My Son Is Sick and Im Helpless.

My daughter was sick all the time. I know that kids are sick and the doctor kept telling me, kids get 10-12 colds a year. She was on antibotics all the time and nothing really seemed to help. I knew in my gut something just wasn't right, as other kids we new were not sick all the time. I finally went to a ENT in Plano, and they listened to me and they did a CT scan of her sinuses and a scope in her nose and her adneoids were covered in mucus that it was making her sick all the time. It has been a year to the date, that they took them out. She was sick for a couple of months after, they say it could take a good 3 months. But she has not been sick hardly at all, it has really made a big difference. I still make everyone wash their hands when coming from a public place, or outside and still use hand sanitizer. But go to a ENT doctor, they really could help. My pediatrician finally didn't know what was wrong and sent us. Hope this helps

In regards to the thumb sucking... I sucked my 2 fingers until I was in the 1st grade. My middle finger had a huge indention that looked like a caullised crater. I broke my arm in the first grade and the cast prohibited me from being able to suck my fingers. Within the year the crater deminished and eventually went away completely. However, there is a high probability that he is causing permanent damage to his teeth.

I would take him to Dr. Bain in Frisco for a second opinion. More than likely she will recommend a food intolerance test (different from allergy). This test helped us...for the first time we do not have yucky noses like last year. AMAZING......

Can’t help you with the thumb problem.

But on the runny nose issue since February my 2 year, had the same problem, every mont she was on a different antibiotic. Her Pedi referred us to and ENT the ENT wanted to take her adenoids out. I feel that she is too young to have an operation so I took her to a Homeopathic Chiropractor and has cleared her problem up within a month. Her name is Dr Rutledge ###-###-####

Hope this helps - I know how irritating it is to keep giving meds to your baby.

God Bless

M.

Hi M.,

My grand baby had the same problem about 1 year ago. She was constantly sick and on antibiotics and allergy meds.

We are very health conscience at our home and we took right awa measures by placing her on some good vitamins and pro biotics to build up her immune system.

We changed her diet from processed to more wholesome foods and limited any kind of sugar intake..like juice and plus milk.

She recovered within 2 weeks and has not been sick like that since then.

The best place to get the right info and products would be the Healthy Approach at Glade rd. in Grapevine. Their number is ###-###-####....Ask to get on Bryan's calendar for a consultation. He is a nutritionist and does this as a free service. He has helped our family on many occassions with sound advise.

M.

Hello M.,

great advice already. I think his thumb might have a 'yeast' infection. get him on probiotics ASAP. If he has been on antibtiotics after antibiotics, his body needs to get a balance of the good bacteria in his GI track. about the runny nose... remove milk of his diet. if you ask the doctors they'll probably say that it's not milk... my answer to that is 'bolony!' (it's a high probability it's milk) I went through the same problem with my son. he had a stuffy nose and would get a sinus at the drop of a hat. his ped didn't think was the milk. when I removed the milk, well instead of going to the doctor every couple of weeks, it was a few months. Even the doctor was surprised that we had not been to see him in a long time. Then I told him that I removed the milk from his diet. then he agreed. so, that's the milk story. now my son can handle milk 2 - 3 times per week and not on consecutive days. so he can have pizza one day and spagetti 2 days later.
try soy milk.
get rid of any plants you have in the house
have your son tested for allergies so you know exactly what he's allergic to. if it's ragweeds...no sunflower oil/seed, no safflower oil, no echinacea, no chamomile. email me if you want a more detailed list. keep looking until you find the right answer for you and your son. Good luck! ~C.~

M.,

I agree with getting him off of the antibiotics. Very few of upper respiratory tract infections are caused by bacteria - most are viral. It could also be food, chemical, or mold, pollens, etc, related. A good probiotic from your local health food store would be a good start (ask there for advice on the brands). Also, many kids have milk allergies especially to pastuerized milk and its products. Raw milk is a much better option as well as eating as many fresh, whole foods as possible. Buy organic when you can especially if it doesn't have a peel on it (strawberries, grapes, cherries, lettuce, etc.).

