10 Month Old Allergies

I would suggest takin him to an ENT he could have very large tonsils and/or adenoids that need to be removed. My son had this problem as well and was always the snotty kid until they were removed i think he's had 2 runny noses since! In about 6 mos

It seems the Vicks Vapo machine is NOT working. I m not a fan of those machines anyway. Try a humidifier. Try The Vicks on the soles of his feet and put socks on at night. I was realy skeptical at first but it works. Also get rid of the carpet, stuffed animals, and animals in the home.

Dear L.,

My daughter suffers from allergies. It has been a long road to understand how to minimize her suffering (she was 2). There are so many factors and possibilities. This is what we did...and with every step it got better. We got rid of the carpet in our house, removed curtains, put her toys stuffed toys in closed baskets, removed the clutter (collects dust),got rid of the cat, starting using natural cleaning products, and toiletry items (nothing with perfume!), hired a cleaning lady (once a week), changed her diet (she had milk allergies too), started giving her a Vitamin Supplement with extra C, and then after all of that....we saw GREAT improvement. She still gets the seasonal stuff from Feb-March, but with a little Zyrtec and an inhaler like Flovent (when it's really bad) she does well. I know this sounds like alot, but I can't imagine what drugs the doctor would of had her on if we weren't able to isolate what the problem was....she is very sensitive to chemicals in the environment. Once we made her home environment a safe zone she did better all the way around. Oh yes...there is a problem with having them breathe in too much Vicks....be careful.

I would do an elimination diet which is removing anything with dairy (casein) and see if this is the culprit.
Great response on the removal of the other things to consider as well who posted.

I am not anti-med but do use it as a last resort as it is only a bandaid fix and can suppress the autoimmune system, then trigger off down the road other culprits.

There is a book called by Doris Rapp, M.D.
Is This Your Child?
Discovering and Treating Unrecognized Allergies in Children and Adults.

http://www.drrapp.com/

I.

My daughter suffers from allergies. Things that worked for us: washing sheets weekly in hot water (kills the dust mistes), Taking a bath before bed to get the pollen off body and hair, limit outdoor exporsure when there are ozone alerts or when the mold counts are high (check the city/state section of the newspaper or listen to the weather). We also use the waterless vaporizor (it is our friend). I have avoided meds because they all have side effects! Finally, change your baby's diet--avoid dairy (switch to dairy-free formula or if you are breastfeeding eliminate milk and hard cheeses)--dairy makes you form more mucus. Try to get your baby to eat toddler foods from the earth (e.g. banana, avacado, sweet potato). Avoid jarred baby food (it's like eating a TV dinner every night!). This is a lot, but I hope it helps.

Yes, vicks can further irritate the mucous membranes of young children. A regular old steam vaporizer (out of reach) or a humidifier may provide him some relief.

IF your ENT does prescribe something like Singulair or Zyrtec, beware that there are some off label side effects in some children--we tried a couple of things with my daughter around a year, but she had serious personality changes and night terrors. She did get tubes in her ears around a year due to constant ear infections.

Is your son in daycare? Based on my daughter's rapid and continued improvement of "allergy" symptoms since I changed her daycare, I think there was something there that was affecting her. Her perpetually runny nose and goopy eyes cleared within 4 days of her starting in a new facility.

I am not hyper-sensitive about chemical use, though we don't use much in the house. But, if you haven't already, consider that your laundry detergent/fabric softener or some other cleaning agent may be disrupting his system.

You cannot have allergy testing done in a child under 1 year due to having results come back inconclusive. However, you can give your sweet baby 1/4 to 1/2 tsp (depending on his weight) of children's benadryl to relieve some of the allergy symptoms.

Our son has bad allergies. He got tubes in his ears at the age of 10 months. One fell out so again at 11 months. If he is suffering from allergies you really need to give him some meds for it. Some allergie meds worked and some did not. But he is no 17 months and its rare for the runny nose to appear again. If the pedi says give him meds do so and for the amount of days recomended. If you stop once he gets better the meds wont work as well.

If after you take your son to rule out other problems then do all the other things that have been posted. I can help you if you need help. Thing like your son's bath products the cleaners you use even you personal care products could all be causing his allergens. Meds should be the last. Look into homeopathic meds. Work great no side affect. This is not an herbal formula, herbs can be toxic.

Ok, first I would agree with the removing milk from the diet. Ask your doctor to run a simple blood test to see he he is allergic to common foods and environmental things. That can be ordered by your pediatrician or an ENT. But that is what I would do first. I have been there and done it and once finding out we did have food allergies our son got tons better.

Also, I would not use the menthol vapo thing. I would recommend using just a plain jane humidifier. I myself have lots of environmental allergies and asthma and the menthol makes them worse. Just a regular humidifier used with distilled water is the best. (I use distilled as it has less particles in it and will not leave a residue on furniture and also keeps the filters in better shape longer.)

Good luck!

You might consider eliminating dairy products from his diet for a few weeks to see if that helps.

If your are still breastfeeding, you might play around with eliminating the usual culprits from your diet. If your son takes formula, try switching to a hypo-allergenic brand. If he eats solids, you might also analyze if symptoms are related to what he eats. I agree with the previous posts about getting rid of the vicks machine, the carpet and stuffed toys. If you do choose to use a humidifier, be careful to clean it thoroughly as they can become moldy quickly. I believe that household chemicals can trigger allergies. I use a water/vinegar solution for regular cleaning, and only if something is particularly germy will I use something more powerful and only when my son is not at home.

Good luck!