Kids allergy question

[720L]

I'm very frustrated...my DD & DS have both been waking up in the middle of the night (3-4AM) sneezing. They blow their noses on and off for about 15 minutes, then they fall back asleep. I haven't brought them to an allergist, but I know they have allergies. They get sniffly during allergy time outside, and I think dust affects them. I vacuum their room twice a week, keep their room dusted, put their stuffed animals in the dryer on air fluff a couple times a month, and wash their sheets and blankets in hot water with scent free detergent and softener. I could give them Benedryl before bed, but the strange thing is they don't go to bed sniffly. What could I be missing in their bedroom that could be triggering this? They swim in the public pool every day,and I suspect the chlorine might trigger some allergies also. But they take a shower every night before bed. This just started happening this summer.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Have you tried Claritin? My kids take it daily.

 

[720L]

I really don't want to give them anything...but if this keeps up I will because when school starts they can't be waking up in the middle of the night.

 

[golfgal]

I really don't want to give them anything...but if this keeps up I will because when school starts they can't be waking up in the middle of the night.

This attitude really bothers me. You would rather have your kids suffer with allergy symptoms then give them a simple med to make them feel better AND sleep better? WHY??? It could be more serious and be asthma too. Take them to an allergist. The lack of sleep will hurt them more then taking some allergy meds.

 

[JoanGirardi]

Unless you are willing to remove the carpeting and stuffed animals in their rooms completely, you may not be able to allergy proof their room. Taking the antihistamine is often the easiest way to give them relief and not take away some of their favorite things in their rooms. It's not a matter of cleaning enough, it's removing the allergens altogether that's really tough. Vacuuming can stir up more than it picks up, unfortunately. Good luck to you in figuring it out.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

My daughter has a dust allergy.

One does not HAVE to give up a carpet.

What we have done is put an allergy cover on her pillow (pillow has to be replaced once per year) and one on her mattress (need to get it on the box spring too but haven't done it yet.)

She also has a hepa filter in her room (not an ionizer, allergist says it isn't necessary and a waste of money). When buying one, you have to make sure you are buying the correct size for the space. My kids have a very large room, so we had to get a large filter (walmart!). (I.e. those itty bitty dinky ones would not be sufficient). I also have one in my room for my allergies and we have one in the living room that helps a little--but our floor plan needs like 3 of them.

Also--we were supposed to freeze what stuffed animals she wanted to keep to kill the dustmites and then vacuum them. We've been lazy on that as well.

However just with the minor adjustments, we have seen improvement.

Giving a kid medicine on a regular basis when you haven't confirmed an allergy and done what you can to eliminate the allergen is not a wise decision IMHO.

We finally had my daughter scratch tested after a year of meds did nothing. She had the blood test at age five so we knew about cat and mold. The scratch test was needed to confirm her dust and tree allergy.


I also don't really make her dust any more. Though she got into an allergy tizzy this week when she had to clean her room. Everything moving around just got too much for her and she had her dose of benadryl.

I love benadryl as I think it is the best OTC, but it makes us all sleepy.

The Nettipot I have heard is also excellent, but I have not been brave enough to try it, yet.

I use Vermyst nasal spray in my nose and take Xyzal as needed.

I do have a nasal spray for dd--I don't recall which one, but we use it as needed.

 

[720L]

This attitude really bothers me. You would rather have your kids suffer with allergy symptoms then give them a simple med to make them feel better AND sleep better? WHY??? It could be more serious and be asthma too. Take them to an allergist. The lack of sleep will hurt them more then taking some allergy meds.

Ummm....I SAID I would give it to them IF I couldn't figure out what was causing this. Personally, I'm not for drugging kids up before trying something else first. They have no symptoms during the day so they aren't suffering. I realize they need their sleep, which is why I'm trying to figure this out. It's not asthma, they run all day and never cough/wheeze/sneeze. And they aren't tired, because I let them sleep in during the summer. Your attitude really bothers me. Don't accuse me of letting my kids suffer.

 

[LuvOrlando]

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[720L]

I might try the HEPA filter, thanks LisaLovesPooh. I have a Rainbow vacuum, which claims to be very good for allergies. DD only has American Girl dolls in her room, no stuffed animals.

