Update: Signs of a tired/foolish mommy--never mind! 7 mo old with mild cough

[mjs64]

UPDATE: NEVERMIND--I'm a complete fool/tired mommy tonight. He is vaxed--3rd dose a month ago. If you want to read about how silly I can be, feel free to scroll down.

My DS came home from daycare today and seemed more withdrawn than usual. I took his temp--99.4, then an hour later it was 100.3. He has a runny nose now and a mild, occasional cough.

The recent thread made me think about pertussis-- he can't be vaxed yet but will be as soon as he can--and looking up the symptoms, I think these could be early signs. I just put him down for the night and am listening on the monitor. He hasn't quite fallen asleep yet (but isn't crying or fussing). His runny nose made giving him a bedtime bottle uncomfortable for him.

Should I call the after hours ped? Wait till morning? Am I panicking or overreacting? I have to say that that recent thread freaked me out a little about pertussis since my infant is too young (I think he has to be 2, right?) to be vaxed.

(This is in no way meant to imply that those who choose not to vax shouldn't have that choice. But now that my infant is in state-funded, university affiliated daycare--and yes, this is a risk I am taking as a parent, simply sending him to daycare--I am concerned for his wellbeing and that of other infants who can't be vaxed yet.)

ETA: Okay, I know I'm panicking. Calm me down, please. Not to call the after hours ped, right?

[DrSally]

You could call if you wanted to, but my guess is that it's just a cold.

[KLD313]

Idk about the symptoms but I'm pretty sure the vaccines are at 2,4 and 6 months to start.

[mum-to-be]

Whooping cough has a pretty distinct cough. http://children.webmd.com/pertussis-...oughing-sounds

DTaP vaccine is usually given at 2mths, 4mths, 6mths, 15-18mths, and 4-6yrs, so if you are vaccinating on schedule he should have had his first 3 shots.

I hope you have a good night. It's awful when little ones are sick!

[JBaxter]

cold or allergies. Pertussis cough is distinctive as in if you hear it you say OMG thats what them mean by WHOOP.

[Jo]

This sounds like a cold to me too.

It sucks when the very littlest ones are sick, because you cannot even give meds to treat the symptoms.

Just watch him through the night. Take his temp every few hours. If he spikes a major fever, take him in. But I really think you're ok. Pertussis is still relatively uncommon in the US.

[mjs64]

Originally Posted by KLD313

Idk about the symptoms but I'm pretty sure the vaccines are at 2,4 and 6 months to start.

2 months. Right. 2 months, not 2 years.

OK, now I feel a little (I mean a lot) stupid. He of course has had the DTaP vax! He has likely had 3 doses by now, since we're following the AAP schedule. (I'd check his card, but it's in the nursery).

For some reason, when I get all mommy-panicky, I somehow lose my ability to read carefully and use reason. Sounds like it's time for me to go to bed. And to stop reading BBB threads that just make me worried.

I do wonder, what vaccines does he have to wait for? What illnesses can't he be immune to yet? In a daycare situation with proximity to kids whose parents for medical/philosophical/religious reasons don't vax, what is he at additional risk for? I suppose there's no way to know whether any of the kids at daycare aren't vaxed, as it would be a privacy issue?

(Note to self: No! Stop wondering, Megan! Go to bed! If you're not careful, you will repoliticize a thread that has really gone quite diplomatically over the past few days!)

[lalasmama]

Originally Posted by mjs64

2 months. Right. 2 months, not 2 years.

OK, now I feel a little (I mean a lot) stupid. He of course has had the DTaP vax! He has likely had 3 doses by now, since we're following the AAP schedule. (I'd check his card, but it's in the nursery).

For some reason, when I get all mommy-panicky, I somehow lose my ability to read carefully and use reason. Sounds like it's time for me to go to bed. And to stop reading BBB threads that just make me worried.

I do wonder, what vaccines does he have to wait for? What illnesses can't he be immune to yet? In a daycare situation with proximity to kids whose parents for medical/philosophical/religious reasons don't vax, what is he at additional risk for? I suppose there's no way to know whether any of the kids at daycare aren't vaxed, as it would be a privacy issue?

(Note to self: No! Stop wondering, Megan! Go to bed! If you're not careful, you will repoliticize a thread that has really gone quite diplomatically over the past few days!)

If it makes you feel better, when I'd been a medical assistant in a PEDS HOSPITAL CLINIC for a year, I took my DNeice into the ED for certain pneumonia. I mean, she had a wet, juicy cough, and was acting like she was sick. I made them call in all the big-wigs I knew at the hospital--we're talking about me making them call the faculty who "oversee" the residents at the hospital, but I didn't know who was staffing at that point, so I asked them to call someone else at home and have them come in... All for what turned out to be... a COLD. I couldn't figure out what a cold was when it was "my" kid (well, DN in this case). Oh man, I got made fun of at work for months. In fact, when DD came to live with me, I took her to the clinic (I hadn't worked there in many years), and they *still* teased me about knowing the difference between a cold and pneumonia. I now am on a first-name basis with the advice nurses, and I preface every question with "I know I would tell a mom xyz about this, but it's my baby [she's 7.5yo! LOL], and so I can't judge the severity of her illness, so please tell me what I need to do, and ignore my professional background, please!"

At any rate, following the ACIP schedule (that's the typical one), starting at 2 months, babies are vaccinated for diptheria, pertussis, tetanus, h. influenzae type b ("HIB", for meningitis, not the flu), polio, 13 strains of pneumoccocal disease (most typically help against some strains of ear infections, blood infections, and meningitis), rotavirus (a diarrhea illness much beyond a normal "tummy bug"), and Hep B. The flu vaccine can be given at 6 months of age. They need to be at least a year old to be vaccinated for Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Varicella (chicken pox), and Hep A, so they are at a somewhat increased risk of those diseases. Not all areas are at a high Hep A risk, so it's not given everywhere.

[MoJo]

As a mama with two sick kids who are staying home from daycare today, I want to offer and the thought that meds MAY be allowed. At least, my peds office has now given me dosage instructions for four different "children's" cold medicines to be given to my 15 month old & 3 year old. So if you WANT to give her some medicine, you might call and ask. . . I got my first instructions over the phone without the children going in to be seen. I know your little one is a lot younger, but I was surprised at how quickly they volunteered the suggestion to me.