Environmental allergies in 4 month old?

TheBoogie · 2022-12-06T13:41:40+00:00

Hi, looking for similar experiences / advice. I have asthma, eczema and hay fever so assuming there is a possibility something will be passed to my child! my DD is 4 months and for the last 6 weeks she has had a cough. At first it was part of a cold, we saw a doctor who then said it was likely RSV. She had wheezing and as the cough continued was prescribed salbutamol. That didn’t really help so she’s now on atrovent. That’s helping a bit but she still has a a terrible cough at night. she’s also got runny eyes, runny nose and is generally miserable so I am wondering if she has an allergy to something in our house. Our doctor said this is unlikely in babies this young but I am wondering if it’s possible. We have had some mould on a few walls, plus carpets in the house and also a dog (poodle breed but still possible). She has no eczema, rashes or hives. im just wondering if anyone has had any experience with their baby having environmental allergies at this age? We are dealing with cleaning the house, addressing the mould and making sure the dog remains downstairs only. But it’s miserable, she’s sleeping badly and coughing so much she’s throwing up sometimes. any thoughts welcome!

Onnabugeisha · 06/12/2022 13:49

Yes one of my DDs did. She also coughed all night every night and only seemed to perk up when outside in fresh air. She was diagnosed with asthma and dust mite allergy at 6mos old. Usually they do not diagnose asthma that young, but it was obvious in her case. She was prescribed chewable Montelukast tablets that she took every morning as well as her inhaler. We had to make her room dust free & hypoallergenic as well. The initial deep clean and getting mattress covers and such was tough (we took turns sitting downstairs with the kids while the other got on with it). After that it was a rota of up keep. Limiting stuffed toys in bed with her, putting them in the freezer for 24hrs and wiping them with an antibacterial wipe once a week. Hoovering and dusting every other day…to include wiping ever surface, book, toy. Cleaning inside of windows. Washing walls every other month.

She still has the allergy and asthma but it’s not as severe as it was when she was little.

StillMedusa · 06/12/2022 13:50

TBH at her age it is more likely it's just a virus. Unless your house is an absolute health hazzard of course, it's far more likely.. she's new, there are tons of viruses around at the moment and it's winter... babies go from germ to germ, I know mine did (and we didn't have a dog or mould ). My little grandson has wheezed and coughed his way through his first winter and is now coughing his way through this (19m and does have eczema, and dad is asthmatic). It's relentless.
I might be enviromental but it's just as likely not!

Original poster

TheBoogie · 06/12/2022 13:53

Onnabugeisha · 06/12/2022 13:49

Yes one of my DDs did. She also coughed all night every night and only seemed to perk up when outside in fresh air. She was diagnosed with asthma and dust mite allergy at 6mos old. Usually they do not diagnose asthma that young, but it was obvious in her case. She was prescribed chewable Montelukast tablets that she took every morning as well as her inhaler. We had to make her room dust free & hypoallergenic as well. The initial deep clean and getting mattress covers and such was tough (we took turns sitting downstairs with the kids while the other got on with it). After that it was a rota of up keep. Limiting stuffed toys in bed with her, putting them in the freezer for 24hrs and wiping them with an antibacterial wipe once a week. Hoovering and dusting every other day…to include wiping ever surface, book, toy. Cleaning inside of windows. Washing walls every other month.

She still has the allergy and asthma but it’s not as severe as it was when she was little.

This sounds awful, I’m sorry you had to go through it. It’s what I fear because knowing how it feels to have an allergy I just feel sorry for her really.

I think also I feel guilty if she’s allergic to the dog and probably thinking 5 steps ahead about how sad I’d feel if that was the case.

glad yours has grown out of it a little at least

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Original poster

TheBoogie · 06/12/2022 13:54

StillMedusa · 06/12/2022 13:50

TBH at her age it is more likely it's just a virus. Unless your house is an absolute health hazzard of course, it's far more likely.. she's new, there are tons of viruses around at the moment and it's winter... babies go from germ to germ, I know mine did (and we didn't have a dog or mould ). My little grandson has wheezed and coughed his way through his first winter and is now coughing his way through this (19m and does have eczema, and dad is asthmatic). It's relentless.
I might be enviromental but it's just as likely not!

Thanks, no it’s pretty clean, we have a cleaner once a week and do a hoover / wipe around clean in between, lots of wooden floors and blinds rather than curtains too

The dr said it’s most likely to be a virus too so fingers crossed that’s what it is

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Got2besoon · 06/12/2022 13:56

My son is very atopic and possibly asthmatic with several diagnosed food and environmental allergies.
However he's 3 and still doesn't have hay fever or rhinitis.
Apparently environmental reactions like that tend to present closer to 5 years of age.

mindutopia · 06/12/2022 13:57

I would assume it's a virus. Very normal to have a cough for weeks and weeks after at that age. There is also a particularly nasty virus going around at the moment. I had it 6 weeks ago and I still have a wheezy dry cough. It's much worse than when I had COVID.

Original poster

TheBoogie · 06/12/2022 14:55

Thank you, that’s good to hear (but sorry you’ve been ill)

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Original poster

TheBoogie · 06/12/2022 20:56

Bumping for evening crowd

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AIBAnxious · 06/12/2022 21:38

So my little one had eczema, and I strongly thought it was linked to exposure to dogs. I took him to someone who was meant to be a top allergy specialist and she said environmental allergies virtually never happen in such young babies - she said the youngest she had seen was 9 months. She only tested babies that age for food allergies. And she was right in the end for us. I'm not saying yours is a food allergy, could be a virus as others have said, but her advice was it would be unlikely to be environmental.

Original poster

TheBoogie · 07/12/2022 10:58

AIBAnxious · 06/12/2022 21:38

So my little one had eczema, and I strongly thought it was linked to exposure to dogs. I took him to someone who was meant to be a top allergy specialist and she said environmental allergies virtually never happen in such young babies - she said the youngest she had seen was 9 months. She only tested babies that age for food allergies. And she was right in the end for us. I'm not saying yours is a food allergy, could be a virus as others have said, but her advice was it would be unlikely to be environmental.

This is so reassuring to hear, thank you

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Environmental allergies in 4 month old?

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