A chiropractor can help with these problems quite well. I would highly recommend taking your son to one.

Many people are also deficient in omega 3s. I give my two year old son cod liver oil (1/2 teaspoon) and day in the winter for the extra vitamin D and switch to the fish oil in the summer. Carlson makes a great lemon flavored one - you can sneak it into his drink. My son has only had two colds and no other major problems.

Here are some helpful websites:

www.realmilk.com
www.mercola.com
www.westonaprice.org

Unfortunately, you have to do most of the research yourself on diet and supplements as most health care providers do not give it to you.

M.,

First, the thumb. It's just a response to the constant sucking. If you're not wanting to get him to stop, then try putting Lansinoh nipple cream on his thumb several times per day. It's safe for him to keep sucking his thumb with it, it has no taste and will soothe the skin. Now as for the constant runny nose. You need to strenghthen his immune system. Anti-biotics mean "anti-life". Essentially each round is killing all the bacteria in his gut, even the good that keeps the bad at bay and helps the immune system fight stuff off. There is a war raging in his gut (where the majority of the immune system lies) and the bad guys are winning. Antibiotics decrease immune system response tremendously and usually cause a second infection to be worse and make the body more prone to another infection. They should only be used in extreme emergencies. The American Academy of Pediatrics in the past few years have made a statement for ear infections to watch and wait before prescribing antibiotics and now they are expanding that to other infections as well due the the over-prescribing creating "super-bugs". To start: keep him away from sugar. No fruit juice, sodas, milk, french fries and very limited bread and pasta. Bacteria thrive on the sugars they create once in the body--it's fuel for the fire. Next: Go to Whole Foods or Vitamin Shoppe and get him on a Omega-3 supplement for kids. I like Nordic Natural's Children's DHA, also a good probiotic (pro-life). I like Jarrow's Yum-Yum Dopholis, it's in the refrigerated section in the supplement isle. With the probiotic, start him on 3/day. If he gets a little diarrhea, reduce to 2/day. For maintenance 1/day is fine. A whole-food multi-vitamin for kids is also imperative. I really don't care for too many of them sold at stores, so my best recommendation is Standard Process' Chewable Catalyn. I can order it for you, the shipment usually arrives in 2 days. Finally, making sure the system that coordinates and controls his immune system is functioning properly is important. Getting his nervous system checked by a chiropractor is imperative. Depending on where you live will depend on who I would recommend. My office is in Plano. But, if my office is not convenient, I have several doctors in the Metroplex that I know would take good care of your son. Email me directly with your questions to ____@____.com. I hope this wasn't too overwhelming, but I believe you're starting your journey to find something that works with your son's body instead of against it. God Bless.

I would try taking him to Dr. Connie Danner of NAET of Amarillo. She is an allergy doctor who specializes in allergy elimination the alternative way. (no prescrip. meds, needles) I think she can really help your son. The number is ###-###-#### and she is very affordable. Good Luck.
P.S. I take my 14 month old son there ever since he was born and he has never been sick. Def. worth a try!!!

Hi M.,

Treating the symptoms with drugs is not a good long-term health strategy, although it is the only one many MDs practice. YOu need a PREVENTION strategy, starting with nutrition. Does your son get 5-7 servings of fruits and veggies every day? They need to be raw, not cooked so they will have all of their vitamins and minerals intact. Email me or check my profile to see how my family achieves this goal. Also, I've got two naturopathic doctors I could refer you to.

Blessings,

____@____.com

The thumb thing I don't have any real help with...I'm sure a lot of is the fact that if he sucks it constantly, it's getting dry and the skin looks wrinkled b/c it's wet a lot. About his nose...I'd go have that checked out by an ENT. My youngest daughter had ear infection after ear infection and then had green goopy nose constantly. What we found was that her adenoid was severely enlarged and they had it removed...no more green goopy nose! It's normal for kids to have the green goopy nose if they have been been asleep, but not normal to linger on and on and on (and then if you take him to some sort of child care sit. they don't want your child there if they have a green runny nose). An ENT could do a head CT and check out the sinuses they have (there aren't as many for kids that age, but they can get a good feel for what's going on). Our ENT was Greg Rohn at Presby Plano. Great bedside manner! Good luck!

hi M.,
google probiotics and get your son on them as soon as possible. it will do wondors.

