My 6 month old recently had a severe reaction to a food. After the anaphylaxis he had a month of chronic hives which we now have under control with a dose of oral steroids and topical steroids twice a week. We were also prescribed 'potent' antihistmamine Hydroxyzine because piriton didnt make a jot of difference.
Now hes teething and ill. Apart from 2 nights, for the last 2 months hes woken 8-12 times a night on average because if one reason or another, itchinf because of the hives, a cold, teething or all of the above.
Now he has a bad chesty cold hes feeling awful, teary slight temp and teething to boot.
He went down at 6.30pm last night utterly exhausted, he woke every 10-15 minutes until 12am where he cried until 3am and woke/stirred every 15 mins until 6am. During this time Im rocking him, trying anything to keep him asleep. The 15 minute intervals have been the same for 3 nights and I expect no change tonight.
Friends suggest the antihistamine (calpol and neurofen havent helped but we're using them) because he needs the sleep (fuck me, so do I!) but I cant bring myself to do it unessarily. But I feel guilty, he feels awful and worse for no sleep. But every time I consider it I get a gut 'no' feeling even though I used it before for the hives (and I hated it then too!)
Hes yawning and crying on me now and Im feeling guilt for either decision!