My 4 1/2 month daughter has had continuous episodes of congestion and sneezing. Her ped does indicate that she has an allergy and keeps having us switch formulas. I tried to breastfeed but was unable to produce enough milk so we started her on Similac Advance. Since then we have tried Similac Soy and Good Start Natural & Cultures which she had an allergic reaction to both of them. She is currently on Similac Lactose Free. She is still congested and has ezcema. We recently just tried the Similac Alimentum. She will not eat it. In fact, she had the shivers after trying to eat some of it. I am getting frustrated as she is always congested and does not enjoy having her nose sucked out every 10 minutes. Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated.
We back to see the ped. He decided to put her on Clarinex. He also decided to keep her on Similac Lactose Free. He now thinks she has enviornmental allergies. Which is no surprise as I have allergies as well. What is surprising is that he told us if we don't get her allergies under control now, she has a 70% chance of developing asthma. SO we also bought an air purifier. We have seen improvements with the congestion. It has only been 1 week so I will keep my fingers crossed for now! Thank you for the suggestions and comments!
Hi C.~
Could it possible be an allergy to the environment....pollen, dog/cat,dust etc.? I'm not a physician so maybe babies this young are not suseptible yet to those types of things..... but it was just a thought!
Best of luck :)
We had a similar situation with our daughter (she is 8 months old now). We had her on breast milk and Enfamil Lipil formula; we came to realize that she was allergic to the formula and proceeded to try the lactose free, Alimentum and finally found that Similac Soy worked. She is currently taking Zyrtec for her allergies. When she was really congested I found an OTC decongestion that was all natural, I found it at Meijer and can't think of the name but it had a teddy bear on the label. That seemed to help her breathe better. For her exczema we use Eucerin Cream (not lotion) all over her body. For really bad flare-ups we use a prescription Hydrocortisone to calm it down.
I know it is very frustrating trying to figure out what is wrong when they can't communicate back to you. I hope this helps a little. Good Luck!
My 4 year old daughter could not drink anything made be similac, she could only drink Emphamill (spelling?)Lactos free
good luck
My 9-mo-old son has ezcema and constant congestion with a mild cough. He has this always. I have breast fed him from day one. When he was one-mo-old my ped had a crazy idea of trying to put him on formula for three days. The formula he had us try....Similac Alimentum. Yuck, I have never smelled anything so nasty. I only gave it to him for two days and back to breastmilk. That formula opened up a whole new can of problems. He was constipated for three months!! I had to rectually stimulate him, he was in and out of the doctors!! My son is actually going to the doc. today for his never ending cough. He wants him on claritn daily and he has been getting breathing treatments for the past seven months. They assume he will be asthmatic. Lets hope not. My son does not attend any daycares, he is in a pretty germ free environment, so I dont know the reason for all his ailments. Good luck to you.
My daughter couldnt do any of the above and ended up drinking soy milk (right by reg milk at the store) Then she was able to drink 2% by 7mths..... sure stinks and u think its not healthy but she is fine now at 17 yrs..
good luck
T.
Hi C., My son has had the same problem now for 4 years. He also started when he was about 4 months old. He always had nasal and chest congestion. He also has had dark circles and some fluid that was constant in his ears, but never got infections. (thank goodness) Those symptoms are classic for some sort of food allergy. As far as I know , you can't do allergy tests on infants or even children under 4 yrs. He also was very gassy so I had him on Soy formulas, which made him more comfortable but never really cleared him up. So guess what, He just turned 4 and I took him for a full allergy skin test with my allergist. He is allergic to SOY NUTS! He has always been on soy formula and then when it came to time for him to go on to milk, I put him the "vanilla soy milk" for kids. So I have been giving my boy SOY products for 4 years without realizing it was contributing to his congestion and allergies!
He also is allergic to a bunch of other stuff, but luckily he is not involved with those. The doctor put him on Zyrtec, but I have not noticed any big difference.
The only advice that I have, is that I did notice that putting a vaporizer in his room for naps and night time did seem to help keep his mucous more fluid and not so thick. I did have some great luck with ENFAMIL A.R.. Your baby may not have a lactose problem it might be soy. The enfamil A.R. is mild based but has added rice starch, And for some reason that was more palatable and seemed to keep some of the congestion down.
Good luck! These allergies can drive you crazy. You feel so bad for your little one, yet what can you do? When I was a baby there wasn't all of these allergy problems. I don't know what has happened with our culture, but something has changed to make everyone soooo allergic! I really believe that it is all of the preservatives and junk that is in our food today. I have tried to buy as much ORGANIC stuff that I can, these days. I do believe in trying to keep as much of that "junk" out of our diets. Both of my boys have been on organic baby foods and now organic fruits and veggies, etc. Hey, I just remembered that I have seen Organic baby formulas at Walmart.
I have also noticed that the premixed formulas ended up working better than the powder.
R.
Im sorry, are you writing about your child, or mine?? Kidding aside, sounds like the battle I've had with 2 of my boys. They both ended up on Similac Lactose Free (after trying EVERY other formula) and they are both congested all winter long. My 3yr old, like clockwork, gets sick around Christmas and it continues w/ or w/o meds until spring...he's just now coming out of it, although this winter he was less sick than previous. My baby was born in December and was stuffy until spring. If you've tried everything else...buy a good nasal aspirator, some saline drops, prop the head of her bed up a little for drainage and settle in for some TLC. It won't last forever!
L.
first let me tell you im sorry we went though somthing simlar and put our son now 9 mo. on emfinil Nutramigen® LIPIL. it dosnt have any milk or soy protien that maybe what she is alergic to if she is sensitve to one protien she will be to both its not cheap its 25$ a can but it worked for up he is now one a off brand soy that he ok with i hope this hellps
Hi C., I am so curious as to why you were unable to produce breast milk? There are really only a few, for the most part, uncommon reasons why you would have been unable to produce. It is possible that you may be able to 'restart your milk production', would you consider this? J. C. Lactation Consultant
We are have the exact same issues with our 4 month old son. We have been to the ped (said it was a cold and nothing we could do), reg fam doc (after two visits said it was spring allergies and told us 1ml of benadryl every 6hrs), and an allergist (prescribed Zyrtec. He said babies his age don't have Spring allergies and is most likely allergic to dust mites and or mold. He also told us to use fragrance/dye free detergent, rinse twice and no fabric softner). We have tried Soy and regular formula - doesn't seem to matter. Even baby Vics on his chest at night I think helps a little. It all started right after his 2 month immunizations and he started full-time daycare. It seems "we" have been suffering ever since. We have purchased an ion air purifier for his bedroom and have hired someone to clean out our air ducts tomorrow. Hopefully that will help. I will try and let you know. Also, as for the "bugger sucker", my husband purchased a battery operated one that plays music and to my surprise it really works and our son doesn't mind it as much as the blue bulbs. Totally worth the $20 or $30. Hope some of this helps!
My son could only take Enfamil.. We used the lipil version of it.. but similac was too rough on his digestive tract (He has acid reflux), it helped immensely with a lot of little problems.
As for the stuffy nose, It could be an allergy to something environmental, as someone else suggest. My boy is allergic to Tree Pollens, dust and mold, from what they can gather without a proper test. He's been this way from April until september last year, and starting up in late may this year. Ask your doctor about benedryl, or a similar medication to help with the congestion, and invest in some saline baby nose drops.
Good luck!