L. b.

Hi, I agree with taking him off of antibiotics, removing milk, probiotics, and seeing an ENT. I would also recommend seeing a chiropractor that you trust. He'll probably cry the first time, but he'll get used to it. I take all my kids, and it helps with the runny nose stuff and also some growing pains that my 7 year old was having.

Good luck. I know that it's no fun at all! Oh, and my youngest turned out to be a thumb sucker and she's 19 mo now. I'll be crossing that bridge soon about trying to get her to stop.....

Try to wean your son off antibiotics and use natural alternatives. Give him yogurt everyday as this provides your body with Pro-Biotics that offset the bad effects of antibiotics and also are good for your immune system. Buy local honey to help with allergies and feed your son lots of healthy fruits and vegetables. Let his body build up its own defense against allergies. If you use antibiotics to fight everything for him -his body can't build up its own defense. Always use antibiotics (as recommended by a doctor) if he has an infection that is causing a high fever or is dangerous - but otherwise give his body a chance to fight off the small stuff. God has given us an amazing ability to do this.

Hi M.,
As for the thumb I have no advice, only understanding as a good friend of ours has a 4 year old daughter that still sucks her thumb and it has changed the shape too and she always has sores on it-they've been battling this for awhile to break the habit. Perhaps you could try one of those "nail polishes" that people put on their nails to learn to quit chewing their nails?

As for the nose problem; here is an idea...my (now 5 yr old) son was a very sick young boy-always with an ear infection and/or runny nose-ALWAYS! We did tons of antibiotics too and zyrtec and flonase to help him...we even had his adenoids removed to see if that would help...these things worked for very short periods. Anyhow to make a long story short,you may already know that doing so many antibiotics is very bad for your digestive sytem as it kills off all your good bacteria and allows for bad bacteria and especially for yeast to thrive in your system; which in turn is a recipe for disaster, affecting health and behaviors big time. I could give you a huge email on how to help solve this problem, but to help you start if you're interested is to have him take a daily probiotic to help increase the good bacteria in his gut again.
Secondly, we found out after seeing a specialist that our son has major food allergies on the IGG panel (meaning that they don't affect him immediately but over time). So, before the testing we went ahead and tried to just cut out gluten and dairy products and we begin to see small improvements....well after we got the full list of things he can't eat, 7 months later I can say that our boy has turned around 100%-he is rarely sick now and has improved so much with behavaviors, etc.
Like I said before, this in short version of my long story but maybe it can help you in trying to figure out what is going on with your son....if you think this may be your case, email me and I can try to help you more....
Good luck!!

don't know about the thumb thing, but I highly rec. a ENT visit. it worked for us--we had the same problem. we used dr. cobb out of plano and frisco. he is older and "has seen it all"...i know several others who have used him. he has done surgeries on my boys. my oldest was 3 when he had his surgery and the youngest was 9 mo......dr cobb was great for a nervous mommy:)

We battled the runny nose business from 11 months to 14 months. Pediatrician suggested removing milk. We did, and it cleared up. Saw some advice on Dr. Cobb...he also took my tonsils out almost 20 years ago, he was good. I have a great friend who is a PA in Plano for an ENT, if you need the name, feel free to email me and I can find out the name of the office for you!

Hey M.,

I would love to talk to you about what I found to alleviate my son's asthma... he was REALLY bad with allergies and asthma until I started using healthier, safer products from a company called Melaleuca! I would love to just talk with you about it... and see if it's something that may help your son! Please call me at ###-###-#### so we can set up a time to talk...I can assure you, I just want to share with you what they offer and you can decide if it's something you want to try for your son... NO PRESSURE AT ALL... that's just not me... I would just love the opportunity to help you with your son! Thanks! T.

