10 Month Old Sick

Hi B.:
Great advice from Deanna,and Jacy has a good point also. If your daughter is teething,she can get a low grade fever and cold like symptoms.The cold symptoms are whats creating the coughing,gagging is causing the vomiting. Kids lose their appetite when they don't feel good. In order to help her with the teething pain,give her cold popcicles to suck on. Maybe real fruit juice pops.Make sure she doesn't dehydrate,by giving her plenty of fluids. I'd prop up her mattress where her head lies. This will help keep her from gagging on her mucus.A humidifier,like Deanna mentioned is good for her right now. If you don't have one, let her go in the bathroom for about 10 minutes with the steam from the shower going.This will help loosen her up.At her age,I'd think it ok to give her a small dose of a childrens cold med. over the counter,to help her sleep at night.I'd bet, that as soon as those teeth pop through she will be back to her old self.I wish you the best. J. M.

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I don't have any remedies for your lil one since she is so young because the only one I know of involves honey. However, I would strongly recommend you to add probiotics to your children's diet because it has been shown to help strengthen the immune system.

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Depending on the length of the symptoms, 3-4 days with a fever is time to take her to the doctor to get her checked out. There is truly nothing over the counter that is considered safe for infants at this time. Unless your Pedi advises you to give her something OTC then, please don't...my neighbor had her 12 month transported several months ago via ambulance because she 'guessed' at the proper OTC dosage for her infant. Not a good idea.

If she is throwing up with eating then this is probably more than just a cold.

My basics are:

Humidifier (vicks drops or strips depending on what Humidifier you have at home)
Vaporless plug-ins from Vicks or Pedicare are great if you don't have that brand Humidifier.
Vicks Baby Rub
Saline Drops and Nosefrida or Bulb Syringe (keep nasal passages clear)
Warm steamy showers while you hang out and play in the bathroom...my son loves it.

Don't forget to keep her hydrated! Breastfeeding is great for healing!

Good Luck.

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Hey Brook,
My son had similar symptoms when he was teething, he would have a low grade fever, cough, stuffy nose, etc. this will pass but I would give him warm tea to ease his congestion and soothe his cough. I did not give him honey in his tea until he was over the 12 month old point but if you are a herbal mommy, some herbs such as liquid licorice, which is naturally sweet is okay to give for cough, she would only need a tsp or two every 2-4 hours warm to lips. Also check out this book "Smart medicine for a healthier child" it has conventional, herbal, aromatheric, and homeopathic remedies for all kinds of childhood conditions. With the different teas the cough and congestion would subside in a few days depending on the schedule you are on in giving it. Follow directions in the book they would tell you the right amount by age. You can find the liquid herbs in any herb store or on-line (herbspro.com) is really good becuase everything is 50 to ??percent off. Also the gag reflex might have something to do with some postnasal drip. the warm teas would help with this.

Have you tried steam? My son has had asthma symptoms, which includes the cough-until-you-throw-up. Turn the shower on as hot as you can get it (obviously not standing in the shower). Let the steam fill the bathroom. Than hang out in the bathroom for about 10 minutes and let her breathe it in. You can read books or play games to pass the time. It opens up the airways and helps soothe the throat. Then if she coughs, it's productive. Hope your little one feels better. Good luck!

She sick honey, give her easy to eat things. If she is eating any solid foods, just hold back a little on that. Her throat might hurt her and could be swollen in there.
What does the doctor say?

get a childrens cough surpressant and give her 1/4-1/2 of the smallest dose. my daughters dr said that 1/2 of the smallest dose is ok because childrens meds are less concentrated then infant meds. got her nose use the nasal sucker thing.... and a cool mist humidafire. if shes teething then she may not really be sick. teething causes a low fever, runny nose, and cough (due to the runny nose). also it can cause them to vomit from coughing. hope this helps.
oh if you want something great for her nose try 1/4 tspn of childrens benadryl (but note that it causes drowsiness... my daughter has taken it with her drs ok since about 10 months).

several homeopathic remedies can be helpful, to know for sure you can:
*try some of them one by one: Alum (if she is also constipated), Ant-t (if she has this sour smell about her), Bry (if she is better when not moving), Dros (if she becomes "blueish" whith cough, but i'd start with it even if she does not - it is a big "vomiting from cough" remedy); there are also Hepar-sulph, Ipecacuanha - homeopathic, not the one they give to clean the sstomach!, Kali-Carbonicum (mostly for old people, but works on young as well)
*get a cough combo/mix and if it helps but not fully, have it narrowed down this way
*go to professional homeopath who is not an MD, ND, OD or chiro - even though we are made to think that cough is the most simple thing to stop, sometimes it makes sense not shutting it down completely, like most of the _D's would think they need to do.
Good Luck
V.

