty of fluids is good for him: boiled milk, natural juices, tea, compote. It is too early to treat such a baby with drops and antibiotics.

If you notice that a 2-month-old child often sneezes or produces snot, you need to eliminate possible allergens from the children's room. The air in this room should be clean and humid. Ensure periodic air flow by ventilating the room more often. A 2-month-old child sneezes and coughs if pathogens have a chance to survive.

It is necessary to prevent mucus from drying out to avoid obstructive bronchitis and pneumonia.

If a child at 3 months is coughing and sneezing, during an examination, the pediatrician will determine whether such symptoms are of a cold nature. A sign of a cold is thick, yellowish mucus.

If a child is coughing and sneezing at 4 months, you need to monitor his health. If it worsens, you should call a doctor. If there is mucus in the lungs, the doctor will most likely prescribe mucolytics - drugs that speed up the discharge of mucus. You may also need vibration massage of the chest. If there is no sputum, treatment will be more effective with cough suppressants.

If a 5-month-old child sneezes, you can use Nazivin. The maximum treatment period for infants over 3 months is 3 days. This drug reduces swelling in the nose, suppresses the process of mucus formation, and increases its viscosity.

Sneezing and coughing in a 3-6 month old baby

If a 6-month-old child sneezes and the snot does not allow him to breathe freely, use drops that can be used from 3 months. These drugs have different effects: moisturizing, vasoconstrictor, antiviral.

If a baby sneezes and coughs, this almost always indicates an infection. You can tell that a child’s chest hurts when sneezing by pressing on the middle of it.

If a newborn baby coughs and sneezes, it is recommended to use nasal drops Aquamaris, Aqualor baby, Derinat (have an immunomodulatory effect).

Coughing and sneezing in a baby can also occur when a foreign body enters the nose. To eliminate the symptom, you need to remove the foreign object.

Sneezing and runny nose in seven-month-old babies

Children as young as 7 months often develop a runny nose if the room they are in is poorly ventilated. The pathogenic organisms contained in the dust cause snot in the baby, and he sneezes in order to ease his breathing.

Therefore, the newborn sneezes and snot are also a consequence of an allergic reaction. To prevent this phenomenon, parents should take their child for walks more often and ventilate his room.

Observe whether the 7-month-old child has runny nose and sneezes after eliminating allergens. If the runny nose continues, it is caused by a cold.

Snot in a 7-month-old child, as in children older than this age, most often indicates a cold. Due to the fact that the nasal passage at this stage of life is quite narrow, any viral infection provokes congestion.

For a child who is already 7 months old, the otolaryngologist may prescribe lavage.

How to clear mucus from a child's nose

Often, the delicate mucous membrane of a child’s nose is irritated by dried crusts, which he cannot remove on his own. Therefore, the baby’s nostrils need to be cleaned. For this purpose, you cannot use a cotton swab, only a cotton swab dipped in warm boiled water. The cotton wool is placed in the nostril, then rotated clockwise. After cleaning one nostril, the flagellum is changed and the next nostril is cleaned.

White snot goes away on its own, so there is no need to look for a way to remove it. It is enough to rinse your nostrils with an isotonic solution of sea water. A 3-month-old baby should be instilled with a few drops of a salt solution.

If a child sneezes at 3 months, snot forms in his nose, this most often indicates the presence of a viral infection.

The presence of a viral infection can be ascertained if the color of the mucus changes from white to green, and the consistency becomes more viscous, which prevents its discharge from the nose. In this case, the nostrils must be cleaned regularly. For this purpose, you can use special devices: aspirators, pears. If you don’t have one at home, you can use a regular syringe without a needle.

Remedies for fighting children's runny nose

The following signs indicate nasal congestion: difficulty breathing, sneezing, intermittent breastfeeding.

When a child reaches 6–7 months of age, a runny nose may occur due to teething. This is indicated by swelling in the gum area and increased temperature.

Many medications for the common cold can only be used from the age of two. In such a situation, solutions containing Adriatic Sea salt are an excellent alternative for infants. To purchase these drugs you do not need a doctor's prescription, and their dosage is practically unlimited. Regular saline solution is also a safe way to rinse the nose.

It is also advisable to purchase an inhaler, which can also be used to alleviate the condition of children under one year of age.

According to pediatricians, a mild runny nose in children over 2 years of age need not be treated, since the immune system can already cope with the disease on its own.

Treatment

If your baby sneezes frequently, his temperature rises, his breathing becomes difficult, or he starts coughing, you should immediately show him to a doctor who will prescribe effective treatment.

First of all, you need to find out why your baby sneezes often.

