Allergies in a 5 Month Old?

Kids that young can definatly have allergies. I know I did as a child, still have them and every time i get them, my son does too. No fever, and most normal medcines dont do a thing. Should get tested since I have had it BAD since moving to SC. Something blooms and pollinates every single month here and because the weather has been funny this year, things are blooming WAY early. The peach tree in the yard is blooming and normally hasnt done that till end of April!

I'm not sure how you've addressed this problem, but I wanted to add my opinion. Your baby may very well have allergies, but you probably won't know for sure until he's about a year old. One thing I do know, if a child has symptoms of a cold or whatever, and they get worse instead of better, then it's time to go to the doctor! Your baby could have a virus or infection. Don't worry about being a bother to the doctor, they really worry when your child feels bad!

If you feel like your daughters depression is really affecting her life, or if you think there is a chance she might hurt herself, medication can really help. It can also help, short term, with depression that is not as bad. However, most research shows that medicine, along with cognitive/behavioral therapy works the best. Once the child learns how to adjust there way of thinking (that is adding to/causing the depression) she could be weined off the medication. Hope this helps.

My son went to an allergist before his first b-day (I can't remember the exact age). They said he clearly had allergies, though seasonal allergies frequently don't test positive under 2, so they didn't do those test. They did test him for other food and pet type allergies (some were positive). They tried zyrtex and I didn't see an improvement, then they switched him to singulair and nasonex (a nose spray) and he does much better. He still has a little bit of a runny nose if the pollen is really high, but the eyes very rarely puss and his ears stopped draining too (that was causing ear infections). So, yes babies do get allergies and there is something you can do for it. Hope this helped.

I would seek a second opinion! Babies can have milk allergies to formula and brest milk and food allergies as they get older so I see no reason why he couldn't have other allergies! Unfortunatly, he is too young to be allergy tested. Seeing where you live, it very well could be tree pollen affecting him. I've got seasonal allergies and moved to Beaufort from northern IN in March of 04 and the pollen here kicked my butt!!! And it gets me every year so I start Nasonex in Jan to help keep it under control!!! Or it could be a cold since the weather keeps going back and forth. But just start watching him and take notes of when it gets bad for him. (Is it shortly after he has been outside, is it only at the babysitters, etc.) You might also want to change your air filter every month. I do and it seems to help cut back on the dust in the house and considering my heat pump is in my attic, heavens only knows what it sucks in from the air outside!!! 3M makes several good ones starting at $7 a filter and goes up (at Lowes). I but the $7 ones since I change it once a month. You can also get Dupoint at Walmart for about the same price. What ever you do, don't get the 'hog' hair ones, get the fan fold white ones.

Good luck to you and your little one!!

S.

They make Claritin in liquid form for infants. Be forewarned, though, that it tastes NASTY. If you can, call your pediatrician and ask if it's OK to try using it and ask for a recommended dose. Claritin is supposed to be one of the safest medications around, so hopefully your Doc will give the all-clear.

My 2 year old has been seeing an immunologist since he was just a couple of months old, for reasons other than allergies though. But, after he started going, she took on the role of allergist too. I would suggest taking this route. We see Dr. Anne-Marie Irani. She is head of Pediatric Allergy/Immunology at MCV, but has Wednesday office hours at St. Mary's Hospital. Her number is ###-###-####.

As far as what's going on, 5 month olds are still a little vulnerable to their environment. Find out: when it gets worse & what he's around when it's worse. Try Tylenol and see if he feels better. At this age, that's all that he is allowed to take. When he turns 6 months, he'll be able to start taking Advil & Benadryl. Also, do not use a humidifier. The wetness that they put in the air can actually contribute to mold growth and make allergies worse.

That is what the doctor told me too but don't believe that. I actually found out what caused my newborn to have itchy, red eyes and sneezing...after months of her doing this...I started to examine her environment. It seems as though she is allergic to down pillows and blankets. I also had the carpets in the house professionally cleaned and I change the air filters every 2 months. I hope that this helps. Do you have a pet?

J.,

I was told the same exact thing for my daughter when she was around 3-4 months old. They kept saying babies don't have allergies this early. I knew this wasn't true. I have an older daughter who also has allergies, my husband and I have allergies and we know the signs. Thank goodness my oldest daughter was seeing an allergy/asthma specialist and I asked him to just take a peek at my youngest while he was looking at my oldest and he said my youngest daughter clearly has sinus/allergy issues. He said she had a rhinitis nose and it was definitely not a cold. I didn't tell him in advance what the pediatrician said about it only being a cold so he had no reason to make that up. From that day, he said, just do a half squirt of Flonase in each nostril and see if you get results. If we got results continue, if no results just stop. My family all already used Flonase so we tried it for a week and I must say, that she is now 6 years old and that is the miracle drug for her. As soon as her nose begins to get all snotty or stuffy, we just use Flonase (or the generic Flutacasone-same thing but cheaper).Because it will be spring soon, we start now using it everyday so the allergies are reduced to next to nothing. I think taking her to an allergy/asthma specialist would be your best bet. While ours said that Flonase is for older children, he didn't think it would hurt and he was right! It's done nothing but save us from the time she was 10 months old til now from going to the pediatrician every 4-6 weeks with a "so-called" cold.

Something to note, all the research I've done on allergies indicate that they can cause red, watery eyes, not puss. If there is a yellowish discharge from his eyes he may have bacterial conjunctivitis (a form of pink eye). Your dr. can give you drops for that. I would talk to him about the runny nose. I used claritin for my son but not that young.

Babies this small can have allergies as both my girls did. My youngest was diagnosed at about 3 months and put on liquid Zyrtec. She is now 15 months and is on Singular 5 mg pill as well as her 3 year old sister. If they do not take their medication, they get sick. My girls were the same, no fever or pain, but runny nose, constant cold like symptoms and mucus in the eyes. They sometimes still get the mucus in the eyes when they are getting a cold, but our MD has given us some RX eye drops that I can use a few times and it gets rid of it. I also give the girls Dimetapp everyday, AM and PM (dosage for their age and weight). This helps keep the nasal fluid thin as to help prevent ear infections. This has helped tremendously.

I would get a second opinion from another pediatrician or take him to an allergy specialist. Good luck. I hope that he gets better soon.

Get a new pediatrician! Babies can absolutely have allergies.

I second the previous poster: see if you can figure out what is causing the symptoms and remove it from his environment. Dust mites, mold, and animal dander are common environmental allergens. If you have a pet, try banishing it from the room where Baby sleeps.