Your child walks up to with a runny nose, coughing, and sounds congested. Does she have a cold or could it be allergies? It can be very difficult to determine the difference. When my oldest was little it always appeared she had a cold. I used to think she caught colds easily until it came to light she had seasonal allergies. I have a friend with a similar story and know of more just like it. Even doctors have a hard time distinguishing a mild cold with seasonal allergies since many of the symptoms are the same. The sooner you can make the distinction the sooner you can find your child relief.
What is a cold?
A cold is caused by a virus. Your immune system attacks the virus and you begin to experience the classic symptoms such as coughing, sneezing and congestion. Colds are contagious.
What are allergies?
Your body mistakes a harmless substance as harmful and attacks it. Since it attacks it in the same manner as it attacks a real virus the symptoms are very similar. You cannot catch allergies from another person. If you have allergies it is possible for your children to inherit them.
Do the symptoms match a cold or allergies?
Coughing: Can occur in both a cold and allergies. However, a bad cough is normally associated with a cold.
Runny nose: Will occur in both but the mucus will be yellow (or infected) with a cold and clear with allergies.
Itchy eyes: Classic allergy symptom as it hardly ever occurs with a cold.
Achiness: Sign of a cold as you are not achy when you experience allergies.
Fever: If your child has a fever your child is sick. You do not get fevers when you have allergies.
Determining the difference can be tricky. You will want to take your child to a doctor for the proper treatment for both a cold and allergies. Knowing the cause will help your child feel better faster.
Does your 3 year old still have a lovey?