60 answers

Allergies or Cold?

I have a six month old girl and she seems to constantly have a cold. She had a cold for two weeks, then two days with no symptoms then another week of cold symptoms. She was okay for about a week then this morning she woke up with another stuffy nose.
Her symptoms are always the same - stuffy nose, but usually clear - little cough but no fever. She continues to eat and sleep as normal. We keep a humidifier on her while she sleeps and incline her mattress. We also use saline drops and suction her nose. I try not to use decongestant unless she is really stuffy before she goes to bed. I asked my ped. about it and she said it just sounded like bad luck of having back to back colds.
She is in daycare two days a week so she could be getting the germs there but it still seems like an excessive amount.
Does this sound like allergies or maybe she is just having bad luck with colds?

What can I do next?

So What Happened?™

First of all, I really appreciate all of the advice! I've come to think that she is just bringing home a lot of colds from the daycare she is in twice a week. But we went ahead and put an air purifier in her room and some other things just in case it is allergies. More than anything, I'm just trying to be patient and hope that she grows out of this soon. Now we're on to teething!.......

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I have 15 month old twins and when they were in daycare they kept a cold. Two days after their last day the symptoms stopped! I don't think it was a coinsidence!!

My 3 year old has had a cold almost non stop since he was about 6 months. I just get used to it. As long as it's not affecting his sleeping or eating habits, I use a sudacare plug in his room at night and wipe his nose constantly. My pediatrician said it's because of daycare and kids put everything in their mouths. He said by the time he starts school he should be very healthy and not miss school so I'm doing the right thing. And I very rarely give decongestants since they don't really work. Good luck!

There is a summer cold that has been making the rounds. My daughter goes to a babysitter rather than daycare and she is on her second cold in the past month. (None of the other babies are sick, Dad brought it home!)
When she was in daycare, she was constantly sick. There were no breaks. They do not sterlize very good in daycares and it doesn't matter how good the daycare is, there are too many kids to keep the environment completely sanitary. Because of that and the bad experience at the daycare she went to, along with other horror stories of diffferent daycares, I am so against them!

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Hi D.,
I do think it sounds like allergies. When my son was that age, he was the same way - always had a cold and stuffy. It seemed to progress as he got older and he would always have a scratchy voice and a congested wet chest. It got to the point where he couldn't breathe well when he would lay down at night and bedtime was a nightmare all night through. Finally, his Dr. removed his tonsils and adnoids because he was repeatedly getting sick and infections at 17 months. Cold symptoms still persisted and with more investigating, on my own, (no help from our dr) I found out it was a dairy allergy! Milk and other dairy (even if you are nursing and you are eating dairy yourself) can cause all of this. I had this reaffirmed when my daughter, Amelia, was born and went down the same path with dairy allergies, but much more severely. Food allergies can definitely cause symptoms as minor as a cold to stomach cramps to bleeding and behavior issues. Try switching her diet around to eliminate dairy for awhile or yours (if you are nursing). Be careful of soy, though, which is what you may switch to. 25% of kids who are allergic to dairy are also allergic to soy. My daughter was, also. I drank alot of enriched rice milk with her and that is what both of my kids still drink. If it's not food allergies, there are also environmental allergies to consider. And, don't solely rely on allergy tests. With kids as young as your daughter, they are not always accurate. Hope you find the solution, soon. Feel free to email me anytime. We've had a lot of experience in this department ;)
K.
____@____.com

1 mom found this helpful

I have a 12 week old that is having the same problem. Stuffy nose on and off, a little coughing from congestion and no fever. She seems very happy, but not 100%. She doesn't go to daycare and is pretty much home with me most of the time. When we went to her 2 month visit he said he wanted to see her back in a month to check on it??? But he didn't seem too concerned. I will let you know if I find out anything more then.

1 mom found this helpful

I'm not a doctor but this sounds more like allergies to me. Do you have any animals? A fan in her room?

She could have had back-to-back colds (or maybe just never fully recovered from the first one) but I would check with the doctor again and see if this could be allergies.

With her age you probably can't do much in terms of medicine if it is allergies but you could start to really monitor her in terms of things she comes in to contact with and her reaction to them. That way you will have a better idea of the true reason.

My peds doctor has given me the rule of thumb that if the nose mucus stays relatively clear and you don't have a fever it is almost always allergies....

Hope she is better soon.

1 mom found this helpful

Deja Vu - I went round and round with what I thought was daycareitis. It wasn't. My son has been on Singulair off and on since November and when it's really bad Zyrtec on top of that. The Singulair is great, it's a powder you sprinkle on top of whatever they are eating. The Zyrtec is a liquid, but it makes my son so sleepy I try to limit how often I give it.

Talk to your doctor again. I hate having my son on medicine, but he feels so much better now!

Good Luck!!

1 mom found this helpful

If she were not in daycare, I would say allergies seem very likely. My husband has serious allergies and I expect both my children will as well. My daughter and son currently have a snotty nose and a slight cough, the onset one week after Meg started back in preschool. For pretty much the entire year of preschool last year, meg had some sort of runny nose and cough. It would clear up for a week and then return. It's possible she just has allergies, however for her first 2.5 years, she was not in any daycare or preschool and never had a cold. Not one time. Over the summer, while not in preschool, once her cold cleared up at the beginning of the summer she was not sick at all for the rest of the summer. until last week when school started.

If you are managing her symptoms without drugs, I would probably continue to do so unless she is seriously uncomfortable. I think the testing for allergies sucks and I don't know if there are safe meds for infants for allergies either.

D., my son's ped said that it wasn't possible for kids that age to have allergies. However, I beg to differ. My son kept the same symptoms that your daughter had and the doctor kept saying it was just a cold. I gave him a half teaspoon of Childrens's Benadryl and he was fine. Once the pollen was gone his symptoms went away. I even had him tested by a specialist. His allergies seem to be seasonal so I don't have to worry most of the time. Spring and Fall are the worst for my son. A friend of mine has a little boy that was tested by a specialist for allergies at the same age as your daughter and had reactions to grass pollen and mold spores. Trust your instincts. If you think something is going on enough to question it, get a second opinion from another doctor.

There is a summer cold that has been making the rounds. My daughter goes to a babysitter rather than daycare and she is on her second cold in the past month. (None of the other babies are sick, Dad brought it home!)
When she was in daycare, she was constantly sick. There were no breaks. They do not sterlize very good in daycares and it doesn't matter how good the daycare is, there are too many kids to keep the environment completely sanitary. Because of that and the bad experience at the daycare she went to, along with other horror stories of diffferent daycares, I am so against them!

I'm so glad someone else has this problem too. My little man is coughing with his colds though. I have tried the decongestant that the Ped. gave me, but it seems to do nothing. I'm hopefully taking him back to the Ped. today since I can now feel the gunk rattling in his chest when I pick him up. I'm with you though..I know it's just a cold, but what do you do??

I will be very interested in the responses you get.

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