Worried about my son

[oceanbaby]

There are two things going on that are starting to worry me.

1. A few months ago, he got a cold for the first time in a year. He had a fever, congestion, all the usual stuff. The fever was gone in a few days, but the congestion lasted about 10 days. It was gone for a week, and then one day bam, it was back. No other symptoms. That lasted for a week. Then it was gone again. Then all of a sudden, a week later, back again. And it hasn't gone away. He has been congested, breathing through his mouth, and having trouble sleeping sometimes because he starts to snore so loud, for almost 2 months now. He is perfectly happy and healthy otherwise, but this bothers me. No sneezing, no watery red eyes, no fever, not much of a runny nose, nothing.

2. He will be 2 in a few weeks. A couple of days ago he said two sentences. I was thrilled, because he hasn't spoken yet. No words besides "no" and "uh oh". But since then he hasn't said a word. I'm starting to think I imagined it. He really doesn't even come close to saying anything, except "os sid" for "other side" when he's nursing. No bye bye, no doggie, no bus, no cracker, no nursie, no nothing. His two sentences were "I don't know" and "Here they are." Just the one time.

I have a Dr. appt. next week, but I'm just starting to get a sick feeling in my stomach all of a sudden. I haven't been worried at all until now. I don't know what's changed. And I really can't imagine that the Dr. is going to have any good news: Either it's going to be hard long road to discover what is causing the congestion (a food allergy, hayfever, nasal bone development?), or else it is something serious. Either he is severely delayed and needs speech therapy (I don't even know what that consists of), or we just have to keep waiting with no answers, while he continues to be frustrated that he can't tell us what he wants (although he is generally very good at communicating without language).

I just want him to be perfect and healthy, and am feeling really nervous and sad that he might have some problems.

[sweetfeet]

mama! I don't know what to say. I hope that he will come around in his own time. Guidelines are a bet nervewhacking sometimes. Lots of positive vibes coming your way!

[cottonwood]

I think we all go through episodes of worry like this, which thankfully usually turn out to not be warranted. It's our protective instincts.

1) For several weeks last year my son had something that sounds similar -- but especially at night it was a problem, he kept waking himself up because he couldn't breathe well. It was awful, it seemed like he was waking up every fifteen minutes (though I wasn't timing it.) Aside from that he seemed healthy, so I didn't take him to the doctor. It seemed to go in cycles, too, for a while it would seem like it was lessening, but then it would start back up again. Well, it eventually mysteriously cleared up and hasn't happened again. I assumed allergies, but I really don't know.

2) my mom didn't speak at all until she was 3. Then, in complete sentences! So I think it can be indicative of a problem, but not necessarily.

Here's hoping that he's just developing at his own right rate!

[grisandole]

IMHO it sounds like possible allergies; with ds1 he was like that and it was the cats. We kept them out of his room and the snoring/congestion at night stopped. My best friend's daughter didn't speak much at 2 either, and now shes a chatterbox at age 3. Don't worry mama, he sounds great

[becoming]

1) I believe your ds's congestion is probably due to allergies. I had bad allergies when I was a young child and was never NOT congested. My pediatrician finally figured out that I was allergic to carpet, stuffed animals, and anything else furry that collects dust, like fur coats and even some blankets. (Thankfully I have mostly grown out of this, although there is still a blanket in our house that gives me fits). I was never on any type of medication or shots, because my parents are not into prescription meds unless it's life-or-death, but if you chose to go that route, I'm sure there are some meds safe for 2-year-olds.

2) That's a tough one. I can sit here and tell you all day not to worry, that your child will be fine, but you'll still worry. I know how it is :^) I just want to say, though, that there are so many children I have known or heard about who didn't speak much, or at all, at 2 years old. A little boy I used to babysit didn't speak at all until he was closer to 3, only made these noises no one could understand but his mama. Even at 4 years old, he was very hard to understand, and my family thought he might have problems, but now he's a normal 8-year-old and is thriving without ever having to do speech therapy or anything. I hope that your worrying is for nothing, but any mama-worry is valid and should be investigated by a dr., in my opinion. Those mothering instincts should never be ignored.

[oceanbaby]

Thank you everyone. I'm feeling better this morning. It is so reassuring to know that some of you have dealt with this congestion issue, and don't have serious medical problems! I too was thinking it was allergies, but just thought it was weird that it came on all of a sudden, and seemed to coincide with getting sick. I have dust mite allergies myself, but they only act up when I clean out a closet or something like that. Plus, mine isn't just congestion - it's sneezing and itchy watery eyes. We have hardwood floors, an air purifier in the bedroom, and dust mite barriers on our mattress and pillowcases, so if it is dust allergies he must be really sensitive!

