Anyone any experience of baby allergies?

[NellyBluth]

I don't know if I am being completely pfb about 5mo DD's health so I think some advice would be helpful before I go hassling the doctor!

For the past 2-3 months I've been thinking she might have an allergy to something, though god knows what. The only thing I am reasonably sure of is that it is not a dairy etc intolerance (she is f-fed) as she has no reflux, vomiting or pain when she eats.

She often has red, puffy eyelids, especially towards the end of the day and its not related to her being tired. She rubs her eyes a lot - if you pick her up she will always take the opportunity to rub her eyes on your shoulder - and this makes it worse. She frequently sounds really snotty and snuffly. She had a cold a fortnight ago which I thought had cleared up but she still sounds snotty now, but when I've tried the aspirator there is nothing that can be cleared. Her nose runs quite often, and its clear. She coughs and sneezes quite regularly, and I think she breathes through her mouth quite a bit, and is finding it a bit difficult to breath while eating, but those last ones might just be me being paranoid at the moment She frequently seems to have 'bags' or bruises around her eyes. And over the the past few days she has had loose poo which seems to have some mucus in, which might be completely unrelated but what the hell, I'll throw it in as a symptom anyway!

Does this sound like a possible allergy? And if so, would you recommend taking her to the doctor? None of it really seems to be bothering her at all, and as it happens so regularly I suspect if it is an allergy it is not going to be to something specific like a washing powder or shampoo (IYSWIM), and also that it might be worse to medicate a small baby just for itchy eyes. I think I'd actually just be happy if someone would tell me I'm not imagining things.

Any advice would be great (including just telling me that I am being completely pfb!)

Hello Nelly

Could it be hayfever? It's horrible at the moment, even with all this rain?

The runny poo, may or may not be food related but my 2 always got runny poo when they were teething and I think they started this at about 5-6 months although their teeth didn't make an appearance for a good 6 weeks or so.

I'm sorry if that's not much help, but if you're worried and as your DD is so young still, maybe it might be worth taking her to the GP to get her checked out.

Take care

Thanks mum. I did think it might be hayfever but when I did a bit of always dangerous Googling it said that allergies take time to build up and so its unlikely that babies have enough exposure to pollen to get an allergy, which makes some sense. Which might mean its a general dust allergy? (We have no pets)

But the poo problem could be teething, she's not really showing any other signs yet but she is the right age for it. I thought it might be food at first as we experimented with trying to get her to eat, but as she wasn't having any of it we stopped food - yet the runny poo continues! Thanks for that, I might scrap it off my list of 'symptons'.

Hi Nelly

The dark circles around her eyes are what are known as 'allergy shiners' It definitely sounds like she is allergic to something, could be dust - as you have said that she seemed congested and has runny nose it may be some kind of allergic rhinitis (spellcheck?!)...... Does she have eczema / asthma?

My DS is very allergic to milk, and a few other food allergies too. When he was a toddler he would constantly get what we called the 'allergy eyes' and we couldn't put it down to anything in particular. He does get hayfever, so perhaps that is a possible for your DD too?

You should take her to your GP and ask advice. The runny poo thing may mean she is not tolerating the milk so well? We only gave DS formula a handful of times, but he tolerated it at first and then his reactions got progressively worse and we realised he was allergic.

She's been completely f-fed from birth, but I am worried as my DP and his brother both had some form of dairy allergy that developed as babies and went on to special milk, I had written that off but maybe not then? Bugger. (Also, MiL is NOT the kind of person I can ask for more information on this without her having a nervous breakdown and being convinced DD is mortally ill!)

But thanks for mentioning the 'allergic shiners', I had read about them, didn't want to base my opinion on one internet sight but someone else mentioning them is reassuring. I've just Googled them and noticed the other sign being creases under the eyes, which I think she has too, though I'll admit with random Googling you can end up self-diagnosing anything...

And I have allergic rhinitis - hope she hasn't inherited it from me...

What age did you realise your son had an allergy problem?

The mucas in the poo is probably where shes swallowing it.

