I Tried Out the Most Requested Baby Registry Item of 2023 — A New Mom’s Honest Review

When I was 6 months pregnant with my first baby, I started curating a registry to share with family and friends. Other than the staple items, like a changing table, diaper pail, car seat, and stroller, I had no idea what else to include on the gift list. I started asking mom friends and scouring the internet for must-have baby essentials. The number one item that people told me I needed to get, because it would come in handy quite often, was Friday Baby’s Electric NoseFrida Nasal Aspirator.

When a baby gets congested, which can happen frequently, helping them clear their nasal passage can be quite tough. You can get a nasal aspirator that you use manually to try to suck the snot out, but that can be time consuming and difficult with a fussy baby. Everyone told me I needed the more powerful and electric version.

My baby is now 7 months old and recently she had her first cold. I looked in my medicine cabinet and grabbed the electric nasal aspirator to use it for the first time. So, here’s my review of one of the most requested baby registry items of 2023!

You Need to Practice to Become a Professional

Helping a congested baby clear their nose is not an easy task, especially if they get fussy when you touch parts of their face. When I tried to use the electric nasal aspirator, I liked that it only required me to use one hand. The manual versions often require both hands, which makes it hard to hold the baby’s head still. However, even with a free hand, It was difficult to hold my baby still while I maneuvered the aspirator into each nostril. She’d shake her head or move it side to side and the aspirator would slip out.

The best way I learned to use this tool was to have another person hold my baby and keep her head still. I would use one hand for the tool and hold the other on her cheek to help me guide the aspirator gently into her nostril. Without the help of another person, I think it would be hard to use this tool or take a lot of practice to become a professional at it.

The Features Make It Practical

One added perk of this aspirator that my baby and I both enjoyed was a distraction light. When you turn the aspirator on, it has a blue light that babies will often look at and focus on. This helped me distract my baby so that I could guide the aspirator into her nose. The light is optional and can be turned off if it becomes too much for the baby or if you prefer not to use it.

I also appreciated how the tool had three different suction levels. This came in handy as the days went on. At first, when she was very congested we used the highest level, but over the week we’d drop down until we made it to the lowest level, and it worked well for the amount of snot that was stuck in her nose.

It also came with two different silicone tip sizes which will be good down the road when she gets older and grows out of the smaller size tip that’s working well for us now.

Doesn’t Go So Deep and You Need to Clean It Well

After using the tool for a week, there were only a few things that I wish were a little better. Because it can be hard to maneuver the tool into a baby’s nostril, especially when they are fussy, I found that it was hard to get the aspirator inserted deep enough into the nostril to really get good suction and get the snot out. Because of this, it often took us 3-4 tries per nostril to clear enough snot out.

The base of the tool doesn’t need to be cleaned after each use but the silicon tips do. It wasn’t the easiest to clean the snot out of these silicon tips and it was important to make sure that they were fully scrubbed after each use. If not, the snot could build and clog up the tool.

My Baby Didn’t Love It, But It Worked

I found the eclectic nasal aspirator to work fast and effectively. Once I was able to get it inside of my baby’s nostril, the snot would come in within a second or two. Since she was fussy and uncomfortable with the process, I appreciated how quickly the aspirator worked. While we didn’t cry at the sight of the aspirator, she did get upset when it was inside of her nose. From what I could see, it wasn’t causing her any pain or discomfort, it was just not something she found pleasant. But after a few seconds in each nose, the release of snot helped her breathing drastically improve.

During the week she was congested, we used the electric nasal aspirator three to four times a day. I would rate this product an 8 out 10. If it was easier to clean and perhaps went a little bit deeper, it would get a perfect score. Either way, I find myself constantly grateful that I have this product in my medicine cabinet for when she’s congested. I don’t think I’d ever go back to using a manual aspirator after trying out the Friday Baby’s Electric NoseFrida Nasal Aspirator.

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