Becoming - how did they determine it was the carpets, stuffed animals, etc.?

Blue Violet - thanks for sharing your son's experience. That's what I keep hoping will happen - that it will just magically clear up!

And thanks to everyone for the reassurances about his speech. I keep hearing this, and I know to disregard a lot of the development guidelines, but it's amazing how hard it is to stay confident and positive when it's your own baby.

[guest^]

oceanbaby-
WE have to earn our "worrying mama badges" somehow,sometime!!! Really though, none of the other posters suggested molars-so I have to ask-does ds have his 2 yr molars yet? MY dd was congested off and on-sometimes with a runny nose, other times just congested-when she was cutting her molars. This lasted over several months. My ds just had the same kind of thing while just cutting his canines. I have learned to NEVER underestimate the teething! My ds has had 4 ear infections now-every single one of them occured during multiple teeth being cut. As far as allergies...it IS the time of year for outdoor allergies for sure! WE have had days already where we've ran the airconditioner at night cuz we've had to keep the windows closed for dd. Are you sleeping with your windows open? Are you spending a lot of time outdoors? Prop your ds up on pillows(at least 2) to sleep at night, offer plenty of fluids dueing day, and massage the sides of his neck downward(very gently) to encourage any drainage from stopped up ears. Give plenty of Vit. C.
Boys are usually a little late in speech development. I know this cuz I had taken my ds in to our fam doc about his ears and speech...I would wait a few more months before giving it much thought. My doc reassured me that many kids just don't have that language explosion till they are at least 2 and 1/2. My doc said to just make sure that we were reading to ds every day at least 5 books(duh!) not a problem as he insists on more like 20!!!LOL!!He says about 20 words, he just prefers to usually say "Ball"!!And of course I have to share that my brilliant niece who will be 5 in July didn't say more than 10 words till she was 3! OMGsh-this girl talks nonstop using sophisticated verbal skills!!!!!!

mamapoppins

[mamaduck]

It could be a seasonal allergy. Both my kids suffer from allergies in the spring and fall, both starting after they had been through those seasons once -- so, close to their 2nd year. Supposedly, it takes a year of exposure to become "primed" to a seasonal allergy -- so a child doesn't exhibit symptoms the first year. I don't entirely understand this - but it is what I've been told.

My older son didn't really begin to talk until he was 3, and then his speach was unintelligible to everyone except me and Daddy. When he was 5 -- he started speach therapy, which was amazingly helpful and completely painless. But anyway, the speech therapist said she was pretty sure that his problems with speech stemmed from the fact that when his allergies were bad, he couldn't hear himself well enough to get the sounds out correctly.

None of this had any effect on his intelligence. At five, he tested off the therapist's charts in terms of the words in his vocabulary and what he could comprehend. It was JUST his actual diction that was a problem.

I'm not saying this is your son's issue -- but I'm throwing it out there as a possibility, and reassuring you that if it is, it really isn't a too terrible thing.

Please -- keep us posted!

[singermom]

I kind of skimmed the replies quickly, so pardon if I say things that have already been said. Sounds like an allergy test is definitely in order--my daughter had one and we discovered a soy allergy of all things, and the allergist said that could be causing her congestion.

Have you done any chiropractic with your son? My children have both benefitted from that. The older one was very prone to ear infections and fluid in the ears, which delayed her speech. The chiropractic adjustments really helped the fluid drain from her ears so that she got fewer infections. We started our second daughter a lot earlier on that, and are hopeful that we won't have to go down the ear infection path as badly as we did the first time.

Anyway, good luck.

Mia

[merpk]

About the verbal stuff ... don't sweat it. Really. Especially since he's said those sentences that one time ... like one of the other posters on this thread, my DH apparently didn't speak until he was 3, and then started in with full sentences. Spoke very late. Then finished his PhD in his early 20s. Smart very early. :LOL

Don't sweat it, really.

[oceanbaby]

You ladies are awesome!

A question about allergy testing: How do you go about doing this on a 2 year old? I had the scratch test done as an adult (I'm allergic to dust mites), but it didn't check for food allergies. I was told to get a MAST blood test for that. Is this the same procedure for kids?