It really could be anything. Environmental, milk (it really could be, my son had no problem with dairy at all then 5 mobths of age I give him a yoghurt and he went into anaphylactic shock). You really do need to see your GP and ask to see an allergy specialist.
Poor baby. Hope shes ok soon.

Thanks everyone. After another really runny nappy this morning, DD then spat back some of her milk (which she never does and which she did a bit yesterday too) so I've made a appt with the GP this morning. It's like she is poorly without being poorly - I know what she is like with a cold, tired, a bit clingy etc - but at the moment she is absolutely fine in herself, which worries me a bit more. Let's see if the doctor believes me! (I always worry the moment you mention the dreaded "I've looked online..." they think you are overreacting! )

Hi Nelly - He was 6months. I BF him exclusively until he was about 4.5 months, then we started introducing formula every now and then - my intention was to go back to work when he was 6months. He seemed to tolerate it fine at first, but he started to have these unexplained 'episodes' which we realised were triggered by the formula. He would be screaming and his skin went all blotchy (this happened the last two times we gave him a bottle) and his eyes puffed up etc.

I BF until he was 14 months or so - then he went on to Pepti formula. It has all the cow's milk protein blasted out of it. He loved it, and he tolerated it, but he did seem to have the allergic shiners all the time when he was having it, and he rarely gets them now.

He's now 5 and has epipen for dairy, and a few other things. He had eczema from 4 weeks, and asthma from about 1 year. He's what they call an 'Atopic child' ! :)

If you have allergies yourself, and your DH too, it is quite likely that your DD could have them. All the docs we have seen say because my DH has asthma this is why DS has allergies

DUCKS - interesting that you say it happened at 5 months for you - it was about same for us, perhaps it has something to do with their gut changing / developing and if an allergy is going to present itself this is the time?

Nelly - it took us so long to actually be seen by an allergy specialist, even if your doc brushes it off, you are entitled to be referred, so insist on it if you are worried. Go with your gut feeling because you know your baby.

Just seen the doctor and he was lovely - and much to my relief doesn't think its an allergy! He thinks it is a sort of misalignment of her tear ducts, which when he talked me through it does make sense, the drip from her nose is actually tears going the wrong place, and that makes her sound snotty, gives her a bit of a cough and a sneeze, and makes her eyes flare up. He thought that she might have a bit of hayfever and because of the tear duct problem this makes her eyes redder as she's not quite moistening her eyes properly. Apparently this should clear up by the time she is one. He did listen to me when I talked about our allergy history though and made a note of it, so if I think she is getting worse we can refer back to it. She's actually had a growth spurt recently so he's happy that she is absorbing everything from the milk and says that wouldn't happen if she was developing an issue with it.

So a very relieved mummy here! (And happy that he didn't just brush me off). Thanks loads for sharing your experiences though, I'm happy that you convinced me to go to the doctors because now I at least have an explanation!

Good news about the milk! I think I have heard about the tear duct thing before - Hope it gets better for her soon.

Did Gp say you can give antihistamine for the hayfever? It works wonders for my DS and he used to have it when he was a baby.

Good luck with everything - glad all sorted :)

No, he didn't mention anything about antihistamines, but now I'm thinking maybe the hayfever is relatively mild and its just her dry eyes that make it look worse? She's 6 months at the end of this month, so if they keep seeming to irritate her a lot I might go back and ask for a prescription.

Sorry it took you so long for your DS to get diagnosed, with your advice I'll keep an eye on it and if I think its anything more serious or its not clearing up around 1 I'll push again for a referral.

Hi Nelly

Fingers crossed the tear duct things sorts itself out soon.

My DD is allergic to LOADS of foods and also has hayfever and mild allergies to cats and dogs. Her hayfever started when she was about 2, and her allergies from when we started weaning her.

Your GP sounds great by the way so really pleased that everything's ok and that your DD is thriving well.

xxx

Thanks mum. I think I'll keep a good eye on DD while weaning her, in case she is a bit more susceptible.