Allergy Relief (Full Version)

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lexie -> Allergy Relief (4/23/2008 8:21:23 AM)

My daughter is 16 months. For the past two weeks she has had a clear runny nose and off and on she has had watery eyes. She has no other symptoms of a cold or other illness, and she is still her normal self. This all started with the change of weather so right now I'm assuming it could be allergies.

Until we can get to the doctor for advice or testing, does anyone have any ideas of a way we can relieve her runny nose and watery eyes? Our windows are closed and we don't go outside at peak times of day. We're going to try using a humidifier in her room with eucalyptus. Any other ideas?



phreddy -> RE: Allergy Relief (4/23/2008 9:30:27 AM)

Does she have carpet in her bedroom? If she does vacuum it with a vacuum that has a hepa filter often. Steam cleaaning it will kill dust mites. Also, wask her bedding at least once a week with hot water to kill dust mites. You can also buy a pillow case cover that will deter dust mites.

My allergy doctor says that with allergies your body acts like a cup. throughout the day your body slowly fills up with allergens. It is not until it overflows that you have allergy syptoms. Keeping your bedrooms as allergen free as possible gives you 8+ hours of allergy free rest so that you can last longer without symptoms during the day.

Also, a humifier is useful is you have low humidity, but too much humidity can promote the growth of mold that can cause allergy symptoms.



manda59 -> RE: Allergy Relief (4/23/2008 9:47:53 AM)

lexie

Homeopathic alium cepa (red onion).

("Homeopathy for Babies")



Mrs.Wifey -> RE: Allergy Relief (4/23/2008 12:40:46 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: phreddy

Does she have carpet in her bedroom? If she does vacuum it with a vacuum that has a hepa filter often. Steam cleaaning it will kill dust mites. Also, wask her bedding at least once a week with hot water to kill dust mites. You can also buy a pillow case cover that will deter dust mites.

My allergy doctor says that with allergies your body acts like a cup. throughout the day your body slowly fills up with allergens. It is not until it overflows that you have allergy syptoms. Keeping your bedrooms as allergen free as possible gives you 8+ hours of allergy free rest so that you can last longer without symptoms during the day.

Also, a humifier is useful is you have low humidity, but too much humidity can promote the growth of mold that can cause allergy symptoms.


And clean the humidifier daily. We actually rarely use them even though it so dry here because it's such a pain to keep them clean.

Gabby has seen the allergist and he said they would give her Zyrtec(available OTC here) if her symptoms started bothering her but until they were making her cranky it was better not to give meds.



lexie -> RE: Allergy Relief (4/23/2008 4:02:32 PM)

Thanks everyone!

I'm not sure if it's anything indoors. There is no carpet in our apartment, her sheets are washed weekly, and she doesn't use a pillow. Her stuffed animal is also washed weekly in hot water. We do clean the humidifier before we use it and it's not on all night, just to get the eucalyptus into the air (this was suggested in a magazine I read.)

I'm going to look into the red onion suggestion.

I just feel for her. She doesn't seem to mind, but she doesn't like having her nose wiped every few minutes.



SweetLittleErin -> RE: Allergy Relief (4/23/2008 4:12:30 PM)

Vicks Vapor Rub ( I think you can get a baby version) helps with runny nose and cough. When my allergies are acting up it helps me sleep. Its mainly just Eucalyptus and Menthol. It usually does wonders for me. I feel for your little one, I've been sick all week.



Calea37 -> RE: Allergy Relief (4/23/2008 4:23:05 PM)

Instead of a humidifier I would go for an air cleaner with a hepa filter. Like someone else said, the humidifier can cause the allergies to worsen if she has a mold issue. My son has very extreme allergies and we use the hepa air cleaner in his room.



IAMJulie -> RE: Allergy Relief (4/24/2008 2:54:56 PM)

If it is outdoor allergies then I've heard many times that feeding local honey really helps. It has to be local though because it will have the pollens for the local grasses and flowers that she might be allergic to.

Last summer when my DD appeared to be having allergies outside I asked her ped about it and he said that what he does with his kids, feeds them honey.



2shaye -> RE: Allergy Relief (4/24/2008 5:37:36 PM)

Saline nasal spray also helps a ton!



NotDoneYet -> RE: Allergy Relief (4/25/2008 3:23:26 PM)

For my 3 year old...children's Claritin was the "magic bullet". We tried almost everything else, but the Claritin is what finally got her allergies under control. There's a liquid form for under age 3, chewables for older kids and then the pills for adults.
Honey works too...but my 3 year old doesn't really like it...

NDY



Ruthie -> RE: Allergy Relief (4/25/2008 10:34:37 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: IAMJulie

If it is outdoor allergies then I've heard many times that feeding local honey really helps. It has to be local though because it will have the pollens for the local grasses and flowers that she might be allergic to.

Last summer when my DD appeared to be having allergies outside I asked her ped about it and he said that what he does with his kids, feeds them honey.


Wait. Isn't honey bad for babies?

Lexie,

Most of the time people don't think of it but WE carry pollen inside the house on us. You might want to consider wiping down your hands, face and changing your clothing when you've been outside. You should do the same for your little one. She could be rubbing pollen into her eyes.

