How you can protect your kid from allergies

Now that spring is finally here, we’ve also entered allergy season. So we were wondering: Can babies have seasonal allergies? The answer is yes. Conventional medical wisdom says babies over a year old can have allergies. Pollen, dust, grass and mold are the main elements that can cause allergies. Look for a trio of symptoms in your baby: itchy eyes, a runny or stuffy nose and wheezing.

If you are trying to avoid the symptoms, some general protection and prevention rules are:

– Keep the house, especially the children’s room, protected from pollen. Ventilate in the afternoon and keep windows closed during the day.

– Always wear sunglasses to kids to protect their eyes from dust and pollen.

– Try to go out to play in the afternoon, as the pollen is usually reaches its peak in the morning.

– Try to remove the shoes as soon as you enter the house and leave them as far away as possible from the bedrooms.

– Wash the child’s hands and face as soon as he / she walks in from outside. Change his/her clothes and leave the old ones in the balcony for the night.

If, however, the kid has symptoms, what do you do? The first approach should be mild. If your child has the sniffles, steam up the bathroom. Moisture and water vapor can thin out mucus. That’s a great thing to do before bedtime.

If you’re concerned about baby having allergies, especially if an older sibling already has them, you’ll want to talk to your pediatrician and begin tracking symptoms. If symptoms become disruptive or persistent, it’s probably time to go to an allergist.

Don’t worry too much, though; Seasonal allergy rates are pretty stable. While more and more children are being diagnosed with food allergies each year, seasonal allergies seem to consistently affect 15 to 20 percent of children ages 0 to 2.