It’s so hard to hear our precious babies struggling to breathe when they're congested.
You can use your Glow Dreaming’s ultrasonic cool-mist humidifier to help your little one breathe more easily and give them relief from congestion – even if your baby is too young for most other medicines and remedies.
Does increasing humidity help ease congestion?
According to the National Asthma Council, the ideal indoor humidity range is between 30 and 50%: using heaters in winter can dry out the air in your home, taking you below this healthy range.
Viruses, like those that cause colds and flu, thrive in cold, dry air conditions: dry air can also irritate our sensitive nasal passages and sinuses, which can make it harder to shake symptoms like congestion.
Gently increasing the humidity in your space can help thin out the mucus which blocks up the sinuses when we’re unwell, making it easier for us all to breathe and to recover more quickly from sickness.
My newborn is too young for most medication – how can I help them?
If your baby is 8 weeks or older, you can add a few drops of essential oils like our amazing Nose and Chest or Immune Boost blends to encourage deeper breathing and really help ease those nasty symptoms.
https://glowdreaming.com/collections/oil/products/my-childs-health-2-pack
If you have a newborn or just prefer not to use essential oils, it’s still really helpful to run plain, fresh tap water through your humidifier.
This will gently increase the humidity in your space, which helps to ease swelling in the sinuses, so that mucus can drain more freely and we can breathe more easily.
How do I use my Glow Dreaming humidifier?
If your little one is struggling with congestion we recommend using your humidifier both day and night.
Overnight, we recommend filling your Glow Dreaming with 450ml fresh water and using the 10 hour setting to promote deep breathing when they’re congested and blocked up. On this setting, your humidifier will turn itself off when the water is mostly gone, while the pink noise and red light will stay on all night until you turn them off in the morning.
Point the stream of cool mist towards your little one to get the full benefits.
If the bedroom is smaller than 2m x 2m, it’s good to leave the door open to ensure the best air circulation overnight. If the room is larger, you can run the humidifier with the door closed.
Our ultrasonic cool-mist humidifier has no heating element that could be risky for your little one; it stays cool to the touch all through the night.
Remember to clean the water tank and lid of your Glow Dreaming thoroughly with hot soapy water regularly, and always change the water out for completely fresh water for every use.
Sinus massage
When my toddler was a newborn, my heart just broke to hear him snuffling and struggling with congestion. Along with using my Glow Dreaming humidifier, I also liked to give my baby a sinus massage to help drain his nasal passages and help him breathe more easily.
Massage increases blood flow to the sinuses to help ease congestion and helps to ease swelling in the nasal passages to allow mucus to drain more quickly and freely. Massage also helps your baby feel connected to you, which stimulates their brain to release endorphins, serotonin and oxytocin – these are the hormones that help us feel happy, safe and comforted.
You can use a couple of drops of baby oil or plain, cold-pressed olive oil on your fingertips with your newborn baby during a sinus massage. If your baby is older than 8 weeks, you might like to try our Massage and Compress oil, which contains essential oils that also encourage relaxation and deeper breathing.
https://glowdreaming.com/collections/oil/products/baby-teething-oil-compress-massage
Use the pads of your forefingers to gently but firmly stroke the sides of your baby’s nose, starting at the top near the eyes and stroking downwards, then keep going outwards, running your fingers under the cheekbones and out towards the ears.
After a sinus massage, you might like to use a warm (not too hot) compress around the sinus areas for a few minutes: this will support blood flow to the area and help ease the inflammation in the nasal passage.
References:
https://www.choice.com.au/home-and-living/cooling/dehumidifier/articles/do-humidifiers-work
https://www.matermaternity.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Baby-Massage.pdf
https://atlasbiomed.com/blog/serotonin-and-other-happy-molecules-made-by-gut-bacteria/