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Toddlers: 12 - 24 Months
Help with LO?s hives/itching
I?ve already emailed our doctor, but I?m curious what other moms think.
DD has chronic hives and itching. It has caused her to scratch herself up pretty badly at times and can be so uncomfortable that she has trouble sleeping.
We are trying to identify what is causing the issue. We?ve found that strawberries, tomatoes, and our hair products cause/aggravate the problem. Keeping her away from them led to improvement, but not complete resolution. Some plastics and vinyl may irritate her, but we can?t pin it down. She doesn?t eat cow milk products. She broke out in bad hives at the dog wash, so I?m starting to worry that she could be allergic to our dog.
We wipe her hands and face after every meal. We bathe her daily in only water with very occasional California Baby Super Sensitive wash. We rub Aquaphor on her skin after every baths, which seems to help. Our laundry detergent is hypoallergenic. Applying hydrocortisone helps, but we have to apply at least daily to keep her from itching and we?re not comfortable applying that much.
Any other suspects we could test? Suggestions to calm her itching?
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Re: Help with LO?s hives/itching
Have you seen an allergist?
DD started showing food allergy symptoms and had a solid 2 weeks of large hives that elevated to facial swelling before we were able to get into an allergist. He tested her for several allergens and we were able to pinpoint cat, dog, and peanut/tree nut allergies. It seems like the cat/dog factor is what was causing her reaction, and we've been able to manage it since then.
We gave DD Benadryl around the clock for that 2 weeks, with our Pedi's blessing. Once we got the info from the allergist we were told we could give her Children's Zyrtec or Claritin as a preventative if we know she will be around any cats/dogs. But what really helped was identifying her allergies. I'd really try to get into an allergist for skin testing.
The O'Baby Blog
This makes me feel better. Thanks. It's just the OTC 1%, and was recommended by our doc for the eczema that she had a baby, but we started to feel weird about it.
Oh I'm so sorry
I have chronic hives...it's been around 15 months now since it started and I wake up with them every morning. How long has your DD had them? They told me that in the majority of chronic hives cases (6+ weeks of them), there is no cause found. It typically is not an allergic reaction. However, the first step is always to be tested for any possible allergies. They should also be testing her for autoimmune diseases because that is another common cause of chronic hives. They can only test for 5 (?) common ones though (like lupus, RA, MS...), but there are many more.
Anyway, I would check w/ the pedi first, but for me, I have to take Zyrtec daily to keep the hives under control. For a while I was taking Benadryl every 4 hours around the clock (I had to set my alarm at night) + the Zyrtec at night + Claratin in the morning. Thankfully now Zyrtec is enough for the most part. Antihistamines work differently with different people, and at different times (Claratin used to work great for me, now it hardly does a thing). So ask your pedi which ones you can try with your DD and try them to see which help her the best to keep the hives down. Hydrocortisone creams can help with the itching, but, in my case at least, they don't help for the actual hives. You want to make the hives stop rather then just help the itching.
This website, The International Chronic Uticaria (Hives) Society, is really really great for information. It will also tell you what foods to avoid that tend to make hives worse (not allergy related but because they are a common histamine producer in the body that will make the hives come out more and worse).
In my experience, and from what I've heard online from spending HOURS searching for a reason and reading, doctors tend to give up very easily and not help much...mainly because they know that in the majority of cases, they won't ever be able to find a reason for it. But keep looking, because that doesn't mean there isn't a reason for your DD. It could be allergy related even if tests come back normal. The crappy thing is that it really could be ANYTHING causing them. And that is so stressful and hard to accept. My own primary doc. had them for 2 years and never found a cause. They just went away on their own one day. Even knowing what I was going through, he ran a few tests and told me there was nothing else he could (was willing!) to do for me.
Anyway, I'm sorry you have to deal with this and that your DD is going through this. Hang in there. And if you have any questions, feel free to ask me.
BFP 5/07 - Kylie born 2/08. BPF 2/09 - Alexandra born 10/09.
TTC since 8/13 - diagnosed difficulty conceiving due to LP defect. Took vitamin B and Vitex Berry to help lengthen.
BFP 2/14 - Missed M/C found at 8.5 weeks. D&C at 9w2d. Partial Molar Pregnancy.
BFP 11/14
My Pregnancy(ies) Blog
Here are some other sites I found helpful:
https://www.digitalnaturopath.com/cond/C219225.html
This one because my allergist thought it might be a sensitivity/allergy to things they can't test, like food additives or preservatives:
https://allergies.about.com/od/foodallergies/a/foodadditives.htm
BFP 5/07 - Kylie born 2/08. BPF 2/09 - Alexandra born 10/09.
TTC since 8/13 - diagnosed difficulty conceiving due to LP defect. Took vitamin B and Vitex Berry to help lengthen.
BFP 2/14 - Missed M/C found at 8.5 weeks. D&C at 9w2d. Partial Molar Pregnancy.
BFP 11/14
My Pregnancy(ies) Blog
If her hives are chronic you might want to get her on some daily allergy meds.
I can't remember what our allergist prescribed for DS, but it didn't work for him. His hives weren't itchy though so it wasn't a big deal. The allergist was really surprised that it didn't work.