Runny Nose

Well i had very good luck with benadryl when my kiddos were small & rubbing a lite coat of vick's on their chest & back( my granny method) but it works. She has probably got allergies with this changing weather.

My son has also had the same problem. He will be six months on the 8th of October. I have talked to the doctor already about it and she said it is because he is teething. If you look up all the symptoms, a runny nose is one of them. I use the bulb to clear his nose and he hates it, but it works. I also use a vaporizor with him at night which helps him breath and sleep well. Hope this helps. Good luck.

Hey it sounds like she has allergies. Ragweed has been real high. You should put a humidifier in her room. My son has allergies also and the humidifier does wonders. Bran

Hello R.
Your baby could well have allergic rhinitis. Damp dust your home and especially her room every day and ensure that you vacuum. Turn mattresses regularly. Use a dust mite killing spray (safe for babies).
She also needs steam. If you have a humidifier, use it during the night to keep your airways open. You may find that after using steam, a lot of gumf will come from her sinuses and she may even cough up phlegm.
Break a Karvol capsule over her baby safety pillow at night or the area where she lays her head if she doesn't use a pillow. The natural herbs it contains will keep her sinuses open.
Give her plenty of fluids to drink to keep her mucus thin.
Unless her temperature goes up or her personality changes adversely, you can rest assured that she is probably over her ear infection.

my daughter is 13 months and has had a runny nose and a cough for about a month as well. When I took her to her 1 year well check the doctor said she was fine and that there is nothing else to do other than saline drops/bulb syringe and don't forget about a humidifier. It works great!!! Also you might try propping one end of her crib up with some books so she can sleep at an angle or try to fine a sleeping wedge. Last year when my daughter was 6 - 8 weeks she did the same thing and I had a wedge for her to sleep in and it was wonderful. It is a foam wedge with a cover and a place to strap the baby in with velcro and they are very propped up at an angle. :) Good luck.

K.

She's probably not sleeping well because she can't breathe well through her nose and it wakes her up. She hasn't figured out how to breathe through her mouth yet. Try putting some vicks on her chest with a loose top and making sure the air in her room is humid and not dry and cold.

All my doctors swore that babies don't have allergies. But 2 out of my 3 always had a runny nose when pollens were in the air. Always!

Also, after wiping her nose, add some cream of somekind to help avoid chapping.

Might want to ask your doctor about seasonal allergies. My two childern (now 9 and 7) have had them for years down here in Houston. Zyrtec has worked for them since it came out but I don't know if that's an option at 6 months. Good luck!

Our daughter had a runny nose for what seemed to be an eternity...for her, it was allergies. Benadryl was the problem solver on that one. I wouldnt have the slightest clue if you can give that to an infant so young...or how much. I would call the doc on that one. Perhaps bring it up at her 6 month check-up?

HTH,
Margaret :)

I know other folks have suggested allergies, but here's a good way to confirm it: on the weather.com page, there is a link for Healthy Living: Allergies and Pollen Count. check to see if the days your daughter seems to be worse coincide w/ High pollen counts. Today (9/23)in the 78641 zip, for example the pollen count is high, and Elm is the most active pollen (so I know that Elm is apparently one of the things my kid is allergic to). Kids who have had no exposure to local allergens need to get exposure all of them. If it is allergies, be prepared for your DD to be "sick" for a whole year, until her immune system has been exposed to everything in the area as it blooms/pollinates. Also, call your ped and see what s/he reccomends for allergies. No need for all of you to be miserable for the next year if a 1/2 tsp of Zyrtec once a day makes it all better. In the meantime, keep the windows closed and be sure to keep your air conditioner filter clean. Hang in there, mamma!

Hi R.,
Is it clear or colored? If its clear it may be allergies. My son (3 now) was put on allergy meds when he was 6months he has since grown out of it but he was on Singular granuals that i added to his food at night.

Is it the allergies. right nowthe Hay Fever and Rag Weed are high. Pedicare works real good it is a red box behind the counter you have to ask for it.

Hi R.,
Keep it up with the bulb suction & saline drops. Also, the humidifier is a good suggestion. I use Vick's Baby rub (I put it on his neck & chest after bathtime) & Johnson's vapor bath with my son when he gets stuffy. I even bought one of those pedicare vapor plugs to put in an outlet in his room. There really isn't much they can do for a stuffy nose. But if you are really concerned or it persists, call the doctor. It could be a sinus infection. My son was just diagnosed with one yesterday. We had been battling a stuffy & runny nose for a long time too & this time it wasn't going away, so I took him in. Anyway, I hope she gets better soon!
Sincerely,
A.

