Benefits of Having Parents use Nasal Aspirator on Infants in a Pediatric Practice
 |
Ronda Miller-Ernest, DNP, APRN-BC About the author: Ronda is a Board Certified Pediatric Nurse practitioner who has been practicing in a private pediatric office for 27 years. |
Some of the most common concerns I hear from parents in their infants first six months of life are; “My baby always sounds stuffy.” My baby won’t nurse because “they can’t breathe and suck with this stuffy nose.” “If I could only clear their nose they would feel better!”
In the first few months of life infants are obligatory nose breathers. Their narrow nasal passages are very sensitive to dry air, especially in the winter months when the forced warm air heating systems used in most homes, are turned on. Where I practice the low humidity climate also tends to aggravate the nasal mucosa dryness. Infants are too young to sniff or take deep nasal breaths in to clear their nose. They are totally dependent on an outside resources to help clear their nasal passages or external moisture to relieve the symptoms of dryness.
In my practice I have a large refugee population who commonly don’t understand the concept of a humidifier and/or cannot afford one, however the nasal oral aspirator is something I can demonstrate in the office with a saline solution sample. With the demonstration this is easily understood even with a language barrier and very portable to take home with them. Due to NeilMeds’ generous sample availability I can stock them in my office.
I have found that instructing parents on the use of the NeilMed Naspira and frequently in combination with the saline nose drops that the infant eats better; feels better, parents feel they can finally do something to help their infant and by clearing the airways it can decrease additional unnecessary sick appointments. This device is simple to use, affordable, easy to clean and requires very little extra office time for instruction.
(1628)