And no, I am not talking about the frigid weather. Because (as you may remember) I am not permitted to complain about the weather. My husband is a very easy going man. If I never cleaned the house, he'd probably be fine with it. He's happy with whatever food I serve him. He will put up with a lot but he can not abide with complaining. And apparently, I used up all my complaint quota during my very first winter living in NY. If I had only known there was a limit, I would have rationed them better!
In actuality, the weather really doesn't bother me nearly as much as it used to. I don't pay any attention to weather reports. It's just cold and probably snowy until April. Period. As long as there's heat in my house and in my van, who cares. If it's really bad out, I will stay home with my little brood of little ones, with a hot mug of tea and a cozy blanket. What's so bad about that, right?
What I am referring to in my snarky title is the cold and flu season. I'm sick of my kids being sick. I feel terrible for them and a little helpless in preventing continual illness. Maddie, Leila and I stayed home from church last night due to both girls having colds. I'm trying to be considerate to our church family and not spread the yuckiness. Not sure if you've heard, but people seem to not want to share germs.
Any advice or ideas from fellow "Dr. Moms"?
Maddie's asthma is usually well controlled but the slightest cold gives her night of endless coughing and days of wheezing. Along with her prescription rescue medications, I've investigated natural remedies, for which there are not many mentioned for asthma. Some help a bit but she still seems so susceptible to every virus that comes her way. Sunday is the day when my kids are exposed to the most people (and therefore chances of catching something) so I had been giving my girls a pack of Emergen C on Saturday night. But (and sorry if this is TMI) Maddie always gets diarrhea when I give her extra vitamins. Even a chewable kids vitamin has that most undesirable effect.
And then there is little Leila. Only 3 months old and she has already had 2 or 3 colds. My other newborns NEVER had a cold so young. I suppose it's the fact that Leila has 2 older sisters crawling with cooties? The colds aren't too severe but they are disconcerting to me. And it tempts me to go a little faster with vaccinating Leila as opposed to a delayed schedule as I have done with Eden. I really wish these little babies came with a care tag like our clothing does so we know what we should do with each individual one. The AAP would have us vaccinate all children the same, while the opposite view wouldn't vaccinate any at all. I sort of reject a one size fits all approach either way.
Another issue with Leila is she already battles diaper rashes. Maddie did not have a diaper rash at all until she was introduced to solid food. And Eden never had even one diaper rash... ever. (Being a habitually constipated toddler probably is to thank). Leila has only been fed breast milk and so... um... this isn't supposed to happen! (Someday the people who write the baby books need to met my children and see how many things they were wrong about. ☺)
Running noses are pretty much here to stay until Spring. *sigh* Me no like.
Love,
12 comments:
Hope everyone feels better soon!
I will complain about the weather enough for the both of us!
Hope the girlies get to feeling better soon! Love ya, Kayte!
Tara
Kayte, Drew was having trouble with his asthma. Our natural doctor recommended avoiding all dairy & wheat because they both cause catarrah which in turn results in an asthma attack. within two days of switching the dark circles disappeared & he hasn't had any attack since September. He also is avoiding oats because he showed a slight allergy to that also. We do about sixty percent of avoiding it all and he is taking echinacea. So far so good. Praying for you. It is hard on us moms to see our children keep getting sick. If you want to know more send me an e~mail & will give you my number.
Oh so sorry to hear. Tuesday I was JUST telling my Mom how thrilled I was that it had been a few weeks since my kids had been sick. Then Yep... My oldest Wednesday night came down with a NASTY bug! Sooo Im keeping my mouth shut! Spoke tooo soon! =) Hope you get a reprieve soon!
Yes, it's kind of impossible to keep a baby from getting a cold when she gets continual kisses complete with snot and occasional full-faced sneezes from loving siblings. Par for the course! :)
When Sarah suffered from asthma as a baby, I removed dairy and eggs from her diet and it helped her a great deal.
I recommend a humidifier running or boiling water daily. I add essential oils to the water to help kill germs in the air along with providing the needed humidity. I also have my kiddos on chewable vitamin C and acidophilus - since fall. We have had less sickness this winter. I buy them when they are BOGO, and they have been worth the cost so far. You can find the acidophilus in liquid form. That would help Leila with diaper rash. When Kimmy was a baby, she was very prone to diaper rash and yeast infections, so I gave it to her regularly. It really helped.
Hope the season passes quickly for you. Enjoy those cozy moments.
Love, Amy
Hmmm okay I'm going to give cutting dairy a try. I get OJ with calcium so I guess that will make up for the lack of milk? It would be great to see those dark circles around Maddie's eyes go away. I do run a humidifer. I haven't tried just Vit. C instead of a multivitamin. I talked to a pharmacist and he said that it's probably the magnesium in the vitamins that give Maddie loose bowels. So I need to avoid that. Looking into acidophilus too.
Thanks ladies. Moms are so smart. =)
Sorry. :( I have no ideas for you. My kids were always sick in IN...now we live in the West and they are almost never sick. I love it here. But I never have been able to put my finger on it.
Are you sure it's diaper rash and no a yeast rash? One way to test is to apply Monistat cream to it for 2-3 days 3X's a day if it clears up then it's yeast, which is much more common in BF babies.
It would also help for you to remove dairy and eggs from your diet as well. You also have to be very vigilant about it because you will be shocked at what has eggs and dairy in it! I mean shocked, well at least I was! ;) Also have you checked out Shalom Pearl (I forget her married name)'s website www.bulkherbstore.com? They have the most wonderful Immunity Booster tea and since you said you like to have a mug of hot tea on cold NY days ....!
One reason babies get diaper rash is becaue of changing brands of diapers. Have you switched her diapers lately? Each disposable diaper contains different chemicals and when exposed to the ammonia in urine create even more different chemicals and well as you say: yada, yada, yada. A great solution (and I say great because I am all about them, love them!) would be cloth. Before you have a heart attack, today's cloth diapers are not like the ones our Grandmas used. No pins, no soaking, no swishing. All velcro and the washer does all the work. Anyway, those are my opinions! :) Wish you well! BTW, I am one of those no vaccines at all people just in case you ever wanted to say you knew one! :D
I'm not a mom but I've been nannying for quite some time. I've actually done alot of reading on foods you should and should eat that go along with your blood type. And the results are very holistic. You would be very surprised as to how much a difference gluten in the diet makes (well lack thereof I should say in this case). I'm not sure what it is exactly but gluten-free diets maybe during the cold seasons may help. Every child manual out there is a bunch of crock if you ask me. God designed us as individuals and though we may be very similar beings our bodies are very different, especially in how our bodies respond to certain remedies.
Just some thoughts. Hope the girls get better soon!!
~Crystal
There's always the BRAT diet for the diarrhea too.
Best way to prevent sickness in the whole family is to eat well...very little processed foods and next to no processed sugar. It's so common sense, but can be hard to implement at first, but it really does help. You may be passing yeast to baby if you have a problem with it. Several of mine had issues until no longer breast-fed after 1 year old. So, you cutting out sugar in your diet will greatly help her little bottom, take acidophilus for sure, and get some for her too. I know that most people accept colds/flu as par for the course during the winter months but it really doesn't have to be that way. We did a diet switch about 6 years ago and we are now rarely sick, even the little ones who go to the church nursery. There are supplements you can take to help boost immunity as already mentioned, but the BIGGEST thing is diet.
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