R.,

I'm pretty holistic in my beliefs and if my child was experiencing a non-stop runny nose I would find an alternative way to treat it instead of modern medicine which can sometimes be damaging. I'm sure they gave your baby an antibiotic and that is the beginning to ruining her immune system. Seems that once an infant starts antibiotics they keep needing them. Both my children had ear infections while infants and my holistic doctor treated them and gave me advice on how to prevent or treat them. I now have a 5 yr old and 3 yr old who have never been on antibiotics. Everyone in daycare and school gets sick but them. Try boosting her immune system from the inside. A holistic doctor can tell you how to properly do this with a 6 month old. What area are you in?

Hi R....have you tried a cool mist humidifier at night? That seems to help both of mine. Call your Dr. I have taken my kids in for stuff and basically told my pedi "I really don't think anything is really wrong, but I want you to make sure" and she is always happy to work with me. The other thing that I can mention, that I just know about b/c my friend's daughter has been on Zyrtec since she was 6 months is allergies. I'm not sure, it may depend on the Dr., whether or not they will diagnose with allergies until they are over 2 or so. It's worth mentioning. I do notice when my husband's allergies are bothering him, my son's nose seems to start running. But, it sounds like you are doing the right thing. I know how frustrating it is when it seems like the runny nose never seems to go away. Good Luck!

Hi, sounds like allergies.

If her mucus isn't yellow or green don't waste your time or money bringing her to the doctor. If the mucus is clear then you are doing everything that should be done.

Honestly, you're doing all you can do. Since you really can't give her any medicine, just letting it run it's course is all you can do. I also think just being there for her is important. Going in when she cries and rocking her for however long you need to. When they're sick, it feels like they are a newborn again! Good luck!

You can keep this info in the back of your mind, in case it helps... I feel I was so lost without any explanation to explain my daughter's illness for 2 yrs. It was so frustrating, heartbreaking, and distracting and yes, I think I had also developed depression from it. I would hate for any other new mom to feel like that... so here goes:

My daughter battled constant congestion starting when she was 5 1/2 months. I lost track of how many times she was on antibiotics for ear infections and chronic sinus infections. At 15 months, she got ear tubes in the hope of ending the ear infections (because congestion triggers ear infections). Tubes did end the ear infections, but she still had sinus infections and congestion. It seemed like she was sick every 6-8 weeks. Everyone told me that once she got the ear tubes, it would be a new day and no more illnesses... nope, she was sick 4 weeks later. Needless to say she has now developed allergies to certain antibiotics which I can't help but feel was because she was introduced to them at such a young age.

Keep in mind: You want to be careful about ongoing congestion, because it can *quickly* develop into brochiolitis or pneumonia. I got to the point that I would take her in just to have her lungs checked if she started to develop a cough as well as being congested. My husband called me paranoid (he'd tell me that she must have caught a cold from daycare), but 7 times out of 10 my mommy intuition was correct...

It turns out that she has a toddler phase allergy to cows milk. Meaning, she isn't lactose intolerant (that is a life-long allergy). She is allergic to the protein in cows milk/diary and should out grow the allergy between age 4-6... She never had blood in her dirty diapers... in fact, I can't say that her diapers ever looked so bad that it caused me concern. So diapers weren't a tip off. And she never had eczema (which is another sign of milk allergy)... She just had constant congestion.

When I first found out that she had the milk allergy, I wasn't going to be totally militant. I thought I'd just cut out direct diary foods... Nope, she still got sick. So then I had to start reading labels and cutting out all the foods that were made with cows milk also. Crackers, bread... once you start reading the ingredients in what you buy, its amazing how much is made with milk. Food allergies are such a pain, but there are a lot of moms who are dealing with multiple food allergies, so I'm not one to complain. It could be worse.

I'm not thrilled with the idea of feeding her soy, because of the estrogen link. That scares me. Instead I give her goat milk and goat yogurt. (However, I'm very aware that different solutions work for different kids... And I also recognize that goat milk products are expensive and the cost factor might be a hardship for other families. So, I'm not trying to get on a soap box against soy.)

