If your baby snores that is a completely natural phase of
growing and will probably go away with time. Each month as your baby grows and
his airways mature, the snoring should subside...or at least turn into a more
bubbly, gurgling noise during the pre-teething stage, when he produces extra
saliva. But if loud snoring persists, start a health journal. Record your
baby's different breathing sounds, day-by-day. If your baby's snoring worsens,
be sure to mention this to your baby's doctor. Rarely should snoring interfere
with baby's breathing, but your doctor can run a special test, called a
polysomnogram that records the breathing patterns during sleep.
You should follow your instincts, though. If you are
concerned about baby's snoring now, tell your doctor about it during your next
check-up. First, your doctor will check your baby's nasal passages to be sure that
they are unclogged and there are no problems with the structure of his airways.
Sometimes the nasal septum (the bone that divides the two nasal passages) is
deviated to one side, causing partial obstruction of one of the nostrils.
Babies will compensate by moving enough air through the unobstructed nostril. A
deviated septum can account for noisy breathing. Enlarged tonsils are a common
cause of snoring in older children, but this is rarely the case in newborns.
Your doctor will also check your baby's throat to be sure there are no
structural abnormalities, such as unusual movement of baby's palate or cysts.
Finally, your doctor will watch your baby breathe. Some
babies have a quirk called laryngomalacia, which causes noisy breathing. In
this condition, the cartilage that normally keeps the breathing passages open
has not fully matured. As baby grows, the airway structures mature and this
condition—along with the loud sounds that accompany it—will subsides by six
months. A clue to laryngomalacia is the normal dent in your baby's neck just
above the breastbone caves in a bit when baby inhales. Most babies have none of
these structural problems.