I feel like my 3yr old constantly is congested or has a cold. They removed her enlarged adenoids in May and I thought things would be better but it has been terrible. She had a cold in June, July, aug, twice in sept and has been congested most of October. I have taken her to her pediatrician several times and he says he is not concerned because she is growing, and doesn't usually need antibiotics. I had taken her to an allergist and her blood work said she has no allergies. I know kids get sick often but isn't this excessive? The nights are endless because she is so congested and it feels like she is sick more than she is well. She takes zyrtec and singular but that doesn't seem to be helping. Are there any moms out there in the same situation?
Have you tried taking her off milk? A lot of people/kids get congestion and other issues from milk. Otherwise, I'd try taking her to a Naturopathic Doctor (ND). They have a lot more ideas and things to try than MDs. You can find one at naturopathic dot org.
Are there smokers around her? My children had colds and congestion until I finally wised up and quit smoking!!! Not only was it healthier for me but it was healthier for THEM!!! I would seriously question whether she has allergies...especially since you say that it gets worse at night....that is when allergies REALLY get bads, the "gunk" going down the back of their throat and making them cough.
Keep a food diary...see if you can come up with a cause and effect relationship between what she eats and how bad her congestion is. I would first eliminate milk...try going without it for a week and see if the congestion gets any better at all.
You will just have to be a detective.
My son was constantly on allergy meds until we took him off dairy, and then later gluten. Further down the road we also found out he is highly reactive to eggs, chicken and soy. Yes, it is a pain (especially at first when you have to re-learn how to feed your family) but it has made a HUGE difference in his life (and our whole family actually).
My mainstream ped was very little help on this issue. We made great progress with an integrative physician and a nutritionist (I wanted to make sure he was getting the right nutrients for a growing child).
JMO.
Good luck to your little guy.
We had the exact same situation with our son this year. He'll be 3 in December and starting in August until about 1 week ago he was constantly sick. He had bouts before of sinus infections maybe 2-3 times a year, but this time it was chronic and we couldn't get it cleared up.
Here's what we did-which sounds similiar to you...Our ped referred us to an allergist. We know him since he is my husband's as well so were confident he'd be helpful. He did a scratch test rather then blood test to determine allergies and our son is allergic to A LOT. Especially seasonal which explains why he started getting sick in August thru early October, (we took him to a Pumpkin Farm and we were hardly out of the car and he was congested).
He prescribed Zycal with is a stronger version of OTC zyrtec and a nose spray. It is helping, but I can tell it's the weather changing that is really doing it-that and clearing the sinus infection for good. BUT I would say this for you-if your daughter has had a 'cold' longer then 7 days she probably has a sinus infection. That's what both doctors told us. Plus they feel crappy and are crabby and all that.
I would check with another ped. If it's been this long she more then likely needs an antib. and probably a long round of it. We go through this constantly with my husband and not probably my son as well. Don't be araid that she'll be on one 'too' long. Our son had to go through 5 rounds this year - 4 different drugs-before they found one that did the trick. And yea-I'm not a fan, but I look at this year as the trial year for what works and what doesn't and hopefully from now on, now that we know his allergies we can get in front of this next year.
Also-get a probiotic, (whole foods) for toddlers to help counter act the antib' in her system.
Good luck! Once our son was feeling better it was like we got our kid back!
I apologize if this is a repeat....I haven't read your other posts.....my daughter's congestion cleared when we did food testing and removed the foods she was responding to. Casein is her main intolerance, which is in cow milk products---she is great now. We did have to avoid several other foods but we were able to add them back once her gut healed. We had testing done through Dr. Bains office, who is our pedi now----
Well my three kids have season congestion problems. We purchased a nebulizer. It helps to open up their lungs.