I have no idea if this may be it but if he sucks his thumb all the time he is probably picking up a lot of germs that can make him sick. But, that can be good b/c he's probably building immunities to a lot of little pesky childhood illnesses that some kids are not exposed to until kindergarten which can make them miss a lot of school. So, as long as it's just more annoying than anything, I guess I wouldn't worry. But I know it's isolating when you can't go anywhere b/c he's sick. I hope it gets better. Oh and, it could just be plain allergies. Good luck!

Dr Sven Wust is a fantastic immunologist. My son has several allergies and had 2 sets of tubes,adneoidectomy,ezema, and was always sick, even spent 7 days on the hopsital for pneumonia when he was 2. This went from the time he was 10 months old until he was in first grade and finally a different pediatrician did a blood test for allergies and referred us to Dr Wust. We were told prior to that that you couldn't test for allergies with someone who has ezema...not true! Dr Wust tested my son and then helped us put a plan together that met our desires for our son. To be booger and ear infection free with the least amount of meds possible. My son is now in the 6th grade and rarely gets a cold, has a few runny noses when the ragweed and mold counts are too high and takes zyrtec and veramyst only when needed. Dr Wust has also treated my daughter's asthma and I am happy to say he has weened her off all the meds and only uses a rescue inhaler now. He really tries to give the least amount of meds possible and yet still take care of the problems. He is in Denton off Colorado Blvd.

Hello,

My son is almost 4, and until he had his adeniods removed in July, his nose ran EVERY day. He has asthma, so I related it to that, but after many tests were run with no answers, my Pulmonary Specialist referred me to Dr. Champion-Pediatric ENT in Allen. She is WONDERFUl with children, and has small children of her own.

His adeniods were very swollen which made it impossible for his sinuses to drain properly, so it would get backed up in his nose and cause terrible runny noses that ALWAYS turned into an infection.

The surgery only lasted about 20 minutes.. and he was in the hospital less than 4 hrs. He has only had ONE runny nose since and it was after he was crying so I am sure that was it.

Good luck!

I would change doctors. If you think he has allergies - Dr. Ruff is the best for pediatrics he's near Presby in Dallas. Dr. Jason Moshier with North Dallas Pediatrics has helped my sons with allergies/nose stuff as well. He's wonderful. Or just plain go see a ENT for your nasal drainage. It could be adenoids that are too large and not allowing the regular drainage to occur until then use nasal saline and clean out his nose up to 5 times a day.

Good luck!

I can't help with the thumb-sucking, but my advice for the running nose is "get a second opinion". There is either an underlying cause that isn't being treated (allergies, anit-biotic resistent infection, etc.,) and it's not a good thing for a child to be on a full time schedule of anti-biotics. My high-school aged daughter had six months of strep throat (with a similar cycle of anti-biotics). We did finally get it addressed and cured, but it took persistence on my part to convince the doctor to look further into root cause. Trust your instincts and bring your facts regarding the outbreaks, treatment cycle and evidence of symptoms over time.

Hello M.!

I feel your pain... But there is hope!!

My 2yr old was sick from 5mos to 20 months!!! He was on antibiotics for 10 days off for 7 during that time. He would get "well" from the antibiotics, but with in a week of being off of them, he'd get a temp, runny nose (all colors!) and we'd be back to the doc. SOme weeks we were there 2-3 times. We did xrays, blood work, specialists, etc. He was even diagnosed (I don't believe it now!!) with Reactive Airway Syndrom. We changed his nutrition and have been sickfree for 4 months now!!! Praise G-d!!! Our pediatricians office has even called us to make sure he was okay!!! LOL

I saw a couple of people have mentioned Juice Plus. That is what we did. My 8 month old hasn't even had an ear infection!!! It has changed our lives!!! So much so that I'm going back to school for nutrition.

