Sick baby :(

Steph_whalen5@yahoo.com

DD has had a cough and runny nose on and off for about 3 weeks.  She woke up yesterday with a super wet cough and slight fever, so I thought I'd call the pedi and see what they thought.  The nurse who called back suggested we be seen since it had been so long.  After getting checked out, we were told her ears are clear, nose is swollen but pale and her throat is red, so the thought was allergies.  So, off we went for children's Claritin and pedialyte, since dr suggested no milk too.  We also always have a humidifier on (cool mist), so we're supposed to run that and try to saline/suction her nose as much as possible.  She seemed ok last night before bed and coughed a lot during the night.  This morning when she woke up she's worse!  Her fever went from 99.6 to 101.6 and she is so stuffy and runny now.  I feel awful to taking her and possibly having her catch something at the dr! But, in reality I'm assuming it is whatever she had before we took her, just progressing.  Anywho,  we're doing Motrin every 6 hours and Claritin before bed, saline/suction before bed, running the humidifier all day and giving her pedialyte instead of milk.  Any other suggestions on how to help my poor girl?  We've been really lucky - This is honestly the first time she's had more than the sniffles for a day or two. TIA, I hope everyone has no-sick kiddos the rest of the cold/flu season!

mcvgal

The fever getting higher usually means that the "illness" is trying to work it's way out of the body. So hopefully she gets to feeling better soon

Jenny952

Aww, poor little girl.  My DD was sick for a while too, with the cough and runny nose.  No fever, but she was pretty crabby for a few days.  She had so much phlegm that she was coughing and throwing up a lot.  We called our doc, they said the same thing yours did, lots of fluids, nose suction.  We also put her in a steamy bathroom 3 times a day for 15 minutes each, and that really helped.  They also said to cut out dairy b/c that can make the phlegm worse.  But I'm still nursing, so I kept doing that.  For a few days that's all she ate, so if you're still bf, then don't stop that. 

My DD didn't like the flavored pedialyte (I tasted it, it was pretty gross), and we couldn't find unflavored so we gave her smart water, which has electrolytes.  Just give lots of extra love and cuddles and hopefully she'll be back to normal soon.

RedCamaro

Oh honey, I could write you a book on runny noses, humidifiers, meds, and ear infections! This has pretty much been my life for the past 7 months with DS.

1) Slightly elevate the head of the mattress. If you can elevate the head of the bed, that is better than just the mattress for extended periods of time (think 2, 300 page books).

2) Try a warm air humidifer for 2 nights and see if that makes her any better.

3) From the allergist that I took my DS too, seasonal allergies are not very likely since they need to be exposed to 3 or more cycles of a season (so 3 years) to build up the reactions to seasonal allergies.

4) Look for contact allergies. Any new chemicals, bath soaps or laundry detergents that LO comes in contact with. Also any new pets (or even an increase in pets; i.e. 2 dogs now instead of one).

5) MEDS! For fevers, our pedi likes us to alternate between motrin and tylenol. Motrin works faster in reducing a fever. Claritin can be given, but you can also give benedryl if you feel so inclined. The dose for my DS at 23# is 5mL. But benedryl can be side-eyed by different doctors, so ask your pedi about it.

I hope all of this helps. If it keeps up any longer, I would consider having her allergy tested by an allergist. The skin testing really isn't bad at all. DS had 8 on his arm and he didn't even care about what was being done (and he's a crier when he's hurt). My DS also had the Flu a few days before Christmas. We ended up giving him TamaFlu, and it was wonderful! He did a 180 after just the first dose! I hope your LO doesn't have the Flu. GL! I hope she feels better soon!

Steph_whalen5@yahoo.com

RedCamaro:

Oh honey, I could write you a book on runny noses, humidifiers, meds, and ear infections! This has pretty much been my life for the past 7 months with DS.

1) Slightly elevate the head of the mattress. If you can elevate the head of the bed, that is better than just the mattress for extended periods of time (think 2, 300 page books).

2) Try a warm air humidifer for 2 nights and see if that makes her any better.

3) From the allergist that I took my DS too, seasonal allergies are not very likely since they need to be exposed to 3 or more cycles of a season (so 3 years) to build up the reactions to seasonal allergies.

4) Look for contact allergies. Any new chemicals, bath soaps or laundry detergents that LO comes in contact with. Also any new pets (or even an increase in pets; i.e. 2 dogs now instead of one).

5) MEDS! For fevers, our pedi likes us to alternate between motrin and tylenol. Motrin works faster in reducing a fever. Claritin can be given, but you can also give benedryl if you feel so inclined. The dose for my DS at 23# is 5mL. But benedryl can be side-eyed by different doctors, so ask your pedi about it.

I hope all of this helps. If it keeps up any longer, I would consider having her allergy tested by an allergist. The skin testing really isn't bad at all. DS had 8 on his arm and he didn't even care about what was being done (and he's a crier when he's hurt). My DS also had the Flu a few days before Christmas. We ended up giving him TamaFlu, and it was wonderful! He did a 180 after just the first dose! I hope your LO doesn't have the Flu. GL! I hope she feels better soon!

Thanks so much for all of this!  She's about the same today, but the fever is a little worse and of course, grandparents are coming into town to see her today for the first time in 7months!  Eek!  The allergist is an interesting theory - I had read the same about the seasonal allergies, although my DH doesn't seem to quite agree (he's just a tad stubborn).  Contact allergies are an interesting thought too, but I can't come up with anything new for her - I changed body wash, but she isn't skin to skin to me?  I'll have to continue to think and see if I find anything else new.  Was the skin testing like fingerprincking for blood?  Thanks again! 

tonychelle

We have had similar problems on and off for a few weeks (well, since after Thanksgiving -- I swear, I'm gonna stop going to holiday gettogethers since we always get sick after).

I got these Pediasure vapor plug in things to use at night. I also use a baby rub (like Vicks, but I use Target brand) under her nose/chest. Also, Johnsons and BabiesRUs at least have a vapor bath thing that I've used a couple of times, otherwise a warm bath before bed helps a bit.

We have been to the doc twice and this time are using an antibiotic (amoxicillin once a day) and Benedryl (we can only use half a tsp at 18 lbs every 8 hours).

We are getting better now (I hope)!

RedCamaro

[quote user=Steph_whalen5@yahoo.com

Thanks so much for all of this!  She's about the same today, but the fever is a little worse and of course, grandparents are coming into town to see her today for the first time in 7months!  Eek!  The allergist is an interesting theory - I had read the same about the seasonal allergies, although my DH doesn't seem to quite agree (he's just a tad stubborn).  Contact allergies are an interesting thought too, but I can't come up with anything new for her - I changed body wash, but she isn't skin to skin to me?  I'll have to continue to think and see if I find anything else new.  Was the skin testing like fingerprincking for blood?  Thanks again! 

/quote]

It's refered to as a scratch test. The doctor placed one small plastic piece that had a sharp edge on the skin and taped it down. It wasn't enough to break the skin to the point of blood, just enough to scratch it. The sharp point contains what you would have a reaction to. If you are allergic to something, it will produce a welt that itches.

The other type of testing is to have a vile of blood taken and sent off for testing. My DD had that done, and it was a nightmare to get her to submit to having her blood taken (she was 4 at the time). As with all testing, there are false positives/negatives. To me, because of the age of my DS, I prefered having the skin testing done. For my DD, since we were testing her for more than just food allergies, the blood test made since for her to do.