Watching your child struggle to breathe is a frightening event for parents. Allergies, asthma and acid reflux can all cause similar respiratory symptoms in toddlers. All require different treatments, however, so it's important to determine the cause before trying to treat the symptoms. See your child's doctor to help differentiate between these three disorders if your toddler has chronic respiratory disease.
Frequency
Toddlers often experience respiratory illnesses; around 33 percent of all hospitalization in toddlers occur because of respiratory disease, according to the Allergy and Asthma Network Mothers of Asthmatics. Asthma affects as many as 6 percent of children younger than age 5. Both food allergies and environmental allergies can cause respiratory symptoms; allergic children are also more likely to develop asthma. Between 4 and 5 percent of children younger than age 18 have allergies, BabyCenter states. Acid reflux, the back flow of stomach acid into the esophagus, occurs most commonly in infants younger than 12 months, but can continue into childhood and adulthood.
Symptoms
Allergy, asthma and acid reflux can all cause difficulty breathing, cough, wheezing and shortness of breath. Acid reflux may also cause pain from the acid burning the delicate tissues in the esophagus. Infants with acid reflux may spit up, although this occurs less frequently as your infant grows.
Diagnosis
Making the right diagnosis is essential when determining whether your toddler has acid reflux, allergies or asthma, since the treatments vary. Allergy testing can help determine if your toddler has allergies, but toddlers with allergies may also have asthma, so it's important to diagnose and treat both. A probe placed in the esophagus for 12 to 24 hours can measure the amount of stomach acid that enters the esophagus to help diagnose acid reflux.
Treatments
Both allergies and asthma can cause life-threatening reactions that require immediate treatment to reduce airway swelling so your child can breathe. In the case of an allergic reaction, you may need to carry injectable epinephrine to reduce swelling, while asthma may require inhalers and steroid treatments. Acid reflux doesn't generally cause the acute reactions of allergy or asthma. Medications to reduce acid production, small feedings, teaching toddlers to chew thoroughly, not serving liquids with meals and serving foods that pass through the intestines quickly, such as soft foods, may also help. Smoking around your child aggravates all three conditions; in acid reflux, it stimulates gastric acid production, and in asthma and allergy, it irritates the already irritated air passages.
