10 Month Old Son with Occasional Congestion

I use the following products with my 10 month old son and they work well for us. These are herbal products and they don't have any side effects like the medicine will. I don't like to use medicine any more than I have to because I want his own immune system to develop well and not require constant support.

The brand is "Liquid Light" herbal supplement.
We use the brand's "sinus minus" and "lung plus"

When he starts having symptoms I just add the drops to his cereal, juice bottle or directly in his mouth.

Hope this helps.
B.

I also had a son like this. I was not able to get his allergy tests run until he was five years old. Things are different now. I would recommed an allergy doctor or begin to watch and observe what triggers off his episodes i.e. foods, pets, drinks, blankets baby lotions i.e. baby products, diapers, you will get to the bottom of the problem.

Hey J. -
I went through this exact same thing with my son. He has RSV at 4 months and was sick/congested off and on solidly for the first year of life. However, he was carefully monitored by doctors and did see a pulmonary specialist. He was also tested for all the common food allergies AND he was put on hypoallergenic formula (which seemed to help with the congestion related to eating). He has gradually outgrown being congested ALL of the time (he was not allergic to anything). Finally, at around age 4, he hasn't been as sick as he always seemed to be. He is 5 now and I think this past year is the first time that he hasn't been REALLY sick at some point in the year. But, we have still had to use the nebulizer at some point every year.

After my son got RSV, they said that he would just be more susceptible from then on to every sickness. I eventually put my son in "home care" so that he wasn't exposed to so many other children. He stayed with a woman at home until he was 2 - then he started daycare.

Good luck!
L.

Congestion comes from mucus in the body. If there is too much it causes congestion. What is he eating. Non organic milk, yougurt, cheeses and white flour and sugar all make it harder on the body to eliminate. Is he on formula? Almost all health problems are diet related, but since he has had this since he was 3 months old it sounds like an allergy or his vaccinations. Your doctor will claim it is not the vaccinations and there is no scientific proof. Yes there is you just have to dig for it. I encourage you to look into natural remedies and holistic remedies. Also do a search on vaccines and read the ones that are against vaccinating. Some children are okay and some are not. It depends on the strenghth of their immune systems. They do more harm than good. As a mother of 6 only my first 2 have all their shots. I had problems with my 3rd son and his vaccinations. So I researched health and natural medicine myself. My children are healthy and happy. We eat mostly organic foods and drink only orange juice and filtered water. It takes being informed. The medical world will decieve you. It is all about money. Not all of it is bad, but alot of it is. For every illness there is a cure, they just don't want you to know about it. With good nutrition and being informed yourself you will find what the cause is. My children have medicaid too and I treat them all myself when they get sick. Unless it is life threating and I don't know what it is,I will always treat it myself. Trust you mom instincts. Don't second guess yourself. Your first instinct will give you your answer. Good luck and God Bless. Please look into all that I have suggested. It changed our health for the better.

I would take him to an allergist and have him tested. Not all allergy symptoms are the typical ones you assumed. Good Luck from what I have heard Medicaid is hard to deal with you might have to pay out of pocket for the testing but every Dr I have ever talked to gives a pretty decent discount for people paying out of pocket.

It sounds like he needs to see an allergy specialist. All 6 of my children suffer from allergies, asthma and one with severe food allergies. Where do you live? What Medicaid plan are you on? Getting a good allergist is essential. We see Dr. Wasserman at Medical City Dallas. He takes Medicaid. We have been with him for 10 years now. He is great.

Hi J.,

I have a 2yo daughter who goes through the same thing at least once month, but it was much worst when she was in daycare. When she first started going to daycare(2 months old) I noticed within that week the congestion started. She was not congested during maternity leave.

I had to suction her nose in order for her to eat. It was quite miserable for her b/c she refused feedings because she was so congested. We were regulars in the Dr's office for the same thing every few weeks. Same meds and a few new meds, but nothing seemed to work. I found out that the daycare was allowing sick kids to come and I'm almost certain that caused the congestion with the germs everywhere.

I used a saline solution(suctioned nose w/bulb), Children's Vick Rub, kept her hydrated with water and used the humidifier. It worked! She occasionally gets congested now and I go back to the aforementioned home remedies and the next day she's free and clear.

I hope this helps!

I have had this problem with both my boys. Around 6-9 month we get asthma problems. My oldest son grew out of has a lactose intollerance. My youngest son has drainage problems and sleep apnea. You sound like you have a food allergy problem. I would suggest a pediatric imunolgoist. The best one I know of is Dr. Michael Ruff his number is ###-###-#### He's with Dallas Allergy & Ashtma Center. He takes them as young as 2 months. He's awesome, he's seen my oldest and I wouldn't go any where else.

