Does this sound like hay fever?

[new_mom_mry]

My 14 month old DS has had pretty bad nasal congestion without any nasal discharge, or fever/cough, etc. for a few weeks now. It started around the same time as his ear infection but did not go away. It bothers him the most at night--poor guy is tossing and turning and is clearly finding it difficult to get comfortable. I took him to the ped who looked inside his nose and saw quite a bit of congestion. She said that although kids usually don't get allergies this early, it could be allergies (hay fever). She told us to give him Zyrtec. I gave it to him last night, and it didn't seem to help as much as when we gave him benadryl.

Does this sound like hay fever, which according to all of my reading, peaks at spring time, is caused by pollen, and is also accompanied by itchy/watery eyes, nasal discharge, coughing...he doesn't have any of these symptoms. Nevertheless, when we gave him Benadryl, it seemed like it helped him breathe more easily at night.

My second question is whether Zyrtec takes some time to start working--is it odd that it didn't seem to help him too much after the first time when we gave it to him last night?

Thanks so much in advance!!! Allergies are all new to me, although DH apparently has them in some form. I've never experienced them myself, so it's a whole new ball game for me.

[MSWR0319]

It could be allergies or sinus infection possibly related to his ear infection. allergies can flare up now, especially if they are allergic to mold. We were also told kids that young don't have allergies but DS did. He is on Zyrtec year round. It does take a few days at least for it to start working. When we first noticed his allergies he was having a runny nose, but if he's been on Benedryl consistently it may not run. DS does not have a cough during allergies, but does during a sinus infection. DS had to use Nasonex the first winter because we didn't have him on an antihistamine, that may be something you could ask if it gets worse or doesn't improve. now that we know he has allergies his Zyrtec keeps them under control pretty well.

When DS has a sinus infection his nose is just congested and it usually comes after a cold. Was your DS on any meds for an ear infection? Depending on the med is may have helped if it was a sinus infection or it may not. If it doesn't get better, I'd take him back. It took me three visits to get DS's first sinus infection treated or to get a different allergy med.

[new_mom_mry]

Was your DS on any meds for an ear infection? Depending on the med is may have helped if it was a sinus infection or it may not. If it doesn't get better, I'd take him back. It took me three visits to get DS's first sinus infection treated or to get a different allergy med.

Yes, he was on antibiotics for 10 days. What is the best way to distinguish between a sinus infection and hay fever?? As an aside, he still has some fluid in his ears from the last ear infection and the daycare texted me just now saying that he has a runny nose today and is fussy...the runny nose thing is new though and there was no nasal discharge until today...Oh wow...I guess this is my true welcome to parenthood. I always felt as though our lives were very sheltered during the first year when DS stayed home with an amazing nanny....and he didn't get sick even once then. Now he's been in daycare for a few weeks and...we have all this happening already

[MSWR0319]

It's really hard to distinguish a sinus infection. Our pedi will treat it as one if you still have some cold symptoms after 12-14 days. Now that we know DS gets one usually after his cold, I've noticed his symptoms are congestion, snoring, bad breath, and coughing from drainage. It's really hard to diagnose a sinus infection I think. Another thought is that maybe he picked up another cold since he's new to day care? I think if things don't start getting better with the Zyrtec I'd take him back in or at least call. We've been very lucky that DS has been healthy except for these sinus/allergy issues but they stress you out don't they!