Allergy medication for toddler

I know some of you on here give your DC under the age of 2 allergy medication. Can't remember who off hand. Sorry... DS has been suffering with seasonal allergies for almost a year. Classic symptoms.... Runny nose, itchy/runny eyes, sneezing, and now a dry hacking cough. He has been to the pedi twice in 2 weeks to rule out anything else.. They say he can't have allergies!
He is miserable on high pollen days and is allergic to a friends dog. I gave him Benadryl once and it made him hyper. I bought childrens Claratin and gave him a 1/2 teaspoon Wed night before bed. He only coughed 2 times in his sleep. He was coughing all night for a week.. Gave him more tonight before bed and so far he has been quiet.. He is 21 months old and weighs 25 lbs. What do you give your DC and how old are they or were they when you started???

Re: Allergy medication for toddler

Have you tried Zrytec? The ENT suggests it for both my DD's (3.5yrs and 15 months) when they have symptoms. 1/2 teaspoon before bed.

Re: Allergy medication for toddler

Re: Allergy medication for toddler

Re: Allergy medication for toddler

we use zyrtex .5ml..1/2 teaspoon.. also they now have allegra.. 12 hour too.

Re: Allergy medication for toddler

We started DS on Clariton at 5 and ped said it's "so benign" although he is a bit older.

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dd has been on 1/2 tsp of claratin every night since about 18month (as per dr) she is 2 now and we are going to dr today.
She was getting constant ear infections and "cold" like stuff constantly, then the nebulizer started. The dr believes its allergies and probably to the dogs as well. I refused to have her tested (I went to be tested and I am allergic to my dogs and have seasonal allergies...so I am going with the belief that if I am allergic my dd is too) We have 2 dogs too (causing me major grief with DH, I love my dogs but my dd health comes first but its just causing major issues with us) anyway...
Allergy medicine (like claratin) only really works if you use it on a regular basis so talk to your doc.

Re: Allergy medication for toddler

our ENT receomended zyrtec for our son too - he takes 1/2 tsp daily at night - it has helped his cough and tried him up - he started around 19 months

but our ped did hav my son's blood tested for dog allery and a few other common allergies including dustmites when he was like 18 months old - so it matters on the ped what they do and believe

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we did zyrtec for just about 6 months when Emma was just over 1 year old.

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Thanks everybody.... I am going to buy Zyrtec today.. I don't understand how the doctors say that he can't have allergies.. It is obvious he is suffering some days...

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just keep an eye on him..

my son has allergies and I remember the ped telling me to give him claritin..

things were great until a week later when I ended back at the ped because he now had an ear infection..

all the snot from his head went to his ears.. bloody great!

Re: Allergy medication for toddler

Re: Allergy medication for toddler

DS's allergist recommends Zyrtec. She suggested it last year when he was around 20 months.

ETA: they say he can't have allergies because generally the immune system needs to be exposed to the allergen repeated times before a reaction occurs. So if he's only had one allergy season before, then they say its unlikely to have a strong reaction the next season.
If your ped keeps saying no way, bring him to an allergist.

Message edited 8/5/2011 3:46:09 PM.

Re: Allergy medication for toddler

since 1yrs old

Benedryl - generic Target brand. Its the ONLY place I can find the dye free version. NO ONE else sells it (at least here). The dye free does not make her hyper. I give 1 full 1sp every 4-6hrs.

Claritin (children's) - 1/2 tsp every 12hrs

Zyrtec... i tried once and it did nothing to help her at all. She continued to suffer, cry and nearly rip her nose off for the 4hrs I had to wait before I could give her Benedryl.

Re: Allergy medication for toddler

Re: Allergy medication for toddler

Re: Allergy medication for toddler

DS has a pretty bad cat allergy.

Before we knew what it was for sure we started him on Zytec @ the Dr.'s recommendation. 1/2 tsp each night.

Over time we increased it up to 1 1/2 tsp at the worst of his allergy symptoms. His allergies caused him to get constant ear infections.

When we confirmed the cat allergy & moved the cats to a separate part of the house,we cleaned as best we could but still kept him on the higher dose.

A few months after we rehomed them & really thoroughly cleaned we weaned him off & he has been free of the meds for a few months now.

I still use Zyrtec when he experiances seasonal allergies.

But he was on a higher dose then average.

Never hyped him up either.

The Dr. gave me the right dosing for him.

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Re: Allergy medication for toddler

I recommend getting your LO tested for specific allergies so that you know WHEN to give meds. Both Mads and TJ have tested + for environmental, food, and now seasonal allergies.

TJ is on Allegra/Claritin/Zyrtec (Dr gave us a choice of any of these- they all do the same thing and are to be used as preventative measures) every day to control his dog allergy. Mads get the same thing ONLY during grass pollen season (springtime), or if we're going to be going somewhere wherethere are cats. Both get Benedryl for an acute reaction (like if mads gets hives from dairy, or TJ touches the dog and gets watery eyes).

Benedryl and the ones I listed are NOT the same type of allergy meds and technically CAN be given at the same time. The Allegra/Claritin types are used to keep the reactions from happening, benedryl helps stop the reaction once it already occurs.

Sorry so long- but hope this was helpful.