Expert Advice for the Mom Whose 20-Month-Old Daughter’s Allergies Make It Hard for Her to Be Outside

A mom writes in asking about her 20-month-old daughter’s allergies. She says that her daughter loves being outside, but her allergies make her itchy and give her a cough, a runny nose, trouble sleeping, and just general misery.

Allergy-Freedom, Inc. founder Laura Dillon weighs in below with some expert advice.

A Mamas Uncut fan asks:

“Need suggestions. My 20-month-old has allergies. She loves being outside. Today she was outside playing in the grass with her sister and now she’s itching her eyes and coughing and has a runny nose and can’t sleep. Besides the obvious of keeping her inside, what can we do to make her less miserable? All of the allergy medicine I’ve looked at says 2 years and up. She’s very small for her age. She’s only 19 lbs (maybe 20 on a good day).”

– Mamas Uncut Community Member

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Advice from Laura Dillon

Sorry to hear about your daughter’s issues with seasonal allergies. I know from experience how difficult it can be. Below are some things that you can try that will help alleviate some of her symptoms. These are things that have helped my daughters with their own allergies.

When your daughter plays outside during her allergy season (spring, summer, fall or winter), make sure she changes her clothes after she comes back in the house.  Especially if she is playing on the grass, etc. The pollen can remain on your clothing and then a person can continue to get triggered by it. Also, follow the pollen activity on www.pollen.com so you can become aware of daily pollen counts in your area.  You can put in your zip code so that you know the pollen count levels where you live.  When they are really high in the red, it is probably better to do things inside if possible. 

One of the things that really helps calm allergies is Alka Seltzer’s Gold.  It has to specifically be the GOLD version. This can help alleviate symptoms. When my two daughters went through their allergy program that cured them of their anaphylactic food allergies, taking Alka Seltzer’s Gold was part of the protocol. I would put 1 tablet in some apple juice or lemonade for them to drink daily. 1 tablet would help calm their symptoms for 4-6 hours. Unlike Benadryl, there is no drowsiness. It helps with any type of allergy because it makes the stomach acidity more alkaline and it can reduce histamine levels. My girls had seasonal allergies in addition to food allergies.  I still have them take Alka Seltzer Gold when they have issues with seasonal allergies.  

Another thing to consider is that when someone has bad seasonal allergies, there can sometimes be certain fruits and vegetables that exacerbate the seasonal allergies.  For example, if your triggers are birch tree (a springtime allergen) and you eat apples, cherries, almonds or celery during that time, it could make your daughter’s symptoms worse.  It is not the case for everyone but it’s something that you should pay attention to. It is a cross-reaction that happens because the apple and the birch tree share similar properties that can trigger a person. Here is a link to a PDF that shows some tree/grasses and fruit/nut cross-reactivity.