Hi Moms,
I've noticed a couple of times in the past few months that my 3 year old will wake up with puffy eyes in the morning. She woke up this morning with them again but went to bed complaining that her eyes were itchy last night. So my husband and I gave her some benedryl. She does suffer from allergies, she has been tested and has indoor and outdoor allergies so she does take a daily dose of Zyrtec during allergy seasons. I was just curious if your little ones do this too? I find that my other older ones can also have this. All my children have matresss and pillow covers, sleep with Hepa filters in their rooms and I wash their sheets once a week. Just wondering if I should take her in for this.
Thanks
This happens to me sometimes too, usually after I've been outdoors most of the day. I've found that a cool damp washcloth folded over my eyes helps when they are itchy at night.
Showering at night helps keep any outside allergens out of the bed too.
I have puffy eyes year round and it's because I'm allergic to everything. I take zyrtec and a nasal spray daily. I have hepa filters and special pillow/mattress covers and I wash them often. I don't know if it is dust mites or what. I did the back scratch test at an allergist once and I was diagnosed as being HIGHLY allergic to everything they tested for...all grasses, trees, plants, dust mites, mold, you name it. My entire back was one giant red welt. They say a humidifier helps so you can try that in your son's room. It doesn't help much for me. Good luck. If you figure anything out let me know.
For a couple times a month (not continuous), I wouldn't worry about it.
If it gets to be more frequent, it's worth a trip to the doctor to figure it out.
Our sons eyes use to appear a little puffy but it was mostly due to his tonsils.
His tonsils swelled up till they were huge (they almost touched each other across the back of his throat), it caused him to snore something awful - and he had perpetual dark circles under his eyes since he wasn't getting much quality sleep - and that made his eyes look puffy.
The tonsils were also interfering with his swallowing.
They were not infected - he didn't have any fever or colds - but they were becoming an obstruction.
When he was 4 we had his tonsils/adenoids out and he slept so well after that - the dark circles were gone - and because he was well rested he was a lot less grumpy and did better in preschool - his sunny disposition could shine through once he was getting some good sleep.
My older one (with allergies) gets this now and then when his allergies act up.
Trying to remember if he had it when young. He had to have his adenoids out to help with sleep (he wasn't getting restful sleep and kind of had heavy breathing). Seems to me, once we had that resolved, he looked well rested in the mornings - without the puffiness.
If it persists - I would take her in. I'd also remove stuffies from her bed, and maybe give her comforter a wash (if needs be).
Allergies are a big cause of these things - swollen nasal passages impede the flow of blood and lymphatic fluids, so they collect in open areas. The area under the eye is a great collection place. Allergic shiners are another version of this - the black eye look of dark circles underneath the eye.
You have 2 choices: 1) treat the symptoms as you are, with drugs. 2) Work on immune system boosting to eliminate the body's response to these normally-harmless allergens (pollen, dust, animal fur, whatever). I did #1 for decades, including all the HEPA filters and bedding covers. Spent money, got little relief. I did #2 for 3-4 months and now look better (no dark circles), sleep better (no swollen nasal passages so better breathing), and can go to any part of the country and anyone else's house (with dust, pets, whatever) without a problem. It's not as immediate as taking a drug, but it works and lasts far longer (for me, 9 years now).
allergies.
try optique eye drops.
khairete
S.
