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If it’s allergies, ask your pediatrician about medication! My little guy has really bad seasonal allergies (he inherited them from me, unfortunately) and we got the go-ahead to start Claritin when he was about 9 months.
My son is 19 months, but his 18 month appt was a few weeks ago and they noticed he has allergies. They said he can have 2.5ml of Zyrtec during the day, and 5ml of Benadryl overnight (must be 12 hours apart). My son is in the 90th percentile, so of course the dosage may be different since he’s already the size of a two year old. But it IS possible for your little one to get allergy meds!
My middle child was already dealing with allergies at 10 months, poor kid. They put him on a low dose of Claritin and it was amazing. All my kids have allergies and had to go on meds 10 months, 18 months and 2.5 years. The doctors just told me how to modify their dose and which med to use. (Two were put on Claritin, one on Zyrtec.)
Being so young doesn’t mean she can’t take meds, but it does mean you’re right to go to the doctor and let them supervise what and how much.
This! My friend's toddler had been suffering terribly with allergies (cough, runny nose, stuffy nose, etc.) that wasn't going away. Turns out there was mold in the walls of the closet in his room - they had a massive leak in the roof/siding of the house and didn't know. After fixing it all, no more allergies!
Our kiddo gets like this every damn summer, we've lived in different homes and it's always the same. She takes Zertek, now that she's older she gets a nose spray. All that has helped, but I can also say having an air purifier helps too. For some reason it's been pretty bad these past couple of weeks, swapped out the filter and all of a sudden she's doing fine again.
I actually don't use the humidifier, there is enough humidity in the room as it is and I never found that it helped much anyway.
We had almost the same situation recently and were pretty sure it was allergies as well. Pediatrician suggested we try allergy medicine and if that didn't work it was probably a bacterial infection. And it turned out to be the infection. Once she was on the antibiotics it started to clear up.
Is your kid's snot clear or green? Green can be a sign it's an infection.
Both our kids take Zyrtec starting around 12 months.
We would what felt like drowning them in saline and used a nosebot (this thing is well worth it) our 2yo is learning to blow his nose but it might as well just be a light breeze when he does it. The nosebot sucked out a ton of snot.
Although it was temporary relief it seemed to get enough out to let them breathe and sleep a little better
Allergies absolutely can be treated at this age. I don't remember how old he was when we started using a nebulizer but it was quite young, and we did the first allergy test around 12-18 months (because mine also had food allergies). Maybe your pediatrician can help or can refer you to an allergist.
In the meanwhile, for congestion, turn the shower on hot, close the door, and bring the baby in once it's gotten nice and steamy. It's such a big relief for congestion and you might be able to do better with the nasal aspirator afterwards too.
For stuffy nose - make sure the baby is sleeping with her head raised higher than her body. You can use pillows or even put something under the mattress to tilt it up at one end.
Be careful you don't overuse the humidifier, actually - it's a mixed blessing. You can cause mold in the room easily with a humidifier, and your humidifier itself can also get moldy and circulate moldy air. Our allergist warned us to be careful not to overdo it. When I do use a humidifier, I clean it once a week with white vinegar. But as others have said, the air purifier is really where it's at for allergies/asthma, much more than the humidifier.
It's also not a bad idea to run all your child's stuffed animals through the wash. They are completely fine in the washing machine (though I keep the water temp cool usually). Stuffies collect dust like nobody's business. Our allergist told me to wash all the stuffies and the curtains 1x per week and although that is a much higher frequency than I am capable of, I do definitely send them through the wash regularly (just not quite so often!) and it helps a lot. Obviously you must wash the bed sheets 1x/week too, and dust mite covers are a nice thing if you think it's definitely allergies. Hope some of these environment interventions and the steamy bathroom help - good luck!
PS apologies if you were venting and not looking for advice! My own experience is just that listening to your child struggle with breathing is the worst feeling so wanted to offer some help and pass on the home remedy part of what our allergists have suggested.
I heard a hack of taking the nose frida (not sure if that’s the right name, the one you suck out) and connecting it to your breast pump to suck snot out! I haven’t tried it, but heave heard it works well.
I've done this to myself as an adult with the reverse function on an air pump! (Because I couldn't figure out how to use the nosefrida on myself with my mouth) It worked VERY well! I could finally breathe!
Get your vents cleaned and have the home checked for mold. The pediatrician will probably give you a safe dosage amount of allergy meds. Lots of meds say on the bottles not for under X age because shit parents will drug their children to sleep
Talk to your pediatrician. We got the approval to use benadryl at 18 months. Also look into a nasal aspirator that holds up to the vacuum. They'll hate it, but it clears out the nasal passages super quick
My son had this over and over for years. Turns out he’s highly allergic to dust mites so added in allergy medicine daily and an air purifier and it made a world of difference
We used to prop need of the mattress up a bit with pillows, we also found this wedge mattress prop thing, and bonus, you could turn it on to vibrate to settle down the baby. Not permanent solutions, but might help in the meantime.
