How to deal with blocked baby noses: Stérimar Baby nasal spray review

Leon's been on and off with blocked noses since October and although he's not a very snotty boy, there's a lot of gunk up those narines.

Happily, he's getting better at letting us blow his nose (and looking at it) or happily sniffing into an entire packet of tissues -one by one (with minimal output) and likes me applying eucalyptic Vics vaporub at night time. I confess I enjoy picking out really big dried bogeys from his nose and love his reaction when I show him the result- but man, I need to get with it and sort out his blocked nose once and for all! Cue, Stérimar!


A mild, natural seawater nasal spray used to unblock baby's snotty noses and strengthen its defences, Stérimar Baby has been a saviour. Suitable from birth, you hold baby on your lap with their head at an angle and spray the sea water into each nostril. There'll be a bit of water/snot coming trickling out afterwards so do keep a tissue to hand!

And well, I wish it were as easy as that. There's a "special shaped pump to be used from any angle especially useful for when baby is squirming"- I literally have to wrestle Leon down and find the right moment to squirt some into his nostrils. But hey, it works rather well and is worth the armlock. There is a marked improvement in the moistening of the mucus meaning it slides out of the nostril, easier to wipe away.

I even use it myself sometimes- is that gross?? It's safe for pregnant women and is allergy approved and with the dry weather and heating etc I've been getting a dry, sometimes bleeding nose and this definitely helps!

Dr. Catherine Hood, a physician with Stérimar also suggests placing a bowl of water by the radiator in baby's room to humidify their, thus easing congestion. Much cheaper than a humidifier and it really works. We've had the heating on in the evenings for a few hours recently and it gets very dry- and the water level is remarkably reduced the next morning. Leon is not coughing anymore at night and is a lot less snotty.

Another recommendation is using a bulb syringe to suck out the mucus once it's more runny. Leon liked this less than the spray but I felt very triumphant when seeing what I was pulling out.

Stérimar Baby is available at most pharmacies across the UK RRP £4.07. We tried the spray for 0-3 year olds but check out their entire range here.

I was sent the nasal spray and cute pull-along dolphin toy for this review