Snot and Vomit
So the whole family is sick. It started with Babyboy, the very predictable side effect of his various therapy and group appointments. (He’s newly hooked in to Early Intervention for speech therapy, as well as music therapy, behavioral play therapy, behavioral group therapy… His schedule is more packed than ours)
Then it hit Babygirl, who is a hearty (read: adorably chunky) 9 month old, so I’m not worried about her ability to fight it off… But she has certainly been uncomfortable. She’s quite attached to her binky, and with her nose all boogery, she can’t suck the binky and breathe at the same time. She’s also teething, so excessive drool is playing a role here as well. This has been the trigger for alot of angry spells, with a subsequent boogery/ teary/ saliva mess.
Yesterday afternoon I was solo with them both for a short spell. Babygirl felt very warm to me, and was fussy. I checked her temp: 99.6. Not awful, but could be contributing… I tried to give her a dose of Baby Tylenol in a syringe, but she gagged on the first milliliter, and then hurled up all her morning’s milk and breakfast yogurt into my lap and on her pants.
I’m sick too, and I was feeling exhausted already, so I just sat there in shock for a few seconds. I realized that if I stood up to go get a paper towel, the pool of vomit was going drip off my lap and onto the couch and the floor. So I placed the syringe with the rest of the Tylenol on the coffee table, and tried to use some Kleenex to get some of these body fluids off of me and her.
Meantime, Babyboy, who at 2.5 years of age misses absolutely nothing, had seen me getting her the Tylenol, which he loves. Yum, fake Cherry flavor. He grabbed that syringe and ran into the kitchen with it, and I’m sure had the baby’s dose in his mouth before I could start hollering. I decided to just let him have it, what’s the harm, he probably needed Tylenol too.
Except he didn’t eat it- he must have missed, and it got all down his chest and shirt. Stickiness on top of snottiness…
Luckily, just then, Nana called and offered to come over and help. Hell, yes! Come on over.
It’s so hard that there is just not much that we can do for children under 5 years old with bad colds. I know the deal– the potential side effects and complications of all those cold meds far outweight any benefit. We’re supposed to use saline and a nasal aspirator, steam and fluids, but let’s face it: they don’t work that great, and a cold in a little kids is just miserable for everyone.
Unless someone out there has any other suggestions?
Lots of juice, lots of sleep, all around. When my kids were that little and I knew the night would be bad, I aimed for going to bed an hour early if I could. At least I might be a bit less miserable, and I’m a much more comforting presence when I’m not exhausted. When they were babies, long walks in the stroller often seemed soothing. For my toddlers, lots of TV they weren’t usually allowed to watch. And sitting in my lap reading old favorites I usually limited (how many times in a row did you say you wanted to read Care Bears?). I’m not sure you can make the cold feel much better, so aim for anything you can do to get them (and you!) to sleep through the worst of it, and be distracted with something pleasant when awake. Juice, popsicles. Easy calories that stay down and are fun to eat. Preferably including some hydration.
My heart reaches out to touch yours and the kids’ also. You have said it perfectly: there’s not much to be done and it’s very frustrating for all. Wish I were close enough to come over and help you for a few hours a day til the crisis passes. Know that i send energy to you.