You have a lot of options for where to buy it from the moms who have responded. You can call me and I can tell you more details on what changes have taken place in our lives. I do sell it, but more importantly, your son's health is first and formost!! Dr. Sears is a supporter of Juice Plus and whole food nutrition. He has a website I think it's askdrsears.com. My phone number is ###-###-####, email is ____@____.com and website is www.veggiesnfruitatjuiceplus.com. I'd love to talk to you about your son!

OH... we used Primadopholis as the brand of pediatric probiotic. I don't know that it matters. We got ours at the Whole Foods Market. There are a lot of brands to choose from. Your doc can even prescribe some if it's cheaper with your insurance. Another thing that is important to remember. It's best to get liquid. If your son will drink it. Mine won't so we do the powder for right now. And, don't give it with in two hours of the antibiotic.

G-d bless!

Take your son to a doctor for his nasal problem. An orthodentist can fit an instrument in the roof of his mouth to prevent him from sucking his thumb.

Thumbs can get all red and wrinkly. Might try putting lotion on it during the day.
As far as the constantly runny nose, not sure why your pedi hasn't referred you to an ENT yet. Same thing happened with my son and he had to get his adenoids out. Haven't had a problem since (he still gets colds, etc., but nothing like before, and no more antibiotics). Check out www.entforchildren.net for some great docs in Coppell.

Also, my daughter had runny nose/congestion/sinus infection beginning at 11 months. We took her off dairy and she literally hasn't had a runny nose since -- she's 5 now! She's allergic to the protein in milk (I have the same allergy, which is why I knew to eliminate dairy). It's not an allergy where you break out in hives, but instead it causes a build up of congestion.

When my son came along and started having congestion, we tried taking him off dairy, but he still had issues, so that's when we went to the ENT and found out his adenoids were covered in mucus and not allowing his sinuses to drain well, thus the constant infections.

I listen to 97.5 KLAK in the evenings driving home and John Tesh has wise sayings and hints and tips for your life. The other night they were talking about allergies and people being sick and he mentioned to take a look at your house. Apparently, a lot of people are allergic and can become sick when using air freshners and other cleaning supplies. I'm not partial to any thing in particular, but if you use air freshners or aerosol sprays in your home, you may want to stop for a while to see if that makes a difference.

Hi M.,

Sounds like something that shouldn't be ignored. Especially since his musus is green thats usually a sign of infection. If it was allergies it should be clear. I would go to a different pediatrician to get a 2nd opinion and if you need a 3rd. Its better to have a few Doctors look at him and determine then one that hasn't done anything. Good Luck and I hope all works out! Take care! Bless you and your little one!

Oh honey I feel your pain. My son is the same way. Take him to an allergy doctor. My son has been tested for allergies and while it came back that he wasn't allergic to anything, it narrowed down the problem. When he was 10 months old he had the tubes put in his ears (he used to get ear infections all the time, followed by the typical never ending runny nose). Well Monday he goes to see his ENT doctor about having his adnoids and tonsils taken out. That was our next step if the tubes didn't prevent the ear infections and viral infections. His pediatrician always says it's just a viral infection. No medicine really works for us for the runny nose. Just a thought. I'm not sure where you live, but I love my sons ENT dr. Let me know if you want his name and number. He's in Fort Worth. Good luck!

Antibiotics are extremely destructive to the body and immune system and should only be a last resort. You should have him on probiotics daily. My son is only slightly younger and takes 1/4 tsp daily in his food or drink. There are also natural and homeopathic products that you can give him to help him. When my son gets the first sign of a cold, I give him homeopathic tablets (for colds) that dissolve easily and quickly in his mouth. You can go to Whole Foods or another natural health food store and ask what they recommend.

Don't know what to tell you about the nose, but the thumb is normal. My 12 month old has the same problem! I got concerned about it, but the doc said to lotion it a few times a day. It just gets red from being dried out.

Lots of good advice! No, the thumb sucking isn't a problem right now; focus on the rest.

