infants and allergy?

[zandeela]

I work in veterinary dermatology but am unsure of infants and allergy.

My pedi keeps insisting that she is too young for allergies to the environment but I swear that every time my allergies start flaring I notice that she starts to cough and her eyes get slightly runny.   I nebulizer her when her cough gets real bad, and am not sure if her cough is due to her severe GERD or to post nasal drip from a runny nose.  I see that a few have their LO's on zyrtec, was this by recommendation of your Pedi? are you giving it everyday or just when they need it?  I have her 1 year check next month, but not sure if I want to wait until then to maybe start her on something

[babycaps]

In my professional opinion, no, your baby does not need Zyrtec.
Your LO could have a runny nose due to teething. Coughing due to extra saliva due to teething and the GERD. Zyrtec isn't going to help those.
And has Zyrtec even been studied in babies? I don't believe so.

[bsouls]

We were told by an allergist that we could use Zyrtec at bedtime for itching.

The note from the appointment says: use Zyrtec = cetirizine 1/4 tsp at bedtime if itching, add hydrocortisone 1% if needed.

We have not used it. T has an allergy to peanuts and, it showed mild to dogs and cats - but, we never noticed a reaction to animals. She does have eczema though.

If your insurance doesn't require a referral, then you could always contact a place yourself to have her tested. They tested T for more than the peanuts. It cost about $500, since I have a high deductible i haven't met yet.

[nattybumppo]

DH is convinced both LOs have allergies because he has major allergies. I am more likely to chalk it up to colds or something. Though I *do* notice that sometimes one of them will "flair up" with allergy symptoms when *I* have allergy symptoms and mine are pretty rare. (Then again, maybe it's not allergies for me either.) I dunno.

Our pedis (we've had two since one moved) have both okay allergy meds. I think the first pedi said we could try giving DD1 children's claratin (though I don't remember how old she was? Maybe 1+?). She recommended giving it to her daily until she was symptom free for a few days and then go off of it and see if she stayed better. Something like that I think. We've given it to DD1 for a multiday stretch a few times, but honestly, I think she just had a cold. DH thinks otherwise.

Our second pedi at DD2's 6 month (?) appt that we could give her a small bit of Rx allergy meds (can't remember if it was zyrtec or what). Her logic was that even if it was a cold and not allergies, it could help some? I don't know. We gave DD2 I think 1 dose and then she didn't really have issues anymore. (I don't think it was a 1 dose miracle, I think whatever was bothering her went away (cold or allergies) and we haven't had an issue again.)