To treat a runny nose in infants, you can resort to a folk remedy such as herbal inhalations. For this purpose, you can use mint, chamomile, eucalyptus, and bay leaf. But such therapy should be carried out very carefully so as not to cause allergies. It is useful to massage active points on the nose and apply a curd compress.

To prevent mucus from accumulating in the sinuses, a baby with a severe runny nose should be positioned so that his head is elevated.

To avoid pneumonia, everything must be done to ensure that the child continues to breathe through his nose. If the baby begins to involve his mouth in this process, his condition will inevitably worsen: the pulmonary mucus will dry out, the bronchi will become clogged, and inflammation will begin.

Prevention

Sometimes an infant coughs and sneezes, trying to get rid of a large accumulation of phlegm in the lungs. To avoid this condition, you need to avoid the accumulation of dust and pathogens: ventilate the room, do wet cleaning.

This reaction of the body can also be caused by such an external irritant as aromatic pungent odors. Therefore, you need to freshen the air naturally, and not with the help of chemicals. Therefore, you should get rid of the habit of spraying various fragrances in the children's room. The interior of this room should consist mainly of items based on natural materials.

It is necessary to minimize the impact of factors that provoke dryness and irritation of the nasal mucosa.

If the air in the room dries out, it is recommended to humidify it using appropriate devices and a spray bottle. In addition, you can place a damp sheet in the baby's room.

Regular preventative measures should include wet cleaning, room ventilation, and dust removal. It is better that there are no soft toys or fluffy carpets in the room.

Author: Anastasia Pugachenko

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Is sneezing in newborns normal or a cause for concern?

The birth of a child is the happiest moment in the life of many people, but with the appearance of such a baby, worries about her life also arise in the family. Sneezing very often occurs in newborns immediately after they are born, which raises many questions from young parents. Every mother should know that when a newborn sneezes, his nasal passages are cleansed, because while in the womb, the baby did not have such an opportunity.

Causes of sneezing in children

Experts also identify other causes of sneezing in newborns - there is a lot of mucus in the nasal cavity of a child who has just been born, and it continues to be produced in excessively large quantities for some time. Mucus causes crusts to form in the nose, causing involuntary sneezing.

When is there cause for concern?

Sneezing in a newborn can be caused by various allergens

Unfortunately, it is not always the norm for a newborn baby to sneeze frequently; it is important to know the situations that cause concern on the part of parents. First of all, it is important to know that a child can sneeze because there are irritants in the air that have a far from beneficial effect on the child’s body. Knowing why a baby often sneezes, namely because of the presence of an allergen in the air, it is necessary to ventilate the room more often and carry out wet cleaning.

A baby may often sneeze due to strong odors, so in a home where there is a newborn baby, it is worth avoiding, if possible, the use of scented products, especially those intended for the child’s personal hygiene. We should not forget that such a reaction can be caused by tobacco smoke, therefore, if the baby’s dad is nicotine dependent, if possible, it is advisable to reduce his contact with the baby until the allergy disappears.

Humidifying the air prevents sneezing

The reason why an infant sneezes often may also be the excessive dryness of the room where he is. To increase air humidity, you can use a special device - an air humidifier. However, it is important not to allow high humidity - more than 50%, as it also causes harm to the body, like dry air.

One should not rule out the reason why newborns often sneeze, that they may simply freeze and get sick. In this case, you should definitely contact your pediatrician for a thorough examination of the baby and prescribe the correct treatment.

Allergists say that a common reason why a newborn baby sneezes frequently is an allergic reaction to pollen from certain plants or synthetic materials. In case of allergies, this process should not be left to chance, since it can be very dangerous for the health, and even for the life of the child.

In any case, if such a symptom is detected, you should consult a pediatrician, since only a specialist can determine the true reasons why a baby is sneezing.

Procedure for cleaning a baby's nose

Despite the fact that an infant sneezes often, additional cleaning of his nose is still required. This needs to be done daily, because a baby’s nasal passages are very narrow, and debris, and even breast milk, can easily get stuck in them. The procedure must be carried out carefully, using a special aspirator. To clean the nose, you need to prepare cotton wool; it is strictly forbidden to use cotton swabs, as they can injure the nasopharyngeal mucosa. You need to roll 2 thin flagella from sterile cotton wool, moisten them in warm boiled water and stick them into the nasal passages, scrolling clockwise several times.

If a child under 2 months of age sneezes frequently and does not have allergies or a cold, there is no reason to worry; over time, this process will disappear on its own. In other situations, parents should immediately seek help from a pediatrician.

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Why does a newborn sneeze?

