Congestion, Cold

Do an allergy test. You can pay for one to get quick results or you can do an elimination diet method to figure it out for yourself. I presume he has been introduced to new foods lately. My baby ended up being allergic to cow milk, soy and eggs. The pediatrician starting recommending asthma meds (STEROIDS) even though he wasn't officially in the asthma camp. I decided to try something else (figure out the allergy) instead of meds before starting my baby on them. Once the culprits were found and discontinued, the snot immediately stopped.

By the time he was 2 the sensitivity to these food abated and were slowly reintroduced back into the diet, now he is only mildly allergic to soy (if he eats a lot of it he will get diarrhea). No drugs were ever needed for allergies.

Hi A.,

Your baby is far too young for you to buy infant allergy medicine without being told to by the doctor. Colds can morph into upper respiratory infections, so don't put off taking him to the doctor if his symptoms don't improve.

Sometimes throwing up because of mucus can be something different all together. My son had something called reactive airway disease, and he made extra mucous in his lungs and threw it up. I had to follow this closely with the doctor and sometimes we had to manage it with steroids and other types of medication. He did grow out of this condition, it did not become asthma like it sometimes does, and he has no trouble now. Some people will say to you that if you don't hear wheezing, that you have nothing to worry about - that isn't true. I never could identify the sound of him wheezing because I don't have the ear for it. That's why you need the doctor to help you - we shouldn't be trying to diagnose our kids by ourselves.

Good luck,
D.

Try a humidifier and a Dr. visit. I would be anymore concerned than make a check up.

I would take him to the doctor and have him checked for flu. The flu has started much earlier this year, and you can't afford to take chances with an infant. I know you said his temp was low, but that can vary throughout the day. Unless you take his temperature rectally, I wouldn't trust the results anyway.

thats normal for the blood, sometimes they rupture blood vessels when sneezing. put a pillow UNDER his crib mattress to prop him up at night. also try steaming up the bathroom and sitting for 20 mins good luck!

There has been a lot of hype on over-the-counter cough and cold medicines for children under the age of six. It will probably be difficult to find something labled for an 8 mth old baby. When my kids were little like that I used pedia-care. I dont even know if it is labled for infants and toddlers anymore. At any rate......a cold mist humidifier is really good to use. Run it all night in the room and the car seat is the greatest thing you can do. Being a little upright is great for him. I also used the vicks vapor rub but only on my childrens neck. I had a doc to tell me that putting it on the chest and back can throw them into pneumonia. He told me only put it on the neck to open nasal passages and sooth the throat of coughing. It works well. Also before you put him to bed you can take him in the bathroom and close the door. Turn the shower on as hot as you can and let the room fill up with steam. The steamy shower will help him clear his lungs and throat before sleeping and help make him relax. Just a few tips I have learned with my 4 kids. Hope he is better soon.

Someone suggested putting the vicks on the bottom of his feet but you cant use the baby vicks for that you have to use real vicks so you need to watch and make sure it doesnt burn him. Baby vicks doesnt have natural menthol like real vicks does and its the menthol that helps the coughing through the feel but it can also burn a baby's sensitive skin. I'd stay away from any OTC medicines. Use saline and a bule syringe to suck out his nose. He will probably scream but it help him in the long run. If he's not over it in 7-10 days or spikes a high fever or starts staying awake a lot at night or pulling at his ears a lot maybe a visit to his dr would be a good idea. Hope he feels better soon.

Make sure you are not using the saline and bulb too much because it could make his runny nose worse.I have found that when my babies have this problem that a small dose of children's benadryl right before bedtime helps the congestion while they sleep. But most importantly you just need to let it run it's course.

Mom of 3 1/2 y.o. girl and 2y.o. boy.

It sounds like just a cold unless a new food was introduced recently. I would stay away from OTC products. They really don't help that much. The humidifier and propping him up should help. Some bloody snot with a cold is normal, nothing to worry about. Hope he feels better soon.

HHEEEELLLLLLOOOOOO! Blood?? Get him to the doctor!! This is not just a cold. God Bless.

I would strongly suggest staying away from any medication unless prescribed by doc. My daughter had a lot of colds and congestations- leading to ear infections. A humidifier help and an incline in her bed. Good luck- I know it is tough when the little guy is feeling well but remember he has to build up his immune system and that involves getting colds.

