What do you healthy Mamas give your DC when he/she is sick?

[JMS]

:( DD is 18 months old and, knock on wood, has never really been sick, except for a few incidents of having a runny nose. Well, I think she has a cold. She woke up coughing and with a stuffy/runny nose and has a fever of about 101. She is clingy and lethargic but is having a hard time sleeping. I gave her tylenol for the fever but I'd like to avoid an antibiotic as much as possible, as well as the corresponding trip to the Ped's office. How can I nip this?

Anyway, I live 1/2 mile from a Whole Foods. Any great cure-alls?? I have been spiking her OJ with Maxi Baby Vit. C. I'm not completely opposed to an OTC if there are any that will give her some relief from her stuffy nose so she can sleep tonight.

TIA So Much!!

[DebbieJ]

Just keep her well hydrated and maybe run a humidifier in her room. It will help all that stuffiness run out.

I also found that my ds was more comfortable when he slept upright--then the yuckies could run out instead of pooling in the sinuses. So we do lots of naps on mom's chest when he's sick like that.

~ deb
DS born at home 12/03

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/10029.gif

[Momof3Labs]

We use Motrin Cold, sparingly. Like at naptime and bedtime. You have to let the cold run its course, to an extent, but at least that will help her sleep.

She doesn't sound anywhere ready for an antibiotic (unless that nose is running thick green or yellow), so don't worry about that yet. And I personally don't take Colin into the ped until I feel that he needs help feeling better (ear check or antibiotics) as there are too many germs at the ped's office to risk him getting sick over nothing.

Like Lori, we use some infant/child cold medicine sparingly (benadryl or triaminic store brand, etc). I've read that they don't do a lot of good, but they do help DS sleep when he's really stuffy, congested and miserable. I usually underdose him on it when I do give it.

We also do give some tylenol or motrin if he's not trying to sleep and feels yucky/feverish. Just beware of combining cold medicine that already has tylenol or motrin in it, because if you give one that does, you don't want to double dose. Just be aware of it.

We've only had DS on antibiotics 2x in his life. Once was for an infected ingrown toenail and the other was for an ear infection. The rest were colds that just rant their course. In fact, we didn't take him to the doc for any of those, since we were dealing w/ run of the mill symptoms.

[chlobo]

Be sure to check the ingredients of the OTC. You don't want to give aspirin to young children and some OTCs have it.

[R2sweetboys]

You could try an OTC decongestant,antihistamine, or cough suppressant(or combo) if you feel these symptoms are really bothering her. They may just help her sleep a little better b/c of the bit of alcohol in them. A low to moderate fever isn't really a bad thing as it is a sign that her body is fighting the infection.

As far as antibiotics go, they will do nothing at all to get rid of a cold. A cold is a virus and antibiotics treat bacterial infections. I don't even think that Vit C will help since she is already sick. I *think* it's used more as a preventative measure.(not positive,I'm NOT a doc :) ) I know little about homeopathic treatments so unfortunately I'm no help there.

Honestly, I never call the ped. for a cold.(which I see you're trying to avoid) There's nothing the ped can do to "fix it" unfortunately. I only have called if they are not sleeping at night at all and are really fussy.(to check for an ear infection) A cold really just needs to run it's course. Lots of fluids are important and, of course, an extra dose of TLC. :) It stinks when your child feels yucky. You just want to take it all away, don't you?
I hope your daughter is feeling much better soon!

~Leslie

SAHM to...
Ryan 8/14/00
Matthew 2/14/03

[mudder17]

Hugs! Kaya's been in the same category as your DD, but she does get congested every now and then. I use Little Noses fairly liberally to wash out the gunk in her nose, but allow her to naturally sneeze it out or I just wipe as it comes out. I haven't yet taught her to blow yet, but for now, it means I spend several days just squirting and wiping. I haven't used a humidifier for the last few times, but I do have a waterless vaporizer that I put menthol eucalyptus in to help her breathe better. It definitely seems to help. Occasionally, I've given her Tylenol, but for the most part, I try to let her fight it off.

