my 9-month-old has had nasal congestion for about 6 weeks. some days are worse than others, but really every day he's stuffy or has a runny nose for at least part of the day. his doctor says it's allergies and prescribed claritin, which i don't want to give him, especially since it's not proven safe for kids under 2. does anyone out there give claritin to kids this young? the doctor wanted to prescribe zyrtec, but didn't because of our insurance. we're going to try to pinpoint the cause of the allergies, but it's a struggle since he is eating so many different foods and exposed to lots of things like our three cats, the usual household dust, etc. i just don't want him to turn into a mouth breather. i'm wondering, for kids this age, is it usually food or environmental allergies that would cause nasal congestion?

have you tried breast milk? i know it sounds weird, but we just discussed this in our mommy-baby group and i've heard that BM works wonders for many different baby issues (i've been using it on my daughter's dry skin for example). it will taste familiar to him when it runs down the back of his throat. now, i don't know whether it will work when it's allergy related, but since it's natural it might be worth a try. this requires of you to be having BM available, though... :D
anyway, good luck!

Befer.