Good luck!

J.,
Breathing problems in a child are not something to experiment with. I recommend you take him to a good pulminary doctor immediately. The Medical City suggestions sound good to me.
D. C

I have a tendency to agree with the swallow study. Your son sounds like he may have a small fistula between the trachea and the esophagus. This would explain the chronic respiratory problems and certainly the congestion after eating. Good luck to you and your son!

Hi J.,

What you described kind of sounds like my youngest. He has bad allergies. Like you, we did the breathing treatments 'round the clock when he was extremely congested and as needed when he wasn't. He now takes Zyrtec and Singular. He started out on just Zyrtec, which helped, but we still had to do frequent breathing treatments. He's been on Singular for about a year and doing wonderful. We rarely have to give him treatments now. The only time we do is when he spends the night with my parents. They have an inside dog...he doesn't come home with a runny nose, watery eyes or sneezing, just wheezing. We give him one, maybe two treatments and he's fine.

He doesn't get worse when he eats, but...have you had your little one tested for food allergies?

Hope this helps?

Hello J.,

did your son start getting "sick" after visits to the doctor? could he be allergic to latex? the bloodwork might not show it but it's something you could look into. my daughter started getting colds and even an ear infection at 2 months old. it took me over 1 year to figure out that a few hours after she came in contact with latex she would get congested and by the time she was 1 year old, it was asthma. well, once I figured out she's had asthma less offten. also figured out that 1 tsp milk of magnesia (in addition to her breathing treatments) would help get rid of her asthma within 24 hours instead of 15 DAYS. allergists know that magnesium helps get rid of the inflamation in the lungs. (that's why one of the "old" course of treatment is magnesium sulfate IVs for kids in the ER). good luck and keep looking until you find the answer that's right for you and your baby. ~C.~

My little guy is 9mos old and 22 lbs and we give him 1/4 tsp of yellow Triaminic (sp?) every 4 to 6 hrs. If he is really congested we give him the orange Triaminic, but only because he is so big. I would DEFINATELY ask your pediatrician or pharmacist before you do something like this.

J.,
Be careful about vaccinating him . Go to www.generationrescue.com for more info on that. If I were you I would try a homeopath. There is one in Dallas we go to Dr. Dan Cook but I hear he is booked for months. Look online for one in your area. Giving all those meds are not good for a baby. There are alternatives. Homeopathy helps EVERYTHING and is gentle. Also look up NAET and check into that.
Good luck to you.
L.

Are your seeing a pediatric pulmonologist? My son had similar problems at that age after having RSV at 4 months old and a trip to the ER. Then we had problems just like what you are saying. Our pediatrician sent us to a pediatric pulonologist (Dr. Steven Copenhaver at the Presby Dallas office buildings). We saw him on a regular basis and he got everything worked out. We went through many different medications, some daily. At age 3 1/2, my son stopped seeing him and everything is fine now!

It sounds like to me that he might be aspirating and/or what they call penetration aspiration. Which means that he is getting fluids into his airway, but it isnt going down to his lungs all the time because he is coughing it out.

My son has been aspirating since birth and this just sounds so familiar to what we have delt with for years. I would ask for something called a swallow study. You go in and he drinks some liquid with barium (an xray liquid) while being xrayed like a movie. You are in the room with him and you help him drink the liquid and watch the movie, you can see the liquid going down and where it is going. Either into his stomach into his airway.

I would be persistent and check on it! I had to ask to see a GI doctor before I figured out what was wrong with my son.

Good luck and feel free to email me if I can explain this better. Its kinda hard to type out and explain it! :)

C.
www.candisno.com

My 7 yr old nephew has been congested on and off since his birth. My SIL found out that he just has really bad environmental allergies especially when the seasons change. He get so congested that he actually gets sick from the stuff. I am not 100% sure what they did but I think he is just on regular allergy medication. Now, if we can just get him to figure out that he needs to use a tissue to get that stuff out before he gets ill from it, we would all be better off.

I would be persistent with the other recommendations from the other moms too. You are your child's only advocate so if you don't like what you are hearing or the treatment is not working, find a new physician. Most should work out payments with you, even if it is $10 a month or less...be sure to get that in writing though if you do a payment plan!

Praying for you and your family.

