Infant/ Toddler Asthma

Cameron doesn't have asthma but he has a multitude of respiratory problems. He has chronic lung disease like Withay's son. Humidity helps Cameron too. He gets 4 different breathing treatments a day,from 2-4 times each. Staying on top of that helps a lot.

DD only has to take a preventative medication at night as needed and Albuterol for emergencies. We didn't have to use any of the meds all summer but I think we need to start using the preventative meds now and stick with it.

I have severe allergies, asthma, allergic broncho pulmonary aspergillosis, and cystic fibrosis.....thats a mouthful just to tell you that I have ALOT of experience with respiratory disorders. I also have alot of experience with the entire spectrum of doctors, specialists, and medications and was once an under treated child kind of 'just getting by'. I would highly encourage you to continue on the plan that your doctor has given you BUT not only that. Get in to an allergist that has either a strong child ratio in their practice OR is a pediatric allergist who also treats asthma. The best scenario is an advanced asthma and allergy specialist who treats children. If there is more than one option do your homework as treatment off allergies can vary hugely between practices. In general, though not always, a doctor that still tests by 'skin prick' is more desirable, especially for kids, than a doctor who just takes a blood sample and has it analyzed to determine allergies. I know alot of times doctors catering to kids will promote the blood test since kids dont like being pricked but I would steer clear. If my 3 year old can make it through testing I think most kids will be fine. In my experience treating asthma without treating allergies is basically like treating the sympoms and not the problem. The fact that her asthma is varying signficantly by season leads me to believe there is a strong allergic component. Lastly, having trouble breathing is highly correlative with anxiety problems so I would also make sure that is being addressed, if need be. Please feel free to PM me any time

My daughter was diagnosed with asthma as a toddler. With her it was very much tied to cold weather and having a cold so we did the preventative as directed during the fall and winter months which is when she would have flairups, and at the first sign of a cold with chest congestion we would start the nebulizer treatments to stay ahead of it. The good news is she is now 6.5 and seems to have outgrown it as she hasn't had any wheezing in over a year.

good point DP to OP 4th grade there still might be some opportunity to outgrow it. Here is a link and the 'nutshell' on what they think as far as outgrowing asthma. Why do asthma symptoms disappear for some kids and not others? Some working theories: As a child gets bigger, so do the airways in his lungs. Inflammation of airways, an asthma hallmark, could go on unnoticed, Johnson says. Children who wheeze only when they have a cold or other upper respiratory virus tend to improve with time, he says. Children who are sensitive to allergens from a young age tend not to improve, Rachelefsky says. His observation is backed up by findings from a nine-year study of more than 1,000 asthmatic children that found fewer allergy-related antibodies in those who became symptom-free. Children with eczema, a skin disorder characterized by itchy rash, or a family history of asthma are likelier to have lasting asthma symptoms. The more severe the asthma past the age of 5, the likelier symptoms will continue, with or without allergies, Rachelefsky says. [url=http://www.webmd.com/asthma/features/outgrowing-asthma-is-remission-possible]Can You Outgrow Asthma? Asthma Remission Information[/url]

DD has asthma. After drinking cow's milk, I noticed her nose would become runny and she would have chest congestion. I, too, am asthmatic and was already on a soy/plant vegetarian diet. I switched her to soy milk, soy yogurts, soy ice cream and soy pudding. The only dairy she gets is cheese. Anything too runny, like cottage cheese, has her nose running all over again ad the congestion starts back up. I give her a teaspoon of local honey for her allergies. And it works wonders. Before changing her diet, she was using her nebulizer 3 times a day. I was born 3 months premie and had asthma from day 1, often leading to hospital stays and dangerously low oxygen levels. Since I changed my diet 10 years ago, I have only been to the hospital 3x's, I am no longer using a rescue inhaler. The only time I use a nebulizer is in the fall when my Pre-k class goes to the pumpkin patch. Hay is not my friend. It has been almost 7 months since she used any asthma medications.

That seems to have been what happened with my DD. Her lungs got so irritated her first winter (Guatemala to Michigan in November!) that it took next to nothing to set her off into an attack. But each year we were able to stay further ahead of the attacks, or at least minimize them, and it seemed to allow her lungs to become less susceptable.

My baby has respiratory problems and is on an inhaled steroid for the winter. He also uses albuterol as needed. At six months old he spent a week in the hospital with RSV. That was terrifying and we are trying to prevent such problems this year. He also has multiple food allergies as well.

Thanks all for the Advice. DD can't do cow's milk but she can do cheese which is interesting. She also has issue with Eczema which we have under control. I was hoping that since she only had night Asthma that it would be short term but from the info I read it looks like the Eczema makes it possible it will be long term. Either way we will be very diligent about making sure she gets her preventative treatments at night. We will also get her checked for other allergies that might help reduce her flare ups.

The exzema is probbaly being caused by her allergies. My son has it from his hydrolized formula as it is very broken down dairy.

Since we put her on the soy formula and changed her soap and lotion (johnson & Johnson makes her miserable only Hypoallergenic Baby Magic works) she hasn't had any signs of eczema.

I too just busted out the nebulizer after a glorious summer of not having to use it. :( L has eczema on her face, however it is under control and it is not all over her body so I"m not sure if that means her allergies are mild. I do know she can't tolerate any form of detergent except the tide/ALL free kind....since we are close to finalization I haven't pursued allergy testing, but once finalization occurs and I have her under my insurance I was thinking I'm going to check out if/what type of allergies she may have. She was able to transition to regular cow's milk without issues during the summer and can do cheese and yogurt with no flareups or instant congestion....but we'ver been having cold weather/hot weather/cold weather/hot weather now and the wheezing is back.

DannieAS- NYC is having the samething and we had to bust out the nebulizer too. I also got an inhaler with the spacer (which I never saw before but find really cool now that I have seen it) to leave at daycare in case of emergencies since this will be our first fall into winter together.

Our four year old son has severe asthma, and our youngest has chronic lung decease. Our son's asthma takes constant monitoring. He doesn't have allergies (which I have been told makes him harder to treat), but does have multiple triggars. Obvious things like respiratory infections or any illness can cause his breathing to go south, but the not so obvious like wind, barometer changes, not getting enough sleep, crying hard, and smoke in the air can reak havoc on our little guy. Pay attention and you may start seeing what your daughters triggers are. We have several spacers so one goes wherever he goes, and we have adapters for each car and carry his nebulizer on any outing as he often needs a second treatment and responds better to the neb.

My oldest son, almost 13, has asthma as well. Luckily, he hasn't taken any meds in quite a few years. His mom is a bad asthmatic. At 3 months, he was hospitalized with RSV, and after that, every single time he got a cold, he was on the machine and meds. We used puffers for quite a few years. Steroid puffers (Flovent) caused him to be off-the-wall hyper, when normally he wasn't like that. His pediatrician then changed him to Singulair which we found to be amazing. Asthma and eczema tend to go hand in hand. My dh has both. I have eczema, but don't have asthma. Maybe your daughter will outgrow it. My son hasn't had any issues in at least 4 years. But, when he was little, it was bad.