Mom Stuff: The boogie vacuum

At 12 weeks, the Sirenita got her first cold. She woke up one morning her usual sunny, bubbly self and smiled at me, all the while breathing like an ogre through her poor stuffy little button nose. I got out the trusty "Snot Sucker;" the blue bulb that they gave us at the hospital. I have another that we were given at one of my three baby showers that is still in the packaging.  I distinctly remembered the nurse telling me, "These are so much better than the ones from the store, they're much more heavy duty."
Trusting to the nurse, who should know, I got out the blue sucker and commenced operation De-Ogre-fy.  Squeeze. Suck. Squeeze. Suck. Squeeze. Suck. Are you kiddding me?! Nothing. I got nothing out with the "much more heavy duty" snot sucker bulb. I found it absolutely useless.
Frustrated, I turned to the internet. I looked up ways to de-congest a baby younger than 3 months. I would love to give some blog credit, but everywhere I looked said the same thing a friend told me before Sirenita was born. Nose Frida.
On a blustery winter day we stopped at walmart. I went in and bought a Nose Frida, some baby saline, and extra filters. Wow. Let me tell you about some Ghost Busters going on in here. Sirenita has had two colds now. The second one was much worse than the first, but we have a far happier baby, because The Accountant and I have been playing Ghost Busters.
Let me explain a few things about Nose Frida. First of all, it's a team project. There is no "I suck the snot out of baby's nose." Nose Frida shows a cute little cartoon picture of a mom sucking the snot from her smiling baby's face. Your baby will not smile when  you suck the snot out of their head. Baby will scream like you are trying to suck their brain out through their nose. Be prepared.
Sirenita hates the Nose Frida. We try to use the element of surprise. One of gets ready to suck the snot out, and the other holds the vacuum end for the sneak attack. It takes both of us to coordinate the attack while she screams, but Nose Frida works! It's disgusting. I won't show you a picture. Just think Ghost Busters and Slimer.
We have sucked adult sized nastiness out of that tiny little button nose. As soon as we quit and Nose Frida is out of sight, Sirenita calms right down and lays happily breathing through her nose and playing. Ogre breathing is gone. And no, Nose Frida will not cause permanent mental scaring of your child. My daughter doesn't scream when she sees it. She screams when we suck stuff out of her nose. It's normal, babies generally hate having their noses messed with, be it to wipe with a kleenex, or suck ghosts out.
This thing is amazing. I wish someone would use it on me when I'm sick. If you have a kid, you have to get a Nose Frida.