Spring Allergies in Children: Home Management
Spring is here! Warmer weather, longer days, flowers and trees budding, outdoor spring sports starting up. I love it! Warmer temperatures and more time outside gives me life. It also gives me and my kiddos, itchy, watery eyes and a runny nose! Can anyone relate?
When I worked in primary care, March and April came with a significant up-tick in children coming in for allergy symptoms, which largely can be managed with over-the-counter (OTC) products. So, how can you as a parent differentiate between a common cold and allergy symptoms? It isn’t always easy but here are some tips for discerning what you are dealing with at home with your kiddo.
Cold vs. Allergies?
First and foremost, if your kid has a fever, it is not just seasonal allergies. Allergies, unless a SEVERE allergic reaction, do not cause fever.
How is your kid feeling? Are they running around and playing as normal despite a runny nose? Or are they extra tired? Oftentimes, children with allergy symptoms can “play through” or it doesn’t affect their day to day activities all that much. If they are extra tired and not wanting to play much, they likely have a virus.
Do symptoms worsen when outside and somewhat improve when inside? Likely allergies.
Conjunctivitis
Eye drainage? There are multiple types of “conjunctivitis” or swelling, redness, and drainage from the eyes. Parents often have a hard time differentiating between allergy eyes and pink eye.
Pink eye:
Yellow, thick drainage, typically starting in one eye first
Drainage is persistent, meaning you wipe it away and it comes immediately back
Eyes are crusted shut in the morning after sleep
Causes redness of the white part of the eye
Allergy eyes:
Drainage is usually watery/clear
Caveat is during high pollen season, the pollen can color the drainage to look more yellow, but it is still watery and not usually thick
drainage may or may not be persistent
Typically affects both eyes at the same time
Eyes are not typically crusty in the morning
Home Remedies for Allergies
First, I recommend a cool mist humidifier in the child’s room at night. It helps loosen mucous and clear the sinuses.
Second, nasal saline rinses or sprays are great for helping to clear the allergens from the nasal passages. Doing a couple of sprays in the nose when kids come in from outside can really help to wash away the allergen causing the issue.
OTC Treatments
When symptoms are not improved with natural solutions such as saline and humidity, I recommend over-the-counter (OTC) medications. If your child is only experiencing nasal stuffiness or runny nose, OTC fluticasone (flonase) nasal spray may be helpful. Often, the tissues in the nose, called turbinates, become inflamed as a response to allergens. This causes nasal congestion and increased mucous production. Flonase nasal spray is a topical steroid that works directly on those tissues to help shrink them. Unlike oral steroids, this only affects the tissues it touches, which means none of the nasty side effects that accompany the oral stuff.
There are a multitude of OTC allergy medications available. Cetirizine (zyrtec) is the one I most often started children on for allergy symptoms. It is an antihistamine, like Benadryl but does not cross the blood-brain barrier like Benadryl meaning it is non-drowsy. It is safe in children as young as 6 months of age, although it is uncommon for children that young to have environmental allergy symptoms, but it can be helpful for other conditions such as eczema or allergic reaction rashes in babies. Other OTC options are Allegra and Claritin. Oftentimes it is trial and error to see which one works best for your child to help dry their congestion and eyes. If your child’s allergies are limited to certain times of the year, these medications can be helpful for just a month or two until things outdoors stop actively blooming.
Most of these medications have dosing guidelines on the back of the box however, if you are unsure of an appropriate dose, you can always consult a local pharmacist or your pediatrician.
Does your family deal with seasonal allergies? If so, what have you used that seems to help?
Check out my Instagram @nuanced_newborns for more helpful tips and tricks to make it through allergy season! Also be on the look out for a blog with allergy product recommendations.
