IF my infant has an allergic reaction...?

Question

to food or anything else, I know the first thing to do is to call 911. But...what if she stops breathing before they can get here? If her throat closes up I can't do CPR without an established airway. They don't make infant Benadryl...only Children's. I plan on talking to my pediatrician about this, but it's Friday night, so I can't ask him until Monday. I'm just hoping that somebody has some advice for my peace of mind. I'm a first time (paranoid) mom. Thanks to all that can help.

P.S.: She's ten months old and weighs 20 pounds (don't know if that will help)

Answer 1

Okay you can ask your doctor what dosage based on weight you could use of childrens liquid benedryl.

Until your baby has some sort of reaction you will not be able to have your child referred to an allergist specialist for what they call a scratch test. then you can find out everything they are allergic to.

if your baby ever has a very severe reaction to something they will give you an Epi-Pen Jr. probably in a two set as that is what I have to carry around. One for my house and one for my parents house basically.

I mean my son has many things that could kill him. Peanuts, eggs, fire ants, cats, dogs are just a few. he's also allergic to corn, roaches, grass, a lot of trees, weeds, and molds, dust mites, and even a black sharpie marker(burns his skin like a chemical burn might look) and adhesive on certain band aids (causes blisters and leaves his skin raw). go figure.

With as allergic as he is, he takes medicine daily. if not, he'll get sick if he's outside for more than an hour. but he wasn't diagnosed until he was 3 years old. until then he kept getting what we thought was a severe cold repeatedly and kept getting bronciolitis. and was on breathing treatments and all sorts of stuff. it started at 3 months old. after we figured out it was allergic reactions and not colds, he hasn't had symptoms since unless he comes into contact with something the medicine isn't strong enough to handle. he also has ezcema on his skin.

just keep your eye out on symptoms to look for that could resemble cold symptoms, especially if it seems like your baby is always getting colds. if it's severe like i said ask your doctor about the what if scenario and find out the dosage of benedryl needed. if you child does develop an allergy to whatever they can put your child on medicine or a combo of meds to be given daily to prevent or lessen the reaction.

i agree with the local fire dept, or rescue squad to enroll for infant and adult cpr. my husband knows it but i do not unfortunately. however i know what to do if something happens to my son before it gets to that point and we only live a few minutes from the hospital. while if something happens to our son he has no idea what to do other than epi-pen and cpr.





EDIT: When my youngest was 10 or 11months he has about 20-24 lbs. the infant allergy meds my pediatrician gave him stopped working. he told me to just use benedryl and based on weight he said up to 3/4 teaspoon would be fine for anything from mild to severe reaction. if it is severe and you give benedryl remember you still would need to get him to an ER, b/c sometimes it only buys you more time to get him there. my oldest son during a mild to severe allergic reaction has to have 2 teaspoons at 40lbs (4yrs old)

Answer 2

Worse case senario is that there is 10 ft. of snow and the ambulance can't get there in time. They do make benedryl srips that I gave to my 4 year old when he got hives and gave to my dog (same weight as my son) when she got hives so there is the possiblility of giving 1/4 child strip on childs tongue. Babies die from Benedryl so call your ER for info and Check with doctor first but I know they go by weight. Your infant will cry terribly becasue he is uncomfortable long before his throat closes up. If you are really worried, don't give him anything new. DON"T WORRY!!!

Answer 3

boy, some people don't remember what it's like to be a worrying first time mom. I have some serious food allergies, and have worried about the same thing. I think the only thing you can do is wait until an ambulance gets there. unless you can give an epi-pen to an infant, which I'm not sure about....i know they sell them for small children....

Answer 4

Did you just now get home from the hospital with your new baby? If your baby hasn't had an allergic reaction to something already and she's only on formula/breastmilk, then chances are she is not going to develop one over the weekend. If she has been doing fine with whatever you are already feeding her then just don't change anything. I understand your paranoia, but you need to relax. I'm sure you can call your hospital and talk to a nurse if you need someone else to reassure you. Just relax and enjoy your new baby.

Answer 5

Well, parents of highly allergic children carry epi-pens. It's a spring-loaded syringe full of epinephrine, which treats anaphylactic shock. You merely unwrap it and jab it into a leg or arm. However, I do not know if they make them for infants, and you need a doctor's prescription to attain one.

Talk to your pediatrician Monday. Your child, presuming he or she has only breast milk or formula, is not going to have a life-threatening allergy reaction between now and Monday.

Answer 6

That happened to me when I was a baby. My mom had to run to the neighbor's house bare foot to get me Benadryl. Keep liquid Benadryl on hand. That's what saved me until the ambulance came. They never found out what I was allergic to. I also choked on ice cream when I was a toddler (it melted before the ambulance came), so be careful of that too.

Answer 7

IF something were to happen, the 911 operator would try and talk you through things with instructions till the EMT'S got there. Just relax! I know first time Moms can worry themselves sick so just sit back and enjoy your wonderful gift of a baby! Congrats to you!!

Answer 8

if its just an allergic reaction and she stops breathing and nothing is blocking her airway you can still perform cpr..but your like thinking super far into this..most of the times its just a bit of rash the child gets..quit worrying

Answer 9

What on earth would cause your infant to go into anaphylactic shock? Its so highly incredibly uncommon that its not even worth considering. Do you have a history of extreme allergic reaction in your family?

I think its quite the unfounded fear. Relax a little.

Answer 10

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