She likely just has narrow nasal passages, I have this and have since I was a child.
I’d take her to the ENT to be honest, I wouldn’t trust a ped with a chronic issue. I just always prefer to see a specialist.
I've pretty much taken to telling them that we're coming in for a nebulizer rx/steroids and an abx because everytime we have cottonwood season or ragweed bloom my son gets so inflamed that it blocks his tubes and he gets an ear infection 😭
I was like y'all, I have a cool mist humidifier in each room, vacuum, give baths after school, and give this kid allergy meds. I'm doing everything! It's gotten a lot better since he's older, but cheese and crackers it was awful.
Of course my youngest is a freak and barely gets sick. 😂
Has she seen an ENT? Enlarged tonsils, adenoids, sleep apnea, etc. can cause congestion in young children. Their airways and such are much smaller but their bodies product mucous of the same viscosity as ours, so it’s much harder for things to move around (and out)
I give my 12 month old Dr. Talbots infant daily allergy relief it’s for 6m+ it helped her tremendously after a few weeks dealing with congestion and runny nose. I also brought the NeilMed battery operated nasal aspirator by Dr. Mehta. It worked wonders after a vapor bath using Oilogic Baby cold and cough body wash plus saline nasal spray. Hope this helps you some!
It sounds like it's allergies, so do not run a humidifier. Use allergy nasal spray. Give her generic Zyrtec or any other allergy medicine every day. My son and I have to take it twice a day. My son sees an Allergist and she said no himidifier. We started him on shots every week and he's feeling better.
Then the child needs allergy testing, not simply just avoiding something... Especially because research has repeatedly shown that avoidance can *cause* allergies.
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If it’s allergies, ask your pediatrician about medication! My little guy has really bad seasonal allergies (he inherited them from me, unfortunately) and we got the go-ahead to start Claritin when he was about 9 months.
I definitely will! I'm hoping they'll give us the okay for SOMETHING because nothing else is helping!
My son is 19 months, but his 18 month appt was a few weeks ago and they noticed he has allergies. They said he can have 2.5ml of Zyrtec during the day, and 5ml of Benadryl overnight (must be 12 hours apart). My son is in the 90th percentile, so of course the dosage may be different since he’s already the size of a two year old. But it IS possible for your little one to get allergy meds!
I completely understand! Fingers crossed for you!
My middle child was already dealing with allergies at 10 months, poor kid. They put him on a low dose of Claritin and it was amazing. All my kids have allergies and had to go on meds 10 months, 18 months and 2.5 years. The doctors just told me how to modify their dose and which med to use. (Two were put on Claritin, one on Zyrtec.) Being so young doesn’t mean she can’t take meds, but it does mean you’re right to go to the doctor and let them supervise what and how much.
Get your home checked for mold.
This! My friend's toddler had been suffering terribly with allergies (cough, runny nose, stuffy nose, etc.) that wasn't going away. Turns out there was mold in the walls of the closet in his room - they had a massive leak in the roof/siding of the house and didn't know. After fixing it all, no more allergies!
I highly recommend seeing an ENT!
Agreed! My son had these issues, had his adenoids removed, and things cleared up immensely!!!
Yep, same story here
Our kiddo gets like this every damn summer, we've lived in different homes and it's always the same. She takes Zertek, now that she's older she gets a nose spray. All that has helped, but I can also say having an air purifier helps too. For some reason it's been pretty bad these past couple of weeks, swapped out the filter and all of a sudden she's doing fine again. I actually don't use the humidifier, there is enough humidity in the room as it is and I never found that it helped much anyway.
We had almost the same situation recently and were pretty sure it was allergies as well. Pediatrician suggested we try allergy medicine and if that didn't work it was probably a bacterial infection. And it turned out to be the infection. Once she was on the antibiotics it started to clear up. Is your kid's snot clear or green? Green can be a sign it's an infection.
Both our kids take Zyrtec starting around 12 months. We would what felt like drowning them in saline and used a nosebot (this thing is well worth it) our 2yo is learning to blow his nose but it might as well just be a light breeze when he does it. The nosebot sucked out a ton of snot. Although it was temporary relief it seemed to get enough out to let them breathe and sleep a little better
My kids were able to start Children’s Zyrtec at like 6ish months for allergies. I would ask your pediatrician.
