Question
My baby is just 12 days old, and for the past few days, I’ve noticed that there’s always phlegm in their throat. Whether they’re feeding, sleeping, or just trying to breathe, they make a whistling sound. They don’t cough, but it seems like they can’t catch their breath. How should I treat this?
Answer
Infants lack the ability to cough and expel phlegm effectively. Phlegm that passes through the bronchial mucosal cilia cannot be expelled from the throat. When breathing, air passing through the throat produces a gurgling sound. It is necessary to administer medication to the baby on time. Infants often have runny noses, nasal congestion, and sneezing. This is because an infant’s nasal passages are narrower than those of an adult, and the sinus is not yet mature, making the nasal mucosa particularly sensitive. Therefore, after sneezing, when exposed to cold air or crying, they usually have runny noses and nasal congestion. In addition, like adults, infants have a normal amount of mucus secretions every day. The front mucus accumulates for a long time and becomes dry and hard, blocking the narrow nasal passages of infants. With each breath, infants experience nasal congestion. Sometimes, when infants sneeze, they push mucus out of the nasal passages.