As for my daughter's congestion, she has made great improvements. Partially perhaps from cutting out milk products; we also do sinus rinses when she is really stuffed up (which we started around 18 months... but I don't think you can do sinus rinses on an infant). But the improvement could also be because her sinus cavity matured around 22-24 months (we got x-rays that proved that...).

Feel free to message me if you have any questions... (Been there, done that!)

There's not a whole lot you can give a six month old. I would make sure there's a dust proof cover on her mattress. Also deep cleaning and drying any draperies, blankies, or stuffed animals may help. A steamer in her room at night might help her to breathe. (not cool mist)

It's mold season right now. It makes the allergy-prone pretty miserable.

Good luck.

Ask the doc about reflux. My daughter developed late ear infections and had a constant runny nose. They diagnosed her with reflux and gave her Prevacid no problems after that. What tipped me off she had morning breath not normal in a toddler, but classic reflux sign. Good luck!

Sounds like you are experiencing some momma overtime duty:) No worries, everything resolves itself in the end. I use to run a hot shower with the doors closed and take my little ones in there and sooth them to sleep. The steam will help loosen up anymore of the mucus and you can syringe it out. Also the running water will help her sleep. FYI, lighten up on her clothing and yours as well. Once she is alseep, you don't want to wake her by taking off her clothing. It does get hot, but it works.

I think it's very smart to contact the dr. You may even want to insist on bringing her in to the dr. It's probably just a stuffy nose - but it's always good to double check. My sister's baby did the same thing and it was just the sniffles that lasted a long time. However, when i was a baby the same thing happened to me (no fever, just a runny nose) and my mom insisted the dr check me out and found out i had pneumonia. I wouldn't have survived if they didn't catch it as early as they did. I don't want to scare you or anything b/c i'm sure your little one is fine. But a running nose for a month is a long time and I'd rather be careful than sorry. I hope everything works out well.

Hello, R. M.
I had the same problem. My son who is 10 months had a runny nose. I use the saline drops and bulb, I also use a humidifier(hope I spelled it right). Try that, hope the runny nose goes away. FYI- I work at a tax preperation office and the owner is a pediatritian. She gave me the advise. She doesn't recommend medicine for that yet. Infants don't respond well and are always sleeping. Hope this works for you!!

Two thoughts are running through my mind. 1. your DD is picking up small germs from the daycae center. It's very common, especially if your DD is new to daycare. 2. your DD has allergies. My poor DD has the WORST allergies! When she was an infant, we had to let her sleep upright in her carseat just so she could breathe and we could all get a little sleep. If it is allergies, you may want to use a humidifier in addition to using the nasal aspirator and saline nose spray.

Hi, I'm a new mom too with an 8 month old. My son has had a runny nose for nearly 3-4 months now --- (he was almost better one time, then I moved into an old house, and the dust got to him......) --- Anyway, with that said, I'm a little experienced with the draining nostril problem. :) First off - is the mucus clear or green? Green means she has a sinus infection and she'll need some antibiotics. I'm a big person on not over medicating, so I still don't give my son decongestants...but what you can do if she is congested and it is hard for her to breathe, take her into the bathroom and close the door. Turn on your shower to the hottest temperature possible and sit with her in the bathroom and the steam will help clear up and break the mucus. You want that mucus broken up so she can breathe through her nose, so she doesn't develop a sore throat from her mouth being open all night.
I asked the doctor once if his runny nose was him being allergic to something, but she said pediatricians don't like to call anything allergies until the baby has been exposed to all of the seasons.

Anyhow, I knew one reason was dust in his environment and immediately moved to another location. Her teething could also be a factor -- I knew one baby that had an ear infection almost everytime time he was even close to cutting a tooth. Hang in there, and as soon as you see the green, you might want to make a trip to the doctor.

I hoped this helped a little!! Hope your baby feels better. :D

My son often has a nasty nose a lot. Our doctor told me it could be allergies (but they don't diagnose allergies in infants so we won't know til he's older). One thing that I've found that helps is I put a pillow UNDER his crib mattress during nap and bed time so its at a slant which keeps his head elevated and helps with the drainage.

Good luck.

Hi,
Just a thought, my niece was a daycare baby and she ALWAYS had a runny nose...when I asked my sister about it, she said it's normal for daycare kids....

M.

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My daughter has a runny nose quite often. She is 10 1/2 months old. Whenever the saline drops don't cure it, I put the cool mist humidifier on while she is sleeping. She clears up everytime either the next day or at least by that evening. I hope this helps!