In Scotland, there is a legend that if a newborn sneezes, fairies will protect him. This, of course, is great, but a real mother does not rely only on the protection of fairies, but always tries to find out for herself why her baby suddenly began to sneeze.

There are several reasons why a newborn baby sneezes, and we will look at them in detail in this article. But so that parents do not worry ahead of time, we will immediately make a reservation that the baby does not always sneeze because he is sick.

Natural causes of sneezing in newborns

Often the cause of sneezing in a baby is the immaturity of some of its organs and regulatory mechanisms.

Physiological runny nose

In the womb, the baby's natural habitat was a liquid environment, and the nose always remained wet. But after birth, the child needs to start breathing on his own, and one of the important functions of any nose is that the air passing through it must be warmed and moistened. However, the regulatory functions in the newborn’s body have not yet been adjusted, and more mucus begins to be released in the nose than necessary. Then this mucus dries, and crusts form in the baby’s nasal passages, which simply tickle him from the inside. The natural reaction to irritation in this case is sneezing. The nose strives to free itself from irritants.

To prevent a newborn from being bothered by a physiological runny nose, and therefore sneezing, it is necessary to clean his nose with a twisted flagellum made of cotton wool or a bandage. The flagellum should be moistened with petroleum jelly. You should not use cotton swabs for these purposes, because they can injure the delicate mucous membrane of a small nose.

Eustachian tube immaturity

If a newborn sneezes immediately after feeding, this only indicates the immaturity of his eustachian tube, which connects the baby’s middle ear and nasopharynx. Natural irritation of the nasal cavity occurs and the baby sneezes.

Sneezing due to external irritants

Sneezing in a newborn may also be due to external factors that irritate the baby’s nose.

Dry air and dust

Dry air in the room dries out the mucous membrane of the infant's nose, any speck of dust or lint becomes a strong irritant, and natural cleansing mechanisms are activated again, that is, the child sneezes.

In this case, the most reasonable solution would be mandatory daily wet cleaning. And the dust will be collected and the air will become more humid. To get rid of dryness in the room, you can additionally install a special humidifier.

Smell

Sneezing can be a reaction to an unpleasant odor for the baby, for example, if the mother put on a little more perfume than usual, or the father smoked before picking up the newborn.

If there is a small child at home, then it is best to avoid the presence of strong odors, so as not to further irritate the baby’s delicate sense of smell.

Allergy

Sneezing in a newborn may be a sign of an incipient allergy. If there are animals in the house, then take a closer look to see if the baby begins to sneeze more often if a cat or dog is near him. It is best not to allow animals into the baby’s room at all. By the way, fish food is also a strong allergen.

Sometimes a child begins to sneeze only when his parents go outside with him. This happens especially often among children who live next to the road. Exhaust fumes and polluted air can cause sneezing, so you should only walk away from roads, for example, in a park or green courtyard behind the house.

If sneezing is accompanied by redness or rashes, this is a serious allergic symptom. Then you need to contact your pediatrician and allergist and talk about your concerns.

Sneezing is a sign of a cold

Of course, if you hear that a newborn sneezed, then in no case can you rule out an incipient illness. One “sneeze” is not an indicator, but if a child behaves restlessly, is capricious, if his temperature has risen and a runny nose has begun, then you need to urgently consult a doctor.

Be healthy, baby! And if the fairies want to protect you, then we don’t mind at all.

Source: http://www.kinderok.ru/grudnichok/newborn/pochemu-novorozhdennyy-chihaet.html

Why does a newborn baby sneeze often: physiological runny nose in an infant and other reasons

When a baby sneezes, he exhibits an unconditioned reflex, characteristic of absolutely any person. This reaction occurs to certain irritants entering the nose. Did your baby sneeze once? It doesn't matter, there's no reason to worry.

Repeated sneezing may be a symptom of the disease. With timely treatment, you can help the baby as soon as possible, but first it is important to observe the baby and check if other signs of the disease have appeared. If they are present, you should take action as soon as possible.

Constant sneezing may be a symptom of a medical condition if other signs are also present.

Age characteristics

Newborns

Sneezing may depend on the age of the body. Thanks to theoretical knowledge, it will be possible to find out the root cause and take measures to prevent it.

Sometimes inexperienced parents begin to panic if their newborn sneezes frequently. You should know that the presence of a physiological runny nose is an absolutely natural phenomenon. After birth, the child begins to adapt to the environment, including the respiratory organs. While in the mother's tummy, the baby was in a liquid environment, and therefore its mucous membranes did not form. After birth, the mucous surfaces begin their formation, which will last about 10 weeks. Parents need to take into account the imperfection of the mucous membrane and the possibility of a physiological runny nose.