You know, it's funny you would mention soy, because for some reason that has been sticking in my head as a possible culprit. I have switched to rice milk instead of soy milk, but we do still eat tofu, so I may cut that out as well and see what happens.

And I never thought of the teething. No, he doesn't have his 2 year molars yet. I do remember him getting a fever one time due to teething, so I find this idea very intriguing.

And thank you so much for the reassurance about his speech development. I know without a doubt that his hearing and comprehension are superb, so I guess I will just keep waiting. It's hard when the first question the family always asks is "is he talking yet?" At this point his 9 month old cousin will be talking before he is! But that's okay - my little guy has always been different than other babies. Not good or bad, just different. He's always been a little more mature or serious or something. He was never really the goo goo gaa gaa type of baby, always looked like he was thinking really hard. So maybe my sister is right - she says his first words will be "Einstein was wrong!"

[Curious]

Re: congestion. Molars are definetly nasty with this; Dd never had a runny nose until MOLARS, and then she had this ooky stringy yellow stuff. But for allergy testing, see if you can find a doctor familiar with ALCAT testing. It's a blood test, but more accurate than skin testing.

As for the speech, my sister says that she was just about to take my nephew (now 27) in for evaluation for lack of speech, when he woke up one day and spoke in full sentences. Unfortunately she doesn't remember how old he was, except that he was old enough that she worried.

[sleepies]

i think he is FINE

my baby didn't have the slightest cold or anything at all until he was 18 months. at 18 months he got the flu (where you puke), then he got the sniffles, then he was congested. I was sooooo worried and convinced he had an allergy.

we had blood taken and tests ran.

NOTHING was wrong.

it cleared up and has not returned, (this was in winter).


maybe it is just an allergy to the Pollen in the air. my mom suffers from that once per year. you know, cause all the flowering trees and stuff are blooming right now. it is NOT a big deal to have that type of seasonal allergy.

good luck

ps. as for talking, my oldest didn't say more than two or three words until he was 2 and 1/2 then he started talking in paragraphs. sometimes they just take a while.


pSS : WE had allergy tests done! Here is what they did. We went to this little lab----our doctor had sent us there--- they took one vile of blood from his tiny little vein in his tiny little arm. he cried for like 20 seconds.

they sent the blood away. a week later---the doctor called and said alex was not allergic to ANYTHING! and he must be just having a cold.

[becoming]

oceanbaby - I believe I had the "scratch test" where they scratch the surface of your skin and rub in small amounts of different common allergens. I have no memory of this since I was so young (I think 3 or 3 1/2 at the oldest), but I remember my mother talking about how horrible it was. They found out I was allergic to dust mites and wanted my parents to rip up all the carpets in our house, throw out all the stuffed animals, etc., but we didn't have the means to put in new flooring, nor would I have ever considered giving up my stuffed animals just to clear my nose a little bit, so I basically just suffered through it.

I'm glad to hear you're feeling better. I liked Mia's (singermom) suggestion of trying out chiropractic measures. It's usually pretty expensive, I think, but it might be worth it.

After hearing more about your child in your follow-up posts, I'm starting to think that he's just taking in everything around him and is going to be one of those straight-to-sentences babies. He doesn't have time for this meaningless jibber-jabber -- he's holding out for the real thing! :^)

[Delilah]

My bet is he's just fine...

but you could always have him evaluated by your state's early childhood intervention program if you have any lingering doubts. If they diagnose a problem, he may qualify for early intervention. Good luck.

[cameronsmom]

I don't reply often, but thought maybe I could help out a little here. The test you are talking about is a RAST test. It is a simple blood test that will check for all of the most common food allergies. My son has severe asthma and allergies, so we have been through all of these lovely tests. He had the scratch test done at 18 months, so they can do them that young. The weather right now is killing Cameron. He keeps a constant runny nose and congestion, even with all of the meds that he is on. Something that you may want to consider is trying him with some honey. Stupid sounding, I know. But, even my allergist agrees with the theory. You get local made honey (local for your area) and give your child a teaspoon a day. The fact that it is local means that it has the pollen, etc. from your area, and supposedly this helps to build the child's immune system against allergies of that sort.

[Teresa]

Just a quick one:
Einstein didn't speak until he was 4, and speaking is much like reading--precocity does not equal proficiency!
If his comprehension is good, I wouldn't worry (Pick up the red ball and put it in Mama's chair).

Ditto chiropractic care, eliminating dairy & soy, and possibly other things from both your diets.