I would just use a humidifier to help with the congestion. Also put the Vicks on the bottom of his feet and then put on some socks. This actually works better than anything else. I wouldn't worry about the blood in his nose. His nose is probably just aggravated by the cold. I would take it easy on the respirator as well. Too much of that and it can actually make the bloody nose worse. Hope he feels better soon!

I was going to say everything that R N said, so I won't repeat it all, but that was good advice. Always check with your doc before administering medications of any kind, even Vicks. My question about the blood is- How much blood? Just a tiny bit like we all get if our noses are raw and irritated? Or like a nosebleed? For a nosebleed I would call the dr. Mine has gotten tiny bits of blood before from rubbing his nose when it's irritated.

The only other thing I wanted to add is that you should always call the doctor as soon as a fever does develop. And also call if the mucus turns yellow or green and thick. If its just clear mucus, it's just fighting off the cold and isn't an infection. Also, the worst of the symptoms occurs at abot 3 days. So the third day he will probably get worse, because this is just the peak of the illness, and they last about 10 days on average. Mine has gotten these little colds a few times and I always went to the doc just to be sure, and all this is what they told me. He might throw up the mucus that is draining down his throat, and he might have it in his poop too. Their bodies don't break it down very well. You can always call your nurse at the doctors office and she will tell you if there sounds like anything to be concerned about. I hope he feels better soon!

It sounds like your little one has a lot of mucus. If you don't get it out it will possibly cause infection. Try using an aspirator, you know, the big bulb syringe you squeeze air out of, insert in the nose and release to suction all the goop out. It's great that you're keeping him upright. It will definitely help reduce the chance of post nasal drip pooling in the ears. You're doing a good job!
Take him to see a pediatrician. The doctor will know what to do. Don't medicate your baby unless directed by his doctor. Good luck, sweetie!

Hi A.,
This is what our pediatrician has recommended when our son has that problem: raise one side of the mattress, use a cool mist humidifier, and drink warm apple juice before going to bed (that last one may not apply if your baby is not old enough for juice yet). Hope he feels better soon!
Cyndi

Hi A.. Usually when infants/children have blood in their noses while they have a runny nose and/or sneezing it is not anything to be concerned about. The skin inside our noses is full of little capillaries just at the surface. It is kind of like when we are shaving our legs and nick ourselves. There is blood because our legs/underarms have those same type of capillaries just at the surface.

The vicks baby vapor rub and any other type of infant medication (except infant Tyleonl) should not be used without recommendation/instruction of the baby's doctor. Putting vicks vapor rub on his feet with socks should definitely be avoided unless your doctor specifically says that it is safe for him.

Also, the best rule of thumb for infants is that if symptoms persist for more than 5-7 days, you should at least call your/the baby's doctor and find out if they want to see the baby, or if they can recommend an over-the-counter medication AND the safe dosage for him. Using the humidifier/vaporizer is also something that a doctor should recommend.

With the threat of flu this time of year you can't be too careful. The fact that he is afebrile (does not have a fever) is a good sign that he probably just has allergies. As I mentioned before, if you do want to give him some medication you need to find out the correct dosage form his doctor. Dosing for infants can be tricky and the amount of medication per ml has to be multiplied/divided with the baby's weight to get the correct dosing. It is a pretty complicated formula we use to get the dosing correct, so make sure you know and understand how much is safe to give your little one.

Best wishes and I hope your little guy feels better soon!

There are no cold/allergy medications approved for over-the-counter use in children less than 4 years of age. So talking with the pediatrician is a must for that. A humidifier will help some with loosening secretions and maybe sooth that irritated nose. Try to go easy on the nasal aspirator. Use nasal saline first then the aspirator. If you don't see anything - stop; this will also help with the nasal irritation.

The lood in the nose could be from irritation from the saline spray and respirator. my little one had runny nose and eyes and the doc gave me some allergy med to use once daily as needed. most of the time they say just let it run its course if there is no temp. It always gives me a piece of mind though to talk to the pedi about it. some have a nurse line that can instruct you over the phone if they cannot see you. Good luck. hope your little one feels better soon.
As far as sleeping, you can put bricks or something under one end of the crib to angle him up a bit to see if that helps.