Little Ones with Allergies

Hi Meg!

My pediatrician would probably say it was a cold (which is why I am in search of a new one :o) Anyway, you may want to try baby vicks on her back and a ceiling fan on very low? It may just be the dry air? If the baby vicks and fan work then you may be able to cancel out allergies. Also a cool mist humidifier if you aren't using one already. If none of those work I would keep an eye on it. If the cold lasts longer than two weeks I would go to the pediatrician and tell them what is happening and what you've tried.

S.

It does sound like allergies but the best place to start is with your Pediatrician. At least call and talk to a nurse and explain the symptoms, maybe they will recommend a trial of one of the over the counter allergy meds. My little guy who is almost 2 seems to be suffering from the same type of thing. My Pediatrician recommended a trial of Zyrtec. We have a strong family history of allergies and asthma though. It's been helping his symptoms. We also use a humidifier at night for the night time congestion.

M.,
It sounds to me like allgies. I have three children and all of them along with myself suffer from allergies. My oldest is 7 and he has been suffering with allergies since he was 1,my 5 year old daughter has been suffering with various allergies and asthma since birth and my little one is 11 months old and she is just starting with the allergies. My older two children take Claritin over the counter once a day. My 5 year old along with the Claritin takes Singular. As for my little one I am really limited on what I can give her. I have found that Benedryl helps. I have tried using the humidifier, but it really didn' help much. I have been suffering with allergies most of my life and it is not always easy to deal with> Most of the medications that really work also cause you to feel tired. If you really think it is allergies I would consult your physician or an Allergist. My older two children have both been to an allergist and it is nice to know what is causing the problem. One thing that I was told by a pediatrician was that if a child has a runny nose and sneezing it is really hard to tell if it is a cold or allergy. He told me that if the nose is running thick and colorful it should be clear by lunchtime if it is an allergy. if it stays thick and colorful all day it is usually a cold. Hope I have helped a little. Good Luck!

What makes you think it's allergies? Sounds to me like she has a cold. Kids that age can get 2 colds a month during cold & flu season.

A.

Before giving your child ANY medication please do your child and yourself a favor and request an ImmunoCap Blood test. I know how devistating blood tests are for both children and parents but this test will tell you exactly what your child is allergic to and to what degree. Don't be freaked out by the blood test i am a phlebotomist and really the kids freak out more to being held tightly and not from any real pain. The reason i think this is such a valuable thing is when you don't know what you child is allergic to you don't know what to avoid. Allergies can manifest in ear infections, upset stomach, skin rashes and of course sniffling and sneezing etc. Allergies can also eventually lead to asthma which can be really difficult to manage and in some cases devastating.
This could be as simple as changing something in her diet. Believe me its worth the few tears she'll shed. Good luck.
M.

It's around the same time my son started with the seasonal allergies. You should probably take her to the doctor..meanwhile though, Benadryl worked really well for him and Dimetapp too...especially since it has Elixir, it makes them go to sleep too. Get a humidifier, if you don't have one; it really helped too.

Watch her ears closely, she is at the age and risk of ear infections with all that fluid.
Not to scare you, but do not treat this lightly. At this age allergies left untreated can become serious. With a high risk of developing asthma, ear infections, illnesses and more allergies (due to an already weakened and taxed immune system)- our son actually got a nasty sinus infection while we were tyring to figure it out, it was so frustrating! Go see an allergist. We love ours and so does our son.
If it's clear its allergies- it sounds likes allergies to me- my son started with his allergies when he was 1 and we kept thinking it was a cold, it wasn't until we started treating it like allergies that it helped. He is 3 now. The humidifier didn't help during the spring time (when it's at it's worst). We have tried a variety of medicines and find that a nasal spray with Allegra works the best, without making him sleepy. I would stay away from Benedryll and Dimeatapp, but that's me. Anything that makes them overly sleepy at this age is not a good thing. He takes his medicine easily, sometimes we "give" it to his stuffed animals first!
His are bad so we really changed our home & life to try to lower his risk of asthma. We gave away our two dogs :( we replaced the carpet and fabric furniture that the dogs were always on and we rarely open our windows- using the air conditioner instead. And we stopped swim lessons after I heard that exposure to public pools increased a risk of later asthma (they thought it was the high level of chlorine with developing lungs). I can honestly say he is so much better than he used to be. Still not great this time of year, but I was at me wits end last year always seeing him with bags under his eyes and "sick". By the way- The first time we got a real christmas tree he was a mess!!! From now on we will get a fake one.