Does Your Child Have a Cold or an Allergy?

Photo of boy with hand on forehead Fall and winter are the prime seasons for the common cold. The average child catches as many as 10 colds every year.

Does it seem your children catch more than their share of colds or get colds that linger beyond the usual week or two? If so, they could have allergies.

Detecting the Difference

Colds and allergies share many symptoms, including:

A runny or stuffy nose
Sneezing
Coughing
Fatigue
Sore throat

But colds sometimes trigger aches, pains, and fever. Allergies never cause those symptoms, but they usually trigger itchy eyes, mouth, and throat.

Here’s another difference: Cold symptoms come on gradually and disappear within several days to a week. But allergy symptoms start almost right after a child is exposed, and symptoms can linger all year.

Helping Your Children

The best way to prevent colds is to teach your children to wash their hands (see “Keep Your Hands Bacteria-Free”). Encourage children to keep their hands away from their eyes, nose, and mouth, where cold germs can gain entry. And tell them to sneeze or cough into the crook of their elbow instead of their hands.

Preventing allergic reactions requires avoiding the things that trigger them, such as pollen, dust mites, mold, pet dander, and cockroaches.

Treatments for Children

There’s no cure for either the common cold or allergies, but treatments for the symptoms of both include antihistamines and decongestants. Before trying any treatment, though, talk with your children’s doctor. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently recommended that over-the-counter cough and cold medicines not be given to children younger than age 2.


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