Help! Advice for Caring for Ill Child.

Hi J.,
My 11 month old son has this cold as we speak. He spent the day yesterday sleeping and feverish and unhappy. It's hard to watch.

He refused all foods, and wanted to nurse infrequently, and when he did, he pretty much threw it up with a coughing fit. He was crying and uncomfortable, and I was getting worried about his fluid intake and was compelled to help him with his poor little throat so I offered him a small piece of ice, and he took it, and look relieved! Then I just tried frozen blueberries and they worked too! He refused water and food but frozen fruit and water was a hit. His mood got better and he looked more relaxed and we played a bit.

After a half dose of tylenol he fell to sleep, and slept for six hours. He woke to nurse, a lot, and kept it down. He slept another six hours. This morning he is still sick and coughing, but now I have tools to help him.

I am going to try and give him a smoothie with some plain yogurt, blueberries, ice and vitamin D in it. Perhaps he will drink it down. Later, home made chicken soup!

Hope this helps!

2 moms found this helpful

Hi J.,

My advice is a little different than most people's but it served me well with both of my children. The fact that she is throwing up the tylenol could be a clue that she doesn't need it. Don't fear a fever. A fever is fighting the invading virus that is making them sick and by giving them a drug to lower the fever, you are crippling their own body's natural defenses. And ALL drugs have side effect, even ones that are marketed for children. But even Tylenol and motrin are hard on their tiny kidneys and livers. I would advise just to keep trying fluids and see what will stay down. Have you heard of the BRAT diet? Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, and Toast. Those are the most mild things and good to try when vomiting is present. Only let them have a little bit at a time and see what stays down. Chicken broth (msg free) is wonderful when they are sick too. They need rest, fluids, and lots of comfort. The more hydrated they are, the better the cough will get. and remember, the fever is a GOOD thing, don't fight it. Use your Mom's intuition too. A virus should be getting better by the 3rd or 4th day, if they are getting worse, then take them to the doctor, but give their body and their own immune system a chance to work. You will save them dangerous side effects, lowered immunity to antibiotic resistant bacteria, and yeast infections, the list goes on and on. Antibiotics wont help a virus, which by the way 99% of ear infections are viral but 100% of them are prescribed antibiotics. I highly recommend a book called How to Raise A Healthy Child in Spite of your Doctor by Dr. Robert Mendehlson a leading Pediatrician. It really empowers parents to take control of their own children's health and how to avoid dangerous medical intervetions, also how to recognize when it is needed. I have seen it on ebay, amazon, and book stores. I know it is hard to see our children be sick and be we want to do something to help them, but their bodies are perfectly capable of handling most things without any help at all. Just keep them comfortable, hydrated, (very important), and away from the doctor if you can. Because they are trained by pharmaceutical company funded schools that have a vested interested in getting you to take and give your children as many drugs as possible. Good luck and good health to you.

1 mom found this helpful

Ditto on time to call your pediatrician. Pronto, if she's not keeping down fluids or meds.

If your ped isn't open saturdays, give Children's Hosp Nurse Advice line a ring, and they can walk you through things.

Other stuff:

- Pedialyte popsicles
- popsicles in general
- LUKEWARM baths help with higher fevers. NOT cold baths...they can cause shock. Just test on the inside of your wrist.
- Bottles. Yup. You get less from them then sippy cups, and they action is comforting.
- A cool washcloth over eyes and on the nape of the neck. NOTHING feels better during a fever.

My son, until he was 4-ish, would throw up from post nasal drip. So a cold would turn into *seeming* stomach flu. Pseudoephedrine (sudefed) was our best friend. We usually used the kind that was already mixed with tylenol or motrin. They don't sell it over the counter anymore (but you don't need a Rx, just a drivers license and a pharmacy). The antihistamine that they've replaced the pseudoephedrine with is not efficacious at all, at least not with our family. Like ALL kids medicines...if you're using real sudefed make sure you go by weight, not age.

1 mom found this helpful

It is important for us not to see fever as the enemy but as an ally in treating the underlying illness causing the fever. Here is some good information to help keep us calm as we endure our kids getting sick:

Fever: Phobia And Fever Myths

Fever is one of our most