asthma and chest infections

[brian2]

ds has always been a 'snuffly' baby, he sounds a bit like a steam train most of the time. the drs say it is narrow nasel passeges and he will grow out of it.
He is now 8 1/2 months and on top of the snuffles he seems to have a permenant cold (think we have had about four snot free days since the beginning of december) and has been on antibiotics three times for chest infections.He also seems to get very out of breath when exerting himself.
I have several questions to ask you.
Does/has anyone else had a particularily snuffly baby and when did they grow out of it?
Has anyone elses baby been full of colds and had repeated chest inf over this winter.... am i being neurotic is it quite normal?
Did anyone smoke during pregnancy and now have a baby with chest problems..... i gave up about two weeks after i found out i was pregnant (it was not a planned pregnancy) but i was alreadt 10 weeks pregnant when i found out.
if your child has asthma when did it start becoming obvious and how..... is 8 1/2 months to young to get asthma?
And finally he has a large heamangioma (strawbeey birth mark) on his arm, i am very neurotic that he might also have another in his airways hence the snuffles. the dr's keep saying that it is very unlikely but just wondered if anyone had any experience of this.
Thanks for taking the time to read this!

I'll bump this for you but I don't know most of the answers.

Ds was a very snuffly baby - lots of chest infections, croup 3-4 times every winter and now he is 4 and is as fit as a fiddle. Hasn't had croup since he was 3ish and hasn't had a chest infection for years (touch wood).

Dd has asthma and we pretty much knew from when she was about 1 however, I'm sure you could probably have some idea when they are younger. She hasn't been formally diagnosed as her asthma is more of a permanent cough than a wheeze and I think they tend to properly diagnose them when they can do peak flow tests etc.

bump.... anyone else????

brian2, i have never smoked and my ds has always been prone to chest infections and colds. he is a snuffly baby. He had bronchiolitis on numerous occasions, a serious chest infection, croup and a cpl of ear infections which is likned to the respiratory system as the eustachian tubes have the same lining as the lung cavity. My ds is 1 tomorrow and on many occasion i havent slept purely because his breathing sounds terrible. I have been to the docs and they wont diagnose asthma, as he is too young. this is almost always the case as their lungs are still small and developing. i have had asthma since i was 2, so it's quite possible that my ds will have it as it can be a congenital thing.
I hoover ds room everyday, to try and get rid of some of the dust. Also stick him in the bathroom with the bath running so he is surrounded by the steam (i know they say this is for croup, but i do it most days). Wont let anyone smoke in my house either.