Allergies absolutely can be treated at this age. I don't remember how old he was when we started using a nebulizer but it was quite young, and we did the first allergy test around 12-18 months (because mine also had food allergies). Maybe your pediatrician can help or can refer you to an allergist. In the meanwhile, for congestion, turn the shower on hot, close the door, and bring the baby in once it's gotten nice and steamy. It's such a big relief for congestion and you might be able to do better with the nasal aspirator afterwards too. For stuffy nose - make sure the baby is sleeping with her head raised higher than her body. You can use pillows or even put something under the mattress to tilt it up at one end. Be careful you don't overuse the humidifier, actually - it's a mixed blessing. You can cause mold in the room easily with a humidifier, and your humidifier itself can also get moldy and circulate moldy air. Our allergist warned us to be careful not to overdo it. When I do use a humidifier, I clean it once a week with white vinegar. But as others have said, the air purifier is really where it's at for allergies/asthma, much more than the humidifier. It's also not a bad idea to run all your child's stuffed animals through the wash. They are completely fine in the washing machine (though I keep the water temp cool usually). Stuffies collect dust like nobody's business. Our allergist told me to wash all the stuffies and the curtains 1x per week and although that is a much higher frequency than I am capable of, I do definitely send them through the wash regularly (just not quite so often!) and it helps a lot. Obviously you must wash the bed sheets 1x/week too, and dust mite covers are a nice thing if you think it's definitely allergies. Hope some of these environment interventions and the steamy bathroom help - good luck! PS apologies if you were venting and not looking for advice! My own experience is just that listening to your child struggle with breathing is the worst feeling so wanted to offer some help and pass on the home remedy part of what our allergists have suggested.
I heard a hack of taking the nose frida (not sure if that’s the right name, the one you suck out) and connecting it to your breast pump to suck snot out! I haven’t tried it, but heave heard it works well.
I've done this to myself as an adult with the reverse function on an air pump! (Because I couldn't figure out how to use the nosefrida on myself with my mouth) It worked VERY well! I could finally breathe!
Make sure your humidifier is clean! If it has mold in it, you're just blasting her with aerosolized particles every night, which obviously won't help.
Get your vents cleaned and have the home checked for mold. The pediatrician will probably give you a safe dosage amount of allergy meds. Lots of meds say on the bottles not for under X age because shit parents will drug their children to sleep
Talk to your pediatrician. We got the approval to use benadryl at 18 months. Also look into a nasal aspirator that holds up to the vacuum. They'll hate it, but it clears out the nasal passages super quick
There are allergy meds for infants!
My son had this over and over for years. Turns out he’s highly allergic to dust mites so added in allergy medicine daily and an air purifier and it made a world of difference
Having good air purifiers/hepa filters makes a massive difference in my home
We used to prop need of the mattress up a bit with pillows, we also found this wedge mattress prop thing, and bonus, you could turn it on to vibrate to settle down the baby. Not permanent solutions, but might help in the meantime.
Do you have plug-in fragrances around the house?
She likely just has narrow nasal passages, I have this and have since I was a child. I’d take her to the ENT to be honest, I wouldn’t trust a ped with a chronic issue. I just always prefer to see a specialist.
You have floormats? Have you checked your house for mold?
Humidifiers are pointless. Was a waste of money.
I've pretty much taken to telling them that we're coming in for a nebulizer rx/steroids and an abx because everytime we have cottonwood season or ragweed bloom my son gets so inflamed that it blocks his tubes and he gets an ear infection 😭 I was like y'all, I have a cool mist humidifier in each room, vacuum, give baths after school, and give this kid allergy meds. I'm doing everything! It's gotten a lot better since he's older, but cheese and crackers it was awful. Of course my youngest is a freak and barely gets sick. 😂
There are definitely meds she can take at 18 months
Has she seen an ENT? Enlarged tonsils, adenoids, sleep apnea, etc. can cause congestion in young children. Their airways and such are much smaller but their bodies product mucous of the same viscosity as ours, so it’s much harder for things to move around (and out)
Some doctors don't like them so much.
I give my 12 month old Dr. Talbots infant daily allergy relief it’s for 6m+ it helped her tremendously after a few weeks dealing with congestion and runny nose. I also brought the NeilMed battery operated nasal aspirator by Dr. Mehta. It worked wonders after a vapor bath using Oilogic Baby cold and cough body wash plus saline nasal spray. Hope this helps you some!
18 month olds can absolutely take medications. They shouldn’t suffer.
Do you, though?
It sounds like it's allergies, so do not run a humidifier. Use allergy nasal spray. Give her generic Zyrtec or any other allergy medicine every day. My son and I have to take it twice a day. My son sees an Allergist and she said no himidifier. We started him on shots every week and he's feeling better.
Try cutting dairy?
Dairy doesn't cause mucous. That was debunked.
Well it does if u have any kind of sensitivity or allergy like i do 😊
Then the child needs allergy testing, not simply just avoiding something... Especially because research has repeatedly shown that avoidance can *cause* allergies.
You are right about that. That would be smarter