If he has been on antibiotics for a long time, consider taking him off because he will develop a tolerance for them and they will no longer be effective.

I agree that removing milk is a good first step--it produces mucus.

FIND A PEDIATRIC ENT! My oldest stepson had his adenoids taken out when he was eight & that helped him dramatically (he's now 34).

Good luck, sweetie!

Before making drastic changes to things i will tell you to go see an allergist.Follow all procedures and you will be off to sa good start.Thats what i did and no problems yet. Thank the Lord.

Maybe you should take him to another doctor. Anything green in color out of the nose is infection. See if they will do blood work. But i would take him to another doctor. Hope this helps. As for his thumb.. try and get him to stop. I think there are things you can put on it to make it taste funny. My oldest daughter's friend has a 24yr old sister who still sucks her thumb. It drives me nuts to see it, and it was caused because the mother never did anything about it. My kids never sucked their thumbs or fingers. When they would put in their mouth I would pull it away and tell them :YUCKY:

Hi M.,
Green mucus is a sign of infection, so I would take him to a different doctor, just in case your current doctor isn't catching something important. A second, or maybe even a third, opinion never hurts!!
Good luck!
D.

As far as the thumb sucking, the only bad problem will be the roof of the mouth and teeth. He can actually distort the bones in the roof of the mouth but a lot of kids do it.

First of all - get him off antibiotics. If he is not having any symptoms of being sick; fever, coughing, laying around, whining, loss of appetite or pulling of the ears - HE DOESN'T NEED ANTIBIOTICS.
Use saline mist to spray in his nose and suction the crud out. I am sure he isn't able to blow well yet.
This is very common in all ages right now and treating with antibiotics all the time is making your child resistant to future treatment and that could be detrimental.
Good Luck
R.

You've gotten some great advice...I would also suggest getting the chemicals and toxins out of your home. There have been lots of tests, articles and news reports on how the chemicals and toxins in our homes contribute to allergies, excema and asthma and many other issues. Converting your house can really help keep you healthier, feeling better and safe!

If you'd be interested in hearing more, please give me a shout!!

I wish you both the best of luck!

T.

Plain and simple: get a second opinion! Obviously your current pedi is not helping matters, so why not go to another dr. to get their input?

I'm no doc, but I do think this could ALL be allergy related. I'm betting it may get better when we get a freeze.......unless it is something in the house. Have you switched to non-toxic cleaners yet? Also, Look into some natural remedies. Whole Foods sells some drops that have been helping my mother. Go in there and ask them. I'd also consider Alfalfa. I ground up alfalfa tabs and put in my coffee. It helps. If you are interested contact me on that. Last, I would do whatever I could to build your sons immunity. Allergies can be prevented this way, or at least reduced. I'm a Shaklee Independent Distrib and I have drops called Immunity I that could help there.

With such a little guy if you decided to try any of this I would take the ingredients to your pediatrician. Many doctors don't believe in natural remedies, but they will tell you that they can't hurt either.
Good Luck!
P.
www.shaklee.net/healinghappens

Hey M.. Here is my two-cents. Ha! Ha! Anyways, I don't know if you have been to an Ear, Nose, Throat specialist yet, and I don't know if you are having probablems with his ears, however my son was constantly sick with a yuck nose and was constantly gettting ear infections and was constantly on antibiotics. We went to the ENT and he put tubes in his ears and he has been amazingly healthy. Of course he gets the occasional allergy related symptoms but nothing like before. If I remember correctly, the ENT said that more than 4-6 ear infections is alot and they usually recommend tubes. I think that you sould go see an ENT or an allergist to figure out what is going on with your son, even if he isn't getting ear infections they can probably help. Good luck and keep us posted.