J. S.

Sounds like you have a doctor who likes to prescribe things and treat symptoms rather than finding the cause. Will Medicaid cover a nutritionist? Is your baby breastfed or on formula? If on formula, maybe he's lactose intolerant (as is 75% of the world's population) and you could try switching to a soy formula.

Blessings,

____@____.com

Have you talked with your doctor about acid reflux? My son has had acid reflux since birth. Your son's symptoms of coughing after meals could be a symptom of acid reflux. Zantac worked wonders for him. He has just been switched to Nexium and that seems to be working even better.
Just a thought.
J. M.

Our son who's almost 3 now and was a preemie has been having respiratory issues since birth. We've gone through exactly what you're describign, meds, symptoms and all except with us eating didn't have any impact on it!? He had croup 5 times in his 1st year, we had RSV in January. We were also told to do the breathing treatments and zyrtec daily which seemed to help a lot but like you said not completly. We're at the pedi urgent care, ER, and Dr's so much we met our insurance deductabile within the 1st few months of the year..it's horrible. All along they've all said severe allergies (and we were told since birth anything respiratory would be wrose becasue of when he was born) but this Spring they officially diagnosed him as asthmatic...it's just only complicated by allergies.

I see you have several responses that suggest that you go to a pedi pulmonologist. I also see that the team of Gelfand/Copenhaver have been recommended. They are wonderful!! They take medicaid without making you feel less important for having it. It takes a little while to get an appointment, but they are worth it. Their number is ###-###-####.

My grandson got RSV when he was also 3 months old. Had a horrible cough and runny nose for months on end. Would take antibiotics and it would clear up for about a week, then start up again. He also took singular, which we discovered, has a side effect of COUGHING, of all things, so we discontinued that and it helped some. We were finally sent to an ENT and he did an x-ray of his sinus cavity and discovered that his sinuses were almost completely blocked due to a severe sinus infection. He said his pediatrician had been treating that ok, but was not leaving him on the antibiotics long enough to clear it up completely. He put him on antibiotics for 6 FULL WEEKS. He then did another xray of his head and said he was still congested, so he put him on another 6 WEEK round. Finally after 3 FULL MONTHS of the meds, he cleared up and the cough and cold symptoms all went away. He occassionally now has it, but not as bad and his mom gets him to dr right away before it gets too bad.

One other thought, take him off ALL milk products for one week, then slowly give him some and see if that makes the congestion worse. He could be lactose intolerant. We tried that, but did not affect my grandson. Good luck!!

mMlk and wheat are mucus producing foods. So if he eats one you may not want o tofeed him the other the same day and vice versa.It may be too much for him to handle both at the same time .Since it seems to happen after he has eaten I would guess there are some foods he tolerates better than others.
Hope that helps!!
T.

I had the same problem with my son around thst age, plus a runny nose all the time. When he was around 2 I was working at a daycare and I had alittle girl in my class that also had the same problem, so her mother took her to an allergist, and it turned out she was allergic to milk. So I figured that maybe if I took my son off milk for a little while and see what happens. Two days after we took the milk away, the congesttion and runny nose dissapeared. We replaced milk with soy milk for about a year and then started slowly giving him real milk again. He has grown out of that allergy and is just fine now. Most kids do grow out of that kind of allergy. Maybe you could try that, it woulden't hurt any thing. Ive worked in daycare for a while and I see it quite often. I hope this helps, good luck!

Is he in daycare? My best friend had the same thing going on with her son while she was working in a daycare (he would go with her) and then as soon as she left he got well. Now she is working in a daycare again and the same stuff is going on again.
Wouldn't worry too much about it if his mucous is clear and he doesn't seem terribly miserable.

How frustrating for you! I don't know where you live but Dr.Gelfand is an amazing pulmonologist who does accept medicaid. Also, if you go to www.childrens.com you can search for a doctor. All of the doctor's affiliated with Dallas Children's Medical Center accept Medicaid. My daughter has seen dr Gelfand now for 3 years and he fixed her! Dr. Gelfand is affiliated with Children's. His associate is also very good! Good luck!

This might be a long shot but son was diagnosed at 8 weeks with a milk protein allergy. Due to the allergy one of the symptoms is congestion, a congested cough and runny nose. He has seen his peditician and a holistic doctor who agree the congestion is nothing to worry about or serious. So you might look at your childs diet and dairy intake. It is a place to start and might be an easy resolution to reduce the intake of dairy. But beware, look at all lables because alot of food products contain whey, like taco seasoning, and that also has to be limited.

