Toddler with permanent snot and cough - related to dairy?

[hjconst]

DS is 17 months. Since he started nursery at 11 months (twice per week) he has had a runny green snotty nose. We get by and it clears up a bit but other weeks the flem gets onto his chest and we trapse off to the doctors for a dose of amoxicillan. Then he's back at nursery the next week picking up a fresh set of germs! He's just come off a six day dose of antibiotics which cleared up the cough but he's still full of green snot, am I wrong to have expected it to clear up as well? Is this 'just his age' as my doctor keeps telling me or is it related to teething as my MIL keeps telling me? I am beginning to wonder if its related to the increase of cows milk at around the same age as starting nursery, should I try eliminating dairy, or using soya/goats for his evening bottle? Any advice or experience would be really welcomed. Many thanks xx

My DD has had a permanently runny nose since starting nursery. It's easy to see why. I take her in on Monday perfectly well. I see her friend Lauren as we arrive who has a snotty nose. By Wednesday the nose is running again. (and no doubt Lauren's mother is finding the same in reverse IYSWIM).

ds was like this.
It turned out he had chronic rhinitis. He had some nasel spray which sorted it out. The doctor didn't think that the spray would work as he said most children resist having it up their nose. But ds is good at this sort of thing. He's used to having his inhaler.

I couldn't wipe the green snot away quick enough.

But I didn't just get it sorted at the gp. I had to get him referred myself, to the allergy clinic (of which there are only a handfull) and wait for an appointment. The gp just said it was colds etc.

Hi

My DD gets terrible coughs and colds and although she does not have an allergy to it, whenever she has colds I cut out dairy,cheese, bananas, sugary foods (strange combination, I know) and that does help her to get rid of the mucus and phlegm. She always gets colds when she is run down, so I get a really good mulitvitamin that I can put in her food. I used to give her the kids floradix and that was quite good. I also took her to a homeopath and that helped too. (but not everyone's cup of tea, I know). I also substitute her milk for rice milk or goats milk.

but, I would get advice first, maybe from a dietician or ask the doctor about allergy testing.

My niece was like this and did grow out of it eventually (she was permanently snotty). So its' hard to tell whether it could be an allergy or not.

Maybe try cutting out the dairy for a few days and see what happens?

Sometimes the antibiotics are fantastic at getting rid of all the nasty bugs, but they also clear out the good bacteria in the gut too, which can make you more vulnerable to picking up other illnesses. With my DD I got her a kids acidopholous (spelling) which helps restore the bacteria levels in the gut back to what they should be. Or you can get kids probiotic drinks and yoghurts which might help as well.

Hope this helps you with your snotty one!

It could be easy to

eh, I don't know what that last sentence is all about !!!!!

amireally - funny - that sentence just appeared in the same way on another thread

hjconst

My dd had a similar prob at the same age - her sinusus congested so much that she became deaf. The hv referred her to ENT. They wanted to give her gromets asap. We said no - there had to be a cause - we discovered that she is intolerant to milk.

We had the gp prescribe a short course of childrens sudafed and then kept her off milk ( one dose of milk per week to ensure the enzymes in her stomach to break down milk would continue to be produced)She is now fine (aged 5). We are still wary of introducing too much milk, but largley she has a normal diet. This may not be the case with your dc, but worth knowing.