Sick 6 Month Old!

I would suggst an allergy test. You could have a blood draw, but my suggestion is to try and find a NAET practitioner near you. It's a way to treat allergies permanently without any needles. Also, good practitioners can test by muscle response testing. There's a website at www.naet.com. If you're near Indianapolis, we use Trudie Crawford at The Haven Ministries in Camby.

I am actually more allergic to soy than milk. I got traditional allergy treatments from the time I was 3 until I was 21 and I still have allergies. My daughter, who is 5, has also struggled with constant runny nose, cough, congestion, strange rashes and ear infections. I switched her to lactose-free milk and her nose stopped running. Tubes in her ears and adenoid removal stopped the ear infections, but the naet treatments have really helped with the nighttime cough and congestion. I had her on Singulair, but with the naet, she doesn't even need that. I have also had a few treatments and feel better, although I have not been able to get off the Singulair yet. It is a process, just like traditional treatments.

Good luck!

E.,
First, I want to tell you, you are not a failure of a mother. The fact that you are so worried and care so much shows that you are, in fact, a wonderful mother. The most difficult part of being a mama is the fact that we cannot take away the pain or misery from illnesses and bumps and bruises from our babies.
One suggestion is perhaps trying to find a different doctor or secend opinion. My daughter, at 4 months, was diagnosed with rsv and pnemonia - only when I took her to the emergency room because her breathing was so bad it was really scaring me. I had already taken her to her pediatrician at least three times, but he didn't catch it. Then, when she went to the emergency room, she was admitted to the hospital and spent three days in critical care.
I don't know any thing about allergies, but whatever is wrong with your little one, I hope you find the answer soon and that he gets the correct treatment so that he stays healthy and strong. Good luck and God Bless!

has your doctor mentioned giving children's benadryl? i was giving that to my 7 mo old for a few days and it seemed to help some. check with your doctor, but the dose to give should be 1/4-1/2 tsp once a day. giving your cat a bath (if possible) and vaccuming every day should help too. if you can find another sitter, that may help, but i know that is not an easy thing to do. also, i have a humidifier in my baby's room at night to help her sleep and i give her triaminic cough/cold before bed. they also have triaminic cold/allergy too. i dunno, just some suggestions. hope some of this may help you!

You are a wonderful mother, the fact that you are trying is proof of that. I know we all need to hear that more often and you being a single mom I am sure you don't hear it nearly enough! My daughter went throught the same thing for a while, first I thought it was teething, but it seemed that everytime we visited either sets of grandparents she would get really sick and it was back to square one. My parents smoke so I thought that maybe it was that (my husband has allergies really bad), but my in-laws do not and it still happened at their house. They both have long haired cats and a dog. I narrowed it down to those two, but since we don't have any pets I am not for sure. I just try to keep the contact between them very minimal when we are there. You just have to experiment a little to find the culprit, but remember that you have to give it atleast a week after removing something to see if it is actually that. It will get better!

My son, now 10 months, had very simiarl things.....We too have an indoor cat, son on soy etc... My son at 6 months started on Zyrtec and has been wonderful since. As for Cat allergies, I have read many books and Dr. information, only if the parents have past allergies to animals would it be of concern. It really isn't until around 2 or so that a pet allergy can form. And actually in the February PArents Mag there was an artical stating that it is good for children to be around indoor animals, that it actually can cause less allergies etc. WOW huh!! My son is also on Zantac due to reflex which can cause many upper resp. type problems.....not to suggest meds, but I can tell you from experience it has worked for my son, and worth asking your Dr. if it may help your child....GOOD LUCK!!

I can relate to your feelings. My 3 year old daughter came down with a skin rash on July 1st and we've been to 4 Dr's and still no one has any idea what is causing it. She scratches herself so bad at time that she has open sores. It really does wear on you emotionally. Has your son had fevers with the illness? Seems if it were allergies a fever would not accompany it. I looked into animal allergies and ever caged animals with fur can be bad for kids so although your cat isn't around his dander is everywhere. And from what I read it can take up to 6 months to get rid of the dander after the pet is gone. I got rid of our bunny and sprayed the entire house down in the febreeze allergen reducer but now we just have to wait it out. I also have air purifiers all over the house. Anyway, I can't help you figure out the problem....I'm still trying to figure ours but wanted to let you know to keep being an advocate for your son and hope you can figure out the culprit soon.