 

[720L]

Maybe the bed or pillows themselves are the problem? We throw out our pillows a few times a year, our mattresses are pretty new and the comforter gets washed one a month or so.

Do you leave the windows open during the day or at night? We can't do that at my house EVER. I can only air it out once every few days when pollen counts are low... mid-day is the worst. Any good allergy pamphlet will advise this.

I don't like the way the 24 hour stuff affects my kids behavior so I prefer to use Benedryl once a day before bed. The antihistamine relief at night really seems to help keep things under control.

I never open windows, because of allergies. We have the allergy mattress and pillow covers. We have tried Claritin before, per the pediatricians suggestion, and I didn't like how it affected my kids eithier. I'm giving Benedryl tonight. I agree with it helping to get things under control.

 

[golfgal]

Ummm....I SAID I would give it to them IF I couldn't figure out what was causing this. Personally, I'm not for drugging kids up before trying something else first. They have no symptoms during the day so they aren't suffering. I realize they need their sleep, which is why I'm trying to figure this out. It's not asthma, they run all day and never cough/wheeze/sneeze. And they aren't tired, because I let them sleep in during the summer. Your attitude really bothers me. Don't accuse me of letting my kids suffer.

You could remove everything from their room and still never figure out what causes the sneezing. It is most likely something in your house or from the outside and your AC is pushing it around. Without getting tested you will never know exactly what causes it. It very well COULD be asthma since often symptoms are worse at night. My kids have asthma and could run around all day without issue and then about 2 in the morning it would kick in. You are the one that said you don't want to give them anything, not me. You are letting your kids suffer because you won't do anything for them. Giving them benadryl isn't the answer, finding out what the cause is and giving appropriate meds is. You are putting way too much time an effort into eliminating things that may or may not be of value. You could do this for 3 years before you find something.

 

[720L]

So if it's in my house, why are there no symptoms during the winter, and during the day and even some nights no symptoms? If it's outside, why don't they have symptoms while playing outside all day? I've heard from lots of people doing an allergy test isn't 100 percent accurate. My pediatrician doesn't even recommend an allergist yet. When my DD was 5, a different ped. told me she had asthma and put her on nose spray and some kind of medicine. We tried it for a couple months and saw the same response as we do with what we are doing now. She had some good days and some bad days. AND I noticed a change in personality. That scares me. You hear too many things where the drug company says the drug is safe, then 2 years later "maybe it's not safe". Benedryl has been around for a long time, which is why I don't mind using that once in a while. And in the winter, we have no problems. And last summer, no problems.

 

[NMAmy]

Are the windows open at night? It seems to me that pollen counts are worse overnight and early in the morning (at least according to my seasonal allergies.) Early morning is the very worst time for my sneezing. Sadly, due to some other health issues, I haven't been able to take any allergy meds right now.

We don't open the windows in our house--it used to drive DH insane until he realized how miserable it made me in July, August, and September. I have an air filter in our room and sometimes, if it's really warm, we'll install a window a/c unit in our bedroom. All these things help.

 

[luvmy3]

My ds suffers from seasonal, dust and food allergies and has been horrible the past 2 weeks. Mold counts are high in our area right now so I'm guessing that is what is to blame. His allergist wanted him off Zyrtec after the spring allergy season to see how he would do with his asthma, so I have been giving him benadryl as need on top of his inhaler. I have resorted to keeping the windows closed and the C/A running all day. I have changed out the air filter, if you are running C/A I would try that. I also keep an allergy cover over his mattress and his pillow and keep stuffed animals to a minimum. He has a HEPA filter in his room and I keep it vacuumed like you do, 2 times a week. Despite all these things, he has still been pretty bad, but just recently. He has an appointment on Monday. My other ds has been sniffly but my dd has not been effected.
If its bad enough that both your kids are waking up in the middel of the night I would think its definitely something in your home. I would take them to an allergist just to have them checked.