You might also want to consider having a HEPA air cleaner in her room. It helps a great deal for me. I have tree pollen allergies. It can get costly (replacing those wretched filters) but there isn't much that is more pitiful looking than a wee one with allergies.



IAMJulie -> RE: Allergy Relief (4/25/2008 10:57:24 PM)

Honey isn't OK for babies under 1 (it used to be after 2 was considered "safe" but was changed to after 1). Everything I've read lately has said 1 and my DD's ped said 1. I would think that it would be up to the parent if they feel that between 1 and 2 was a grey area or safe.



Ruthie -> RE: Allergy Relief (4/25/2008 11:08:43 PM)

Ah. I didn't know about the change from 2 to 1. That's interesting. Thanks IAMJulie!



lexie -> RE: Allergy Relief (4/28/2008 8:38:43 AM)

Thanks for the replies!

I've been thinking for a little while about getting an air cleaner. I'm trying to set aside some money to get one. Dh's allergies are very bad, so it would work for everyone in the home.

How near to where you live does the honey have to be to be local? I can buy "local" honey in the city but it's not actually from the city, but places around the city that are further out who just come into the city to sell it.



PrincessDonna -> RE: Allergy Relief (4/28/2008 9:09:32 AM)

I think local just means the same kind of plant life that you have in your immediate area. Within an hour away should be fine, though I am no expert.[;)]



legalnicki -> RE: Allergy Relief (4/29/2008 1:51:22 AM)

quote:


Last summer when my DD appeared to be having allergies outside I asked her ped about it and he said that what he does with his kids, feeds them honey.

I'd get a second opinion about the honey. Honey contains botulism spores, and when my kiddos were babies, the recommendation was to not give them honey until they are at least 2 years old.

Re: allergies, my oldest (age 11) has had allergies since he was a baby (severe congestion, runny nose, and itchy eyes). When I brought that up to his then-pediatrician, I was basically told "nonsense; children can't develop allergies until they are older - they have to have been exposed to the allergen for a length of time." DS's most recent pediatrician never seemed to get his sinus infections or his allergies under control (he used to have several each year, all as a result of allergies). Now I have him seeing an allergist, and he has been perfectly fine for the past year - even with a dog in the house! The allergist basically doubled the dosage of the medicine he was already on, and it worked like a dream (he is on Allegra, which isn't covered by insurance anymore - and Flonase nasal spray).

I guess what I'm saying is don't give up if your child's doctor brushes your allergy concerns aside. A lot of them hang on to old-fashioned ideas. Visit an allergist if you must!



IAMJulie -> RE: Allergy Relief (4/29/2008 11:39:37 PM)

I think what I read about the honey was that it should be within 20 - 30 miles of where you live and, yes, it has to do with the plant life that grows around you. You could Google information about it or even pop over to the health forum here because I've seen it discussed there too but it's been over a year now.



Karaboo2 -> RE: Allergy Relief (4/30/2008 5:05:28 PM)

quote:


Re: allergies, my oldest (age 11) has had allergies since he was a baby (severe congestion, runny nose, and itchy eyes). When I brought that up to his then-pediatrician, I was basically told "nonsense; children can't develop allergies until they are older - they have to have been exposed to the allergen for a length of time."



My oldest ds has several food related allergies, and the paediatrician kept giving me the brush off. I even fed ds one of the offending foods while the paed watched, and predictably, he ended up with hives all over his face and upper torso. The paed's response?? "He's just willing those spots to occur". We've avoided that paed ever since ... and if the kids get bad enough to require a trip to the doc, we either go to the walk-in clinic or to the ER if it is that severe.



lexie -> RE: Allergy Relief (5/1/2008 9:06:46 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: IAMJulie

I think what I read about the honey was that it should be within 20 - 30 miles of where you live and, yes, it has to do with the plant life that grows around you. You could Google information about it or even pop over to the health forum here because I've seen it discussed there too but it's been over a year now.


I will google information about, since I'll be at google finding out the conversion of miles to kilometres![;)]

I've found somewhere close to the city so I'm going to check it out this weekend, for Dh. Not sure if I'll give to Dd yet.

Her runny nose and watery eyes have slowed down a bit now, and we go to the pediatrician soon. I'm not worried about her brushing us off, we've been blessed with a wonderful doctor.



IAMJulie -> RE: Allergy Relief (5/4/2008 7:34:27 PM)

Sorry about listing miles, I forgot where you lived. :) Not that it would have mattered, I don't know the conversion either.

Good luck with everything!



locomom -> RE: Allergy Relief (5/5/2008 2:12:02 AM)

As someone with a high level of allergies and a parent of a daughter who has had bad allergies all her life (she just turned 20), I would ditch the eucalyptus and the Vick's VapoRub. There's too much chance that they would be an irritant, and you don't yet know what your daughter is allergic to.

The HEPA air cleaner is a good idea. For your current vacuum cleaner you might want to see if you can get special vacuum bags that will not leak dust back out into wherever you are vacuuming. Try www.nationalallergysupply.com. You might want to try saline nasal drops for babies. I think that they are found OTC, but you can make them. Call your daughter's doctor for the recipe.

Definitely delay medications as long as you can. Many come with side effects and adverse effects. We dealt with severe mood problem from them.



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