You need to keep her hydrated so Pedialyte will help. Also try warm jello to soothe the throat. Mix one tablespoon of jello mix (sugary kind not the diet) into one cup of hot water, let cool to warm and see if she will try that. I used that on my kids for sore throats, colds, etc, and it seemed to be soothing. It also got some calories down them, even if it was pure flavored sugar. Seemed to work better than lemon and honey(which is not recommended for children under three). Also try a good vaporizor or just put her in a steamy bathroom. Also change doctors unless you are stuck in some HMO locked in position. The good news is that if she gets all these colds and stuff now her immune system will probably do really well once she starts school. I noticed a difference in illnesses between my older children that had been in day care until I stayed home with number three. Number three caught a few colds from his siblings, but really got sick after starting school as he had not been exposed to all the cold germs prior to school, except for what he caught from his sibs. Good luck.

Something not mentioned. Lemons break up the mucus. She is young but that doesn't mean she can't have a couple of sips of lemon water. Put a lemon slice or 2 in a sippy cup or bottle with water let it sit for a half hour or so then let her drink it. Any amount you can get down will help.

Also you need to have a toy washing day or once you see both kids are doing better take the lysol out and spray down the kids rooms and toys, things they come in contact with alot. (door knobs, light switches, walls, chairs). I always use bleach and water and wipe down the house. Just open the windows and let the house air out. Remember vitamin C, and sunshine has that, the great out doors help to get some fresh air in the lungs. I have noticed that when the kids get sick from school if I wipe down the house and things they touch no-one else seems to get it. Good luck. J.

B.,
I'm sorry baby's sick! Try raw, organic honey for the cough. Can be purchased at any healthfood store, or Henry's Market/Mother's Market/Whole Foods. I recommend "raw and organic" because it is made the old fashioned, natural way, instead of the new way of feeding bees high fructose corn syrup to make the honey (HFC was recently found to have mercury in it, can you imagine??) Oops, clear this w/ your doc first as I just re-read the age of your baby. I think baby has to be 1 year old for honey...Try Vic's Vapor Rub on bottom of feet with socks on. I read this worked; haven't tried it out myself but it's worth a try...

I've read that children's motrin has been found to be more effective than children's Tylenol overall, but many doctor's recommend rotating them every four hours due to motrin leading to possible stomach discomfort.

How about lukewarm chicken broth in a bottle just to get some nutrients into her?

Oh, and if you don't feel you can get good advice from your pediatrician -- TIME TO CHANGE PEDIATRICIANS!! :)

Good luck to you!

I am a mother of five, and also babysit for other children. I just went through this last week. I put baby Vick's Vapor Rub on the bottom of her feet with socks on top and the cough went away. It really works. I was amazed. I had heard about this and this was the first time I had a chance to use it. It was like night and day. No coughing at all.

Hi B.,

I would start with a good vitamin. Shaklee has a powdered chilren's vitamin that has 23 essential vitamins/minerals and a prebiotic which helps to make beneficial microfloura to control bacteria in the intestines. This works to build a strong immune system. They also have a product called Citriboost which is also a powdered vitamin. You could mix it with juice and make frozen juice pops with this. They have a meal replacement shake that you could mix with milk and ice to make a frosty treat and in turn, she would get some healthy nutrition. At 10mo old, your daughter shouldn't have honey yet. For your 2-1/2yr old there is a great chewable vitamin that contains the same vitamins/minerals, a prebiotic, the newest recommended dosage of Vitamin D, and an amino acid called lactoferrin which is essential to building a strong immune system. She can use the other products too. Omega-3 is also important to our immune system and Shaklee has an orange flavored chew which is a yummy way for kids to get their omegas. We don't think of our everyday household cleaners playing a part in our health, but they do. Try switching to natural, non-toxic cleaning/laudry products to control allergens in your house. A humidifier is a good idea and an air purifier is even better. You may also want to find some allergy control mattress covers. Shaklee's philosophy is to provide pure and safe nutrition that is as close to nature as possible. Their products are tested over 350 times each per year for quality and they spend $250 million in research and clinical studies so you can have piece of mind. You can check out these products and more at www.shaklee.net/greennutrition. Hope this helps and good luck!

C.

Are you breastfeeding? if so, keep it up. If not, switch to soy. and avoid all dairy. My baby was the same way. She would get sick a lot because big sister brought everything home from preschool, and every time she got sick, it ended up in her chest. When I started cutting out the dairy, she got better much faster and the puking, while still present, was not EVERY TIME she ate. Do the hot shower treatment - stand with her in a hot shower until the water runs out to get her to breathe moist air, give her lots of fluids, vics vaporub, etc. Good luck!

You've got some good advice already so I want to look at what you said "so tired of illness". Let's take a look at what they are dealing with and see if it is food allergy related possibly. Is it colds, ear infections, sore throats, diarhea, type of illnesses?

First off, please do not have your daughter get ANY vaccinations of any kind when she is sick, has been on antibiotics, or you have given Tylenol. These all allow the shot to do more harm than good.

Second, have you thought about removing all dairy/milk/casein from their diets to see if this is playing a part in it.

If you would like more information on any of this, please send me a note.

Healing the New Childhood Epidemics: Autism, ADHD, Asthma, and Allergies: The Groundbreaking Program for the 4-A Disorders, by Dr. Kenneth Bock

The Vaccine Book, by Dr. Robert Sears

What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Childhood Vaccinations, by Dr. Stephanie Cave

Evidence of Harm, by David Kirby