difficult feed

[jess41378]

Just started doing per visist peds skilled nursing. Been with the peds homecare for 3 years as a LPn, but just got my RN and now doing per visit/opeing cases on my own, ect. Mom reports baby has a difficult time feeding. After 10 minutes of good suck, he started to have formula dribble out sides of mouth and gets cranky. Hx of RDS, chest tubes. He is still congested nasally, but lungs clear. Can this feeding problem be related to the nasal congestion alone because he can't breath through his nose and then opens mouth to breath during feeding causing a lot of dribbling? I suggested mom do saline drops nasally, then bulb suction prior to feeds and make sure baby is upright and give frequesnt breaks to catch his breath during feed. Am I on the right track? Sorry if this is a silly question.

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

Your assessment was exactly what popped into my head as I was reading the scenario. Babies are obligate nose-breathers, as we all know from G&D; f they can't breathe through their noses while feeding, the feeding is going to go by the wayside. Your advice was spot-on as well. Good job.