Has he been on many antibiotics? If so, STOP! I know how you feel. I felt like I was doing something wrong to my child from the time she was born till she was about six. I was living in a small town at the time and the doctors there prescribed antibiotics for everything! We finally got the name of a new doctor (Monique Macklem) in a bigger city near our small town, who was NOT taking new patients at the time, but when the receptionist heard me break down and cry at this news - she said she'd see what she could do, and luckily, Dr. Macklem agreed to take my daughter as a new patient. She helped get her back-on-track. My daughter did end up getting tested for allergies (she had none) and she did get tubes. (They helped.) After that, we quit using antibiotics to give her body a break too. She still got sick from time-to-time, but never as horribly sick as she had been getting.

On a sidenote - I don't know where you live, the age of your house, etc. so this may not apply to you, but I will also say that when we lived in Nebraska City in our old house, we all got sick more often than a lot of people - my husband and I and our two daughters. Since we've moved to OMaha into a house that was built in 1980-something, we hardly ever get sick. So - we don't know if there was something in the house that made us sick a lot - or if it's just that we are living healthier. But you might need to check your house for mold or something.

Just know that this is not your fault. But also know that there are other doctors out there who might take better steps for your child in the long run. (I'm not saying your doctor is bad. My original doctor was just not very in-tune to today's medicine.) You may want to talk to a naturopathic doctor too.

Good luck. God bless.

My son was kinda like this. I definatly say Cat allergy and Asthma. Mine got lots better after Abuteroyl (sp?), Prednisone (sp?) and making sure that he gets every does on time. This made my son sooooo much better. And a good dose of antibiotics to clear up any secondary infections. Remember to be firm with the Dr. about what you want. I notice as he gets older he is speands longer time periods not sick. I can't even remember when the last he was sick now that he is 4. He does come back a little stuffy from Dad's, but they have animals in the house and a gerbil in his room. No good. Good luck!

You should not take it out on yourself for your baby being sick. Nothing you are doing is causing him to get sick. You seem to be a smart person and are taking all the other right precautions and taking him to the doctor when necessary. If you think it could be allergies which could be totally possible have him tested. I have my son tested at an allergist here in town when we was around your sons age. They say when they are that little they are for be totally accurate. But it’s totally worth a shot. All it is is the board with little needles sticking out with like 12 different things on it. It press it again him back and then watch for bumps. I don’t think it hurts too bad. Mine did not really seam to bothered. We found out that my son is allergist to dogs. But not all breads. My old sitter had a mix mutt that he seemed to react to more and we have a golden retriever that we have no problems with unless he get licked, they he will get a hive or two. I would just have him tested and go from there. Sometime though is just seems like it’s one cold after another but is will stop. I swear! It could also maybe be teeth?? I know my son get a horse voice and a runny nose every time he springs a new tooth. Every kid is different and just when you think you have yours figured out they will switch you up again. Good luck and hang in there.

My daughter (she's almost 13 now) had the same thing... constant stuffy or runny nose, ear infections out the wazoo! We couldn't figure out what was going on. FINALLY, her doctor, after saying she didn't think it was a food allergy, she decided to try taking her off dairy products. I did that for 3 months, then tried her on dairy and within 30 minutes, nose started running like mad. During the 3 months she was off dairy... no problems what-so-ever. So I kept doing the 3 months off then trying again until she could take it without having problems. Often, those allergies don't last. They out grow them. My daughter did and now she can eat anything she wants.

In no way am I suggesting you second-guess your doctor, but if they haven't checked your child for a dairy allergy, maybe it's something to think about.

Good luck!! I know it's frustrating. Makes you so sad to see your little one not feel good!