I know how you feel, my son just turned 3 and has been sick so many times since he was born. He started off on a bad foot though, was a month early and had to do NICU time for respiratory issues. There they said he'd be more prone to respiratory related illnesses. In 3 years he's had severe allergies from October-March typically. These usually turn into sinus and/or ear infections, he's had croup a half dozen times, it just goes on and on and the finally diagnosed him as having allergy related asthma. After trying several different meds we've finally found a couple that control it pretty well. He's on Zyrtec daily which has worked much better then any other allerg meds. His nose used to be a mess all the time too and now it's not near as bad. And he's on daily breathing treatments, if his stuff is acting up there another we can add in. If you are comfortable with your Dr's care I highly suggest seeing another pedi or an ENT whow may be better able to diagnose what's going on with him.

I know how frustrating prolonged illness can be. My advice? Get a second opinion! Doctors are just like everyone else and are not perfect! Good luck!

I know exactly how you feel. When I moved to Texas from Illinois we were constantly running to the doctor for meds and allergy medicine. Not anymore. Please check out my website and look at the research on our product. My website is www.gotjuiceplus.com and if you have any questions please call at ###-###-####. Nutrition is vital to good health.
Sally

Well my son had both problems. I ended up keeping him on the paci instead of letting him use his thumb. He is 2 now and only uses the paci at naps and nighttime. I figured when the time came it would be easier to break him of his paci instead of his thumb. He doesn't suck his thumb now. I realize that this probably not going to work for you since it's an established thing with his thumb but maybe worth a try. (?) I would also ask a doctor about the condition of his thumb.
As for his nose. I too did the same thing. It seemed like he was ALWAYS on antibiotics and it would only be gone while he was on them and then return. He also struggled with fluid in his ears. They ended up wanting to put tubes in his ears. I did some research and ended up deciding not to do the tubes. I put him on Probotics and Zrytec and was religious about giving it to him daily. I also flushed his nose every morning and night before going to bed. Neilmed sinus rinse from Walgreens is what I used. They have a child size one and a adult one. When I say rinsed, I mean rinsed out. Most people just spray some saline in there but I was a bit more aggressive than that! I've had three sinus surgeries myself so I'm comfortable with that kind of stuff. ") You or your son may not be. It was hard at first and he didn't like it at all but soon realized that is helped him. With those three things within days he was much better and though it took a while there is no longer any fluid buildup in his ears! I no longer do those things and think that the allergies where seasonal but If I see signs of it returning I'll do the same again. I think that you need to stop the antibiotic cycle. It's a bad thing. You might want to get on the internet and do some research about it. Let his body fight it and give him some support to help it with probotics and good multivitamins.
I hope you find an answer to it all.
C.

on the thumb issue only, no worries about the shape, my son had the same problem, he is nine now, and you can't tell the one he sucked from the other.

Hi M., I had a daughter who sucked her thumb for many years. It did get a distorted shape and it was "icky" a lot of the time and she even developed a cyst on the knuckle that we had to have removed and it was considered "normal" for kids who sucked there thumb by the pediatrician that I had at the time, now that she is 16 her thumb is normal and there were no after effects. The only advice for that is to keep it clean as possible and brush his teeth (if you can) and keep his mouth as clean as you can. For the runny nose thing, has any doctor said he needs tubes in his ears? My nephew went through the runny nose of all colors for a long time, they put tubes in his ears and it cleared up within a few months and he has not had problems since...he is now 17 so another set of problems exist :) if you have health insurance the next step would be to take your son to an Ear Nose and Throat specialist who knows more about that area than his regular doctor, sometimes regular doctor's get stumped they are human after all :) I hope you find this advice helpful, C.

1. Don't worry about the thumb sucking for now. No, his thumb is not attractive, but the damage isn't permanent, either. Two of my three children were thumb suckers, and they didn't stop until they were 6-7 years old, and their thumbs look fine. Two is a tough age to try and get him to stop sucking and I learned to wait until the child can be involved in the quitting process.

2. For the nose, have you taken your son to an ear, nose, throat (ENT) specialist? If not, you should. I'm not suprised that allergy meds aren't working, especially given the recent medical news that meds really don't work on a child under 4. But there could be another factor at play, such as large adenoids. Such was the case with a family member, and once her son's adenoids were removed, the whole nose issue went away.