The mucous membrane needs the opportunity to engage in self-regulation. The process is natural and normal, because during this period the baby adapts to environmental conditions and adjusts its humidity level. The body is working, and the mother is already beginning to treat the baby, dripping from the nose. Such interference creates difficulty in the adaptation process. As a result, the parent will get the opposite effect: attempts to dry the mucus will only increase its amount.

The main task of parents of a newborn during the first 12 weeks is observation. It is important to be able to distinguish a physiological runny nose from a viral type of illness. Additional symptoms indicating the presence of the disease will include: sneezing, increased body temperature, moodiness and restlessness, and lack of appetite.

Newborn babies may sneeze during feeding, which is associated with an incompletely formed eustachian tube, as well as with the accumulation of postpartum mucus in the nasopharynx.

Sometimes pediatricians receive questions from parents like this: why does a newborn sneeze, is the phenomenon related to teething? This is possible, but only indirectly. Teething greatly undermines children's immunity, so the baby begins to get sick a lot - therefore, he may already develop snot, coughing, and sneezing.

Preschoolers

Children prone to allergic reactions will react to irritants with increased regularity. A characteristic symptom accompanying an allergy is repeated sneezing. It stops as soon as the object of the allergy itself (dust, citrus fruits, wool, pollen, fragrances) is removed from the action zone. This symptom is most pronounced in the preschool period. To identify the cause of the allergy, you should consult an allergist, who, after receiving the test results, will prescribe an antihistamine.

Pupils

A child attending school most often “catch” various viruses and infections that are accompanied by sneezing. You can catch such diseases both at school and on public transport. A large number of children in particular and people in general are a favorite habitat for various infections. If you notice other signs in a child besides sneezing (the baby sniffles and coughs), you should leave him at home for several days so that he does not infect others, and start treating him.

If a student catches a “cold” or a virus, it is better to leave the child at home for a few days and receive treatment

Symptoms

If your one-month-old baby sneezes frequently and a lot, you should watch him more closely. The presence of additional signs of the disease will help determine the nature of the reaction:

  • Runny nose. Sneezing, accompanied by the discharge of clear mucus from the nose, is a manifestation of a cold. In this case, it is important to start treatment immediately. The speed of reaction will contribute to a milder course of the disease and a speedy recovery. When a baby's nose is stuffy, but nothing is flowing from it, this indicates an allergic nature of sneezing.
  • Itching. Sneezing accompanied by itching of the eyes is a sign of an allergy. The irritant gets not only into the nasal mucosa, but also into the eyes. The baby scratches his eyes, they begin to water and turn red. If you suspect conjunctivitis, check for sneezing. When sneezing is accompanied by scratching of the nose, there is no reason to worry. Most likely, the culprit is a speck or speck of dust that has gotten into the nasal passage. They caused a characteristic tickling in the nose and sneezing. In less than an hour everything will be over. The only precaution is to ensure that small objects do not get into the respiratory tract.
  • Cough. Is sneezing accompanied by coughing? This means that the cold is already in full swing in the body. The disease has progressed from the incubation period, now you should consult a doctor for comprehensive treatment.

There are times when a child coughs and ends up coughing. This phenomenon is a reaction to the presence of pathogenic microflora or to medications already used.

Diagnostics

Non-stop sneezing in the absence of other symptoms requires, first of all, a visit to the pediatrician. The doctor will perform an initial examination and then refer you to a specialist appropriate for the case, this may be an ENT specialist or an allergist. Diagnosis of the disease will consist of the following:

  • examination of the nasal passages and pharynx;
  • urine and blood tests for the presence of viruses and infections;
  • bacterial culture from mucous membranes;
  • taking tests to identify the allergen.

As you can see, nothing terrible awaits your baby. The entire diagnosis is quite simple and safe, which means feel free to take your child to the doctor if you are concerned about his frequent sneezing. If the nature of the disease is obvious, you can resort to treating the baby at home.

How to help?

Newborns

What to do if your baby sneezes often? How to stop the series of “sneezes” and help the baby? The most important thing is to determine the cause of this phenomenon.

When a baby sneezes, there is no reason to worry. The absence of additional signs of disease (conjunctivitis, runny nose, cough) indicates that the baby’s health is fine.

A physiological runny nose in a newborn can go away very quickly, especially if the following conditions are met:

  1. the room is cool and humid (temperature up to 22˚С, and humidity - about 60%);
  2. regular wet cleaning and ventilation;
  3. The child eats mother’s milk, which means he constantly trains his nasopharynx thanks to the sucking movements inherent in nature itself.