Give the zyrtec DAILY!! do not skip days be consistent. I had that same issue with my little girl. I also put a humidifier in her room and that really helped! Push the water and remember the zyrtec... My doctor told me that they would have to wait for allergy testing til she was 2. She is two now and we are going to schedule the test. She does very well on the zyrtec and when she has any sort of cold it goes to her chest and we give her breathing treatments with xopenex. Try the humidifier!

Hi J.,
Your little boy is probably alergic to the little Dog.
When our little girl got around dogs it made her breakout and suffer . We kept her away from dogs and it cleared right up.
IF he sleeps in PJ's you might check the fabric content. Our little gradson had a lot of trouble until they threw his PJ's away ,that had accrelic in them(I do not know the correct spelling of this IT is a kind of synthetic fabric)
Good luck
Mk

It sounds like to me that he may have reflux. I have a daughter that has had similar problems, and now at almost 5 is doing much better. There are doctors at medical city dallas that helped us determine all the problems. The name of the group is Pediatric Pulmonary of North Texas (dr's Mandujano,Silver and Medina) We also started out with RSV at 4 months old. The number is ###-###-####. I am almost positive they take medicaid. I think it would be wise to get a specialist involved, before it gets any worse. I know how it feels to be frustrated. Good luck!

Had a very similar experience with my daughter. Thought maybe she had food allergies, other allergies, etc. We were giving her zyrtec every night, but still didn't seem to help. Seemed to be worse when she was teething, but I just didn't know. We switched to cloth diapers in the spring and also to a clean rinsing detergent that leaves no residue or scent in the clothes. Since then, she has not had one dose of zyrtec, and she has been fine. Of course, there are other factors to consider, like the fact that winter is worse for allergies and asthma, and she hasn't gone to MDO for the summer. I guess we'll find out when MDO starts back and the weather changes. But there are chemicals in diapers and in detergents that can aggravate symptoms, so it might be something to consider. If it doesn't work you can always switch back. I definitely miss the fresh smell in my clothes, but for my daughter it's worth it.

A.
www.greenbabydiaperservice.com

My little guy is congested sounding a lot as well. I took him in EVERY month from 4 - 9 months wondering why he was sick...my dr. is convinced that it isn't really anything. He never showed any signs of real discomfort or infection. I am okay with that. he is 13 months and never been on any meds. he coughs EVERY morning for a bit, and his breathing sounds real raspy often. I have been told that it is most likely from dairy as well as teething. His nose runs all the time, so i thought it was allergies. However my dr. says that most kids don't show respiratory allergies prior to 2 yrs...so anyway. Teething is the only thing i can think of..so we apparently are ALWAYS teething?? I do the saline (little noses) and suction when he gets bad nasaly...but other than that we let it roll..it doesn't seem to slow him down at all. he is s super happy baby that shows NO OTHER signs of infection or irritations. My family has bad allergies so i am sure we are headed that direction!! we did build like a little "ramp" out of towels for him to sleep on with his head elevated. I put a humidifier in his room at night and run it at least 1/2 night, every night. I can really tell a difference in the am if a) we forget or b) he ends up sleeping at the other end of the bed(which is almost always!!)
Good luck...

Ask your doctor to test your son for CF. Insist on it, if necessary.

S.

Hi J.,
The thought that comes to my mind is what is he eating alot of. Dairy products increase mucus in the body,and when my son had these same symptoms my Dr said to try and avoid dairy as much as possible. At 9 months that is hard since formula is a main source of nutrients. But maybe it is the formula,try Soy or see if maybe the Doc may think it is the formula. Allergies can last a long time,almost a continuim through out the seasons for some till a certain age. My son aged out of his allergy astma at around 3 years old. He would have ezema along with his allergy induced astma. I breast fed so we never had an issue with the formula,that was a thought. But I did refrain my son from dairy during his high times of allergies. He is fine now and is 6 years old and has allergies every now and then. Ask the Dr to explain things more to you. Bring your questions in to him written down in case you forget or feel intimidated. He will see you have questions in hand and may be prompted to pay attention to your request better.

F.,
mother of two beautiful boys 8 and 6 years old

Dr. Bock's book:Healing The New CHildohood Epidemics:Autism, Asthma, AHDH and Alleriges may help. Try testing for food allergies IgE for allergies, IgG for food sensitivities. Milk is a huge allergen as well as wheat. Watch for vaccine reactions and consider staggering vaccines or waiting. N.

I don't know anything about what your child has, but thought I would respond to the notion that allergies would result in a runny nose, watery eyes and sneezing. I've got allergies and I never have a runny nose! I experience stuffy, dry swollen nasal passages! And when I don't take my allergy meds (Astelin, Flonase, and Zyrtec) I start having congestion and trouble breathing.