Well all i can do is give you a suggestion,if you think this might be a pet allergie than if you can find someone that u can trust that is pet free I would try taking him to them for a few weeks and see if it dont clear up or if it starts again this would actually tell u if it is pets and if not u can rule that out.Please dont get rid of the babysitter u have now just let her know u are trying this out to see if it is the pets.I agree with the milk allergie thing but it could be anything from laundry soap to dish soap that is causing this or even his bodywash u use.Let me just say you are not a bad mom u are a wonderful mom for going thru all this and still being able to hold and cuddle your son so he knows that u still love him and i dont know what it is like being a single mom but even as a couple it is hard so i give it to u for being a single mom.

My son (who is now 3 1/2) was really sick when he was less than a month old and seemed to take forever to get well. He caught RSV but we were paying close attention to him so we got him treatment right away and avoided hospitalization. The only thing we could do for him was breathing treatments via a nebulizer. (My husband has asthma so we keep a machine on hand even though he hasn't had to use it in years.) Andrew got over that goop evenutally but he never really seemed to get rid of the sniffles entirely... he always seemed either to be stuffed up or to have a runny nose. Ear infections were another problem we encountered along with all the nasal drainage he had and luckily he grew out of that problem right before we were ready to have tubes put in his ears. (He was not yet 3 years old when he had his last ear infection.) When he was 6 months old though, our doctor put him on an allergy medication called Hystex. (There are several variations of the stuff but the one he was on was just an antihistamine i believe.) The amount we were giving him was really small (i can't recall the amount but there was barely anything in the syringe) but it worked wonders, as long as we gave it to him at about the same time(s) each day. (to start off with, i think it was only once a day until he was a bit older, then we could give it to him 2 times a day, 12 hours apart.) When he turned 2, we were able to move him to the liquid Zyrtec which actually works much better for him and it's a once a day med so it's harder to miss that dose once you get a routine down. Anyway, that's been my experience with kids and allergies. If your doctor hasn't mentioned allergy meds yet, you might ask if there is something your son might be able to take. However, sometimes meds don't work like they should (or liek we would hope!) and you just have to get through the tough spots and let time and nature take over.

I hope your little guy feels better soon!

I have a 19 month old and when she was 9 months that is when her allergies were the worst!!! I think that if your son might be allergic to cats that is something to think about. If you aren't attached to your cat then what is it going to hurt?? Or try giving your carpet a really good cleaning and see what that does. I guess keep trying and you will figure it out...it think it took me about 3 months before I figured out what was causing my daughters allergies and that was only because I told my dr to give me the name of a good allergy dr. that might be something that you can try.
But just so you know you are not a bad mom... We aren't superheros that know and see all. But you will eventually figure it out. Good Luck
A.

Some kids just get sick. There may never really be a reason for it. I have a 6 yr old who was diagnosed with failure to thrive when he was 1 and he has pretty much been sick since then . He will get better for a week maybe two weeks then its back to cold symyoms again. He also has had every test ran on him and they all came back positive. he has seen all the specialist. I was at the point I would just cry because I felt helpless and I couldnt do anything for him. I feel this year has gone alot better then the previous ones because he hasnt had anything major this year (rsv,bronchitis, strep) but still a constant cold. He is on allergy meds though and that does seem to help some but I just think if you be patient it may work itself out. I think if he is not contagious sick though you should still send him to daycare. Speaking as a daycare provider. Hopefully the allergy tests will turn something up for you. Just wanted to let you know you are not alone!

Get allergy testing for the basics...cat, dog, weeds, cockroaches, etc...

Has dr mentioned anything about gluten/wheat allergies yet...If you're even feeding the chid that.

Good luck!

I don't know how old a child has to be to be tested for allergies, but if you have insurance I would recommend doing so. I waited entirly too long with my son and went thru several years of sickness especially during the fall and winter months. When I took him in and had him tested, we found out he was allergic to practically everything and if we had known this we could probably avoided several hospital trips for asthma attacks and sinus infections etc. My son now takes zyrtec & has a nasal spray, but he's much older than yours. He also took cingulair for a while but no longer needs that one. We gave our cat away and he's done even better since then as well. We kept the dogs and just try to keep them out of his room. Anyway, hopefully this helps.