 

[mjkacmom]

I've had bad seasonal allergies for my entire life, and allergy testing isn't bad. Most of my kids have allergies, but I'm pretty bad about remembering to medicate them (and most of these medications have been around forever, you just have to try different ones to find out what works for you). It sounds like their allergies are pretty mild. Both ds and I have had the scratch test, and it was very accurate (doctor looked at me, and said "don't like cats much, huh?"

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Ummm....I SAID I would give it to them IF I couldn't figure out what was causing this. Personally, I'm not for drugging kids up before trying something else first. They have no symptoms during the day so they aren't suffering.

Day symptoms will include blackness under the eyes, a slight red line on the lower eyelid and puffiness.

You did say they were sniffly outside during the day. When they go to sleep at night the post nasal drip is waking them up.

My 12yodd will look like a racoon without her Claritin.

Do they have the under eye blackness or the red line? Or a another classic symptom is rubbing the nose frequently with your hand.

 

[Mkrop]

I would get my kids tested if I were you. I would rather know exactly WHAT it is then play this guessing game you are doing.

But in the meantime, bc it can take awhile to actually get into the allergist, I would try Zrytec at night. Our allergist is not a fan of Claritin and Benadryl doesnt last long enough.

Allergist told us symptoms can be worse at night, you can be fine during the day but it is the post nasal drip that is bothering them at night.

They could be allergic to the outside stuff and bringing that allergen in, are they bathing each night before bed so the allergen is off them. It could be on the clothes in the hamper, on their shoes etc.

DS11 is allergic to EVERYTHING outdoors, but he doesnt react the minute he walks outside, and many times his attacks have been indoors but I am sure he has had the allergen on his clothes,etc. Reactions can be delayed as well. They tried to wean DS11 off some stuff for the summer and no dice he needed to go back on.

DS6 just got tested bc before this spring he did not have many issues with allergies. But this spring holy mackeral the kid was a mess, bc this season was really bad. His eyes watering and blowing up like ballons. He just got tested in July and he is allergic to all trees! (DS11 jokes and says he won bc he is allergic to more) The ped did try to treat him but when nothing was working, they gave me stuff to get through until the appt.

Good luck but I would want to know what vs playing the guessing game.

 

[Minnie_me]

One thing that made a HUGE DIFFERENCE for my DD, who has seasonal allergies (trees, grass, pollen, weeds....!) --- she takes a SHOWER every night before going to bed.

The doctor told us that when she plays outside, the allergens get in her hair. And when she sleeps, they transfer to her pillow. She was always waking up around 3:00 a.m. sneezing.

Also, we have central air, and the windows in this house have never been open.

 

[Mom-to-2-Princesses]

The allergy test my daughter took was fairly easy -- she had to lay on her stomach and they placed a "tray" on her back with 40 spots. They lifted the tray and there were 40 drops of liquid on her back. She had to stay still for about 15 minutes to see if the drops turned her skin red. Then they were able to measure the redness to rate how allergic. The tray did not hurt -- no poking, no scratching, no needles. It was very non-invasive and gave great results for a beginning test.

Out "tray" was set to test for pet allergies, trees/plants/flowers and dust. Turned out she was allergic to ALL trees and plants during their blooming stages and their decomposing/fall stages, she went off the charts for Cats, but NO reaction for dusts or molds. It was comforting to know what and when she was allergic. I was living in a guilt trip about not cleaning under her bed in a while.

We elected NOT to do shots but she takes zyrtec. I like a 24 hour medicine. We were also told not have open windows. I liked the suggestion about showering before bed, that makes sense to me.

Good luck with your decisions.

 

[720L]

Day symptoms will include blackness under the eyes, a slight red line on the lower eyelid and puffiness.

You did say they were sniffly outside during the day. When they go to sleep at night the post nasal drip is waking them up.

My 12yodd will look like a racoon without her Claritin.

Do they have the under eye blackness or the red line? Or a another classic symptom is rubbing the nose frequently with your hand.

I can't find where I said they were sniffly outside during the day...they aren't. That's what's so strange. We never open windows and they always take a bath before bed. No blackness under the eyes or puffiness,etc. We regularly change the furnace filter, in fact we have something special on our furnace for allergies, not sure what it is though. Thanks everyone for the suggestions.