I hope she feels better soon!

ETA: The Little Noses I use is just saline drops (no medication), so you can basically use any saline drops.

Eileen

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...ies/candle.gif for Leah

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbo...n_gold_12m.gif , 17 months & counting


http://tickers.baby-gaga.com/t/catca..._4_Kaya+is.png

[sntm]

No antibiotic needed -- will do more harm than good.

Saline nasal drops, humidifier with eucalyptus or menthol added, hot liquids like soup or chamomile tea to loosen congestion, can apply aquaphor to nose to minimize soreness from blowing.

You can try Vitamin C, zinc, echinacea, astralgus, but the evidence is poor on those. Anecdotally, people say they work -- it may be placebo effect but if it isn't harmful and makes you or DC feel better, than you could try it. You can't really overdose on Vitamin C (you just pee it out) but you can on zinc, so check the dosages.

Tylenol or ibuprofen for symptomatic fevers. I prefer single ingredient cold medicines, so you aren't giving medication that is not needed for the symptoms she has. You could give doses of several different single-ingredient meds if needed.

Otherwise, no curealls, nothing to stave it off. If she gets worse or develops atypical symptoms or isn't better in 7-10 days (the average length of a cold) then see the pediatrician.

(I got interviewed for an article in Parents or Parenting (I forget) so I boned up on cold info.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
shannon
not-even-pregnant-yet-overachiever
trying-to-conceive :)
PREGNANT! EDD 6/9/03
mama to Jack 6/6/03
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_sapphire_24m.gif[/img][/url]
Breastfeeding 2 years & counting

[aliceinwonderland]

I made a huge batch of homemade chicken soup, with everything healthy you I could possibly imagine, including kale, potatoes, carrots,lemon juice, spices, chicken, peas, onions and garlic, and forget what else. As DS was very small at the time, i pureed the soup after it was done...He loved it, and I think it did help. And the rest of the family loves this too, I plan to have one big pot of soup every week on my stove this year :) I don't know why, but chicken soup seems to work magic :)

I regret now that I let his ped sort of overdose him with antibiotics due to ear infenctions this past winter. i will be FAR more proactive this winter, but hoping I don't have to!!

As a pediatrician, I am SO happy to read all the PPs telling you to stay home for now and ride out the cold.

For the average cold:
-symptoms typically last 5-10 days, but as long as 14 days
-peak around 3-5 days
-fever (if present) usually lasts 2-3 days
-stuffy nose lasts 4-5 days
-cough lasts 7-14 days
-runny nose lasts 10-14 days

This is all approximate. There's a great graph of the duration of symptoms of the typical cold, but I can't remember where it came from and couldn't find it quickly on google.

I second Shannon's advice to take single-ingredient medicines, rather than multi-symptom cold medicines. None has been shown to help shorten the duration of a cold, but some can be temporarily helpful to relieve a particular symptom. Tylenol and Motrin definitely work; the others, well, I don't think they really help, but some parents swear they do. Remember that pseudoephedrine (decongestant) can keep people from sleeping well. If a medicine is not doing much for your child, just quit giving it.

Saline nose drops, judicious use of a bulb syringe (too frequent use can irritate the nasal tissues and cause more congestion), humidifiers, plenty of fluids to drink, plenty of rest (kids will usually self-regulate that), sleeping with the head of the bed raised, Tylenol or Motrin for comfort, and TIME are usually all that are needed for the typical cold.

**Obviously, at any time, if you're worried that your child is getting sicker or that something is not right, go see the doctor.**

Unfortunately, at this point, you can't stop the cold from progressing. In fact, a person infected with a cold virus is contagious *before* he or she shows symptoms, and once you've got it, there's nothing you can really do to make it go away.

Sorry I don't have anything more useful to tell you. What a drag for both of you! Hope your daughter feels better soon (and you don't get the cold too!).

ETA: I think chicken soup is great for colds, but that's not very scientific, and may just be my stomach talking.