Zyrtec helps. You might want to look into The Neti pot or the Sinus rinse bottles from NeilMed (I think that's the company). Walgreens carries the Neilmed stuff. You buy little packets to mix with water and you rinse the allergens out of your nasal passages.

Also, sometimes a systemic yeast infection can act like this. Or at least that's what I've heard - try reading Dr William Crook's book The Yeast Connection and The Woman.

I hope your little one gets better.

Hello!
SOunds like you are a great and caring Mom! Congrats!
My daughter got over strep throat with chewable Esperitox which you can get at a health food store or WHole Foods. It has echanacea, natural antibiotic. The doctor could not help my daughter and I was franctic to find some help for her. I gave her a tablet every hour around the clock. It worked! It boosted her own immune system.
Now that she is older, I use syper lysine for infections, etc. One daughter got over asthma this way! It should only be taken when sick as it constricts blood vessels.
Ester C vitamins are great immunity boosters!
Blessings!
Sincerely,
C. N

PLEASE have your doctor request a swallow study ASAP! My son did the same thing starting at 6 months and finally at 14 months old we switched pediatricians. I explained to the new one about the old dr. just saying to give him a breathing treatment everytime he was congested. My older daughters had asthma and I knew the difference. The key thing that makes me think aspiration is that you said your son gets its more after eating or coughing. He could be a silent aspirator and this could cause issues if it gets worse. Medical City is the best place (we've found) for swallow studies. They are thorough and the speech therapists there really know their stuff.
All your doctor has to do is fax a request to medical city for the swallow study. They will then call you and set it up. It's so easy and not invasive. They will add some white stuff (barium) to your son's bottle or baby food and have you feed it to him. They have him in front of an xray machine and as he swallows the stuff they can take a lot of xray pictures and see exactly where the drink/food is going. Hopefully it's not aspiration and then you can see about visiting with an allergist - but i would check for aspiration first. If he is aspirating they will have you thicken his liquids or baby food with special clear gel stuff that just makes it a little thicker to prevent the aspiration. It doesn't change the color or taste - just makes it a little thicker (and medicaid covers it). Good luck!

When you mentioned that your son gets congested after meal times it reminded me of my mother. Ever since I can remember, my mother, after eating a meal (any kind of meal--especially frozen dinners or restuarant food), will get very congested, sometimes sneeze a few times. It lasts for about an hour or two. Over the years she's chalked it up to mild allergies to food preservatives. She also suffers from outdoor allergies but has never had asthma.
Maybe you sould have your son tested for food & outdoor allergies. Could be that he's mildly allergic to dairy, which can cause many side effects including consistant congestion. You should also look into the benefits of getting your son to drink more water as well. The more the body is properly hydrated, the less it should produce mucus. I know, easier said than done! Maybe sleeping with a humidfier on a regular basis will help too.
I do think that when you can, you should seek a second opinion. You need a doctor who's willing to do a little more digging.
I hope you can find the cause. I have three little ones and it's never easy to see them not feeling 100%! Good luck.

K-in Dallas

Hi there. I know exactly what you are going through and bess your heart. I know it's very worrisome. My son is almost 6 and we battled with this until he was about 4 1/2. He has gradually outgrown this. We still have to do the breathing treatments during allergy season...but thank God it's not year round now. He would would have about 4-6 good weeks, then "BAM!!!" Back on the treatments. Alot of it though I believe was due to prayer. We, along w/ many family and church memebrs have prayed for my sons health to improve, and it has.
God bless and good luck.

Actually, I think there is a way to submit to Medicaid yourself, but you would still have to pay some in order to do so. Call the administrator for Medicaid and explain the situation to find out more.

My son did this at 6 weeks old. He went to daycare and ended up sick after the first week with horrible congestion. He went through months of getting sick, better, sick, better, etc... We did the exact breathing treatments you speak of. The doctor diagnosed him with RAD (repsiratory airway disease), basically gets colds alot and will possibly have asthama when he is older.

He still gets congested every time the weather changes or if we go somewhere where the climate is different (we do a breathing treatment and he gets better). He hasn't had a bad time since he turned 12 months old, but I still think he has allergies.

I would suggest you go to a doctor in another city. there are lots of medicade doctors in the DFW area, but may not be alot in your city. My son was a foster child and had medicade- we went to Children's in Dallas. Second, check to see if he is allergic to anything and any other test the doctor can suggest.