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15 Days Old Have Cough With The Tendency Of Lip Smacking. Is This Normal?

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Posted on Tue, 8 Jan 2013
Question: Hi, I stay at Delhi India, My male kid is 15 days old , and during sleep / awake many a times the kid takes out the tounge as if thirsty and trying to wet the lips , but we feeding only with mothers milk... also some times kid tries to clear the throat with very feable cough type sound.
Kindly advise is it normal
doctor
Answered by Dr. Hema Yadav (7 hours later)
Hello,
Thanks for posting your query.
Lip smacking in infants could be a benign physiological movement and gradually goes away on its own . Infants use their mouth for sensory perception of the surrounding so lip smacking and sucking etc are usually physiological ( normal behaviour ).
However in rare cases neonatal seizures ( convulsions ) can also present as repetitive Oro -buccal lingual movements( chewing , sucking , lip smacking) . So if your baby has very frequent involuntary lip smacking or prolonged smacking (causing lips to turn blue)or has any other movements of hands( tremor or jitteriness , head nodding , etc then it's best to rule out the possibility of a seizure.
However considering your newborn is a healthy baby ( no perinatal problems ie during or after birth) , the weight is above 2.5 kg and baby has no other symptoms ( like poor feeding , excessive crying , fever, decreased urination etc) apart from lip smacking and occasional grunting then I don't think you need to worry at all. Its most probably a normal phase of development and should resolve on its own gradually.
I appreciate your efforts on maintaining exclusive breastfeeding for your baby and do recommend that till 6 months of age the baby needs nothing other than breast milk.
Please don't think that your child is thirsty as breast milk has enough water component to quench a baby's thirst as well as enough nutrients to satisfy his hunger. Just make sure the mother feeds the baby on demand or atleast every 2-3 hourly to maintain his health. I would also recommend you to follow up with his pediatrician for his vaccination and during such a visit do get him physically examined to eliminate any other doubts and know about the normal newborn development and milestones.
As of now I don't think it's worrisome unless your child has any significant birth related problem or any danger symptoms ( as mentioned above).
So you may wait and watch till the baby's routine Health visit.
Hope I have answered your query.
I'll be available for any follow up queries.
Regards
Note: For further queries related to your child health, Talk to a Pediatrician. Click here to Book a Consultation.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
doctor
Answered by
Dr.
Dr. Hema Yadav

Pediatrician, Infectious Diseases

Practicing since :2005

Answered : 1528 Questions

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15 Days Old Have Cough With The Tendency Of Lip Smacking. Is This Normal?

Hello,
Thanks for posting your query.
Lip smacking in infants could be a benign physiological movement and gradually goes away on its own . Infants use their mouth for sensory perception of the surrounding so lip smacking and sucking etc are usually physiological ( normal behaviour ).
However in rare cases neonatal seizures ( convulsions ) can also present as repetitive Oro -buccal lingual movements( chewing , sucking , lip smacking) . So if your baby has very frequent involuntary lip smacking or prolonged smacking (causing lips to turn blue)or has any other movements of hands( tremor or jitteriness , head nodding , etc then it's best to rule out the possibility of a seizure.
However considering your newborn is a healthy baby ( no perinatal problems ie during or after birth) , the weight is above 2.5 kg and baby has no other symptoms ( like poor feeding , excessive crying , fever, decreased urination etc) apart from lip smacking and occasional grunting then I don't think you need to worry at all. Its most probably a normal phase of development and should resolve on its own gradually.
I appreciate your efforts on maintaining exclusive breastfeeding for your baby and do recommend that till 6 months of age the baby needs nothing other than breast milk.
Please don't think that your child is thirsty as breast milk has enough water component to quench a baby's thirst as well as enough nutrients to satisfy his hunger. Just make sure the mother feeds the baby on demand or atleast every 2-3 hourly to maintain his health. I would also recommend you to follow up with his pediatrician for his vaccination and during such a visit do get him physically examined to eliminate any other doubts and know about the normal newborn development and milestones.
As of now I don't think it's worrisome unless your child has any significant birth related problem or any danger symptoms ( as mentioned above).
So you may wait and watch till the baby's routine Health visit.
Hope I have answered your query.
I'll be available for any follow up queries.
Regards