In the absence of these conditions, the body may take longer to adapt to external conditions and, as a result, parents will notice a pronounced physiological runny nose in the infant. If generally accepted sanitary standards are violated, the baby may even have complications. Sneezing will disappear within 4-6 months, when the Eustachian tube finishes forming and postpartum mucus finally leaves the body.

For a cold

Steam baths

Frequent sneezing with snot is a sign of a developing cold. In 75% of cases this is true. The task of parents is to stop the spread of the virus or infection in the bud.

For the procedure, take oak bark, raspberry leaves, eucalyptus or mint, coltsfoot, chamomile and black currant. You can use them individually or brew them as mixtures. The herbs should be chopped and poured with boiling water. Cover the child with a towel so that he can breathe in the beneficial fumes. Such procedures can be done after 3 years of age. Inhalers will come to the aid of younger children, thanks to which the baby will be able to breathe in decoctions of herbs or essential oils. It will also be useful to breathe in the vapors of potatoes, onions or garlic. After the procedure, you should put the baby to sleep, wrapping him well.

Using an inhaler will help you get rid of an unpleasant symptom faster

Vitamin teas and warm baths

  • Русский
  • Folk recipes. Don't forget about the benefits of vitamin teas with linden, raspberries, honey, ginger and lemon. It’s a good idea to give your baby onions and garlic in their pure form. The virus and infection will quickly end before they have time to enter into full force.
  • Warming herbal baths. For baths, take the following herbs: fir, sage, calendula, birch leaves, yarrow. To brew, you need 50 g of herb, which should be poured with 1 liter of boiling water. Leave the broth in a thermos for about 2 hours. The water in the bathroom should be about 37˚C, pour the contents of the thermos into it, after straining it. You can take medicinal baths for more than 15 minutes. It is possible to use herbal infusions for foot baths. After the procedure, dress the baby warmly (pajamas and woolen socks), give him vitamin tea to drink and put him to bed. After such manipulations, the baby will wake up the next morning cheerful and without sneezing, and the snot will go away within a day.

Rubbing and wraps

  • Русский
  • Rubbing. Does a newborn baby often sneeze and is this accompanied by snot and cough? A medicinal ointment for rubbing will help you. To prepare it, take ½ cup of sunflower oil, adding 4-5 drops of cypress, lavender or peppermint essential oil. Rubbing should be done along certain lines. Thanks to the actions of an adult, a bactericidal barrier is created for the body, and essential oils perfectly fight the runny nose.
  • Wraps. When a baby sneezes, we recommend applying Doctor Mom ointment to the chest, legs and back. After applying the ointment, wrap the child warmly (pajamas, warm socks) and put him to bed. In the morning, the baby will wake up cheerful and healthy.

Rubbing helps to quickly improve the condition of the baby and ease his breathing.

Useful tips

  1. maintain a high level of humidity in the room;
  2. let's drink plenty of liquids other than soda;
  3. the presence of a severe runny nose requires rinsing the nose;
  4. regular ventilation of the room;
  5. daily walks;
  6. taking multivitamins;
  7. supplement your diet with fruits and vegetables.

The initial stage of a cold does not require taking medications. Try to cope with traditional medicine. Ineffectiveness of actions and worsening of the disease requires a visit to the doctor for consultation.

For allergies

Knowing that an infant is sneezing due to an exacerbation of allergies, parents should resort to first aid rules. This will help avoid problems in the future, because allergies tend to become chronic:

  1. rid the child of the source of the allergy;
  2. give an antihistamine: Suprastin, Diazolin, Claritin;
  3. rinse the spout;
  4. ventilate the room;
  5. Ideally, take them outside to get some fresh air.

The above tips will help parents relieve painful symptoms and stop sneezing. These measures solve not only a one-time problem, but also help prevent complications in the future, as well as the development of serious diseases. It is important not to miss the danger and notice the alarming “sneeze” in time.

Prevention

Dr. Komarovsky advises preventing sneezing in children through simple means:

  1. strengthen immunity;
  2. harden the baby;
  3. cure illnesses to the end;
  4. avoid contact with potential allergens;
  5. ventilate the room;
  6. periodically turn off heating devices;
  7. walk outdoors more often.

When a child sneezes a lot and often, you shouldn’t let it happen. It is likely that this is how the body reacts to a disease developing inside. Try to establish the cause and identify the irritant. Correct diagnosis and timely treatment are a guarantee of a quick recovery. Don't let the infection spread to your loved ones.

Attention! All information on the site is provided for informational purposes only and is for informational purposes only. For all questions regarding the diagnosis and treatment of diseases, you must consult a doctor for an in-person consultation.

Source: http://vseprorebenka.ru/zdorove/simptomy/novorozhdennyj-chasto-chihaet.html