Barbie Currie. asked about a grunting baby.
If the baby is otherwise healthy and gaining weight, no dusky spells or
apnea, etc, I might go into my barnyard shpeil.  This is where I describe
how one tiny, adorable little baby can sound just like a barnyard,
especially when you are listening to them breathing as you are trying to
sleep at night.  I say something like "they may grunt like a pig, whinney
like a horse, cluck like a chick, creak like a barn door", etc.  For some
reason the moms usually find this very reassuring and laugh and then
compare the noise their particular baby makes with an animal or something
else.  I call them "Baby Sounds", and also describe how tiny the newborn's
nasal passages are, so that any bit of mucus in the nasal passages or back
of the throat will rattle around with every breath, but usually is
disturbing mom more than baby.

In this case, it is possible the baby may in fact have some sort of
condition like Laryngomalacia, where a floppy larynx tissue causes a
grunting, gurgling sound on every exhalation.  But if the baby is able to
feed comfortably, is gaining weight and otherwise healthy, even if he had
laryngomalacia, there is nothing they would do to treat it, children
outgrow this usually by one year of age.

NancyH
Nancy Holtzman RN BSN
Great Beginnings New Mothers Groups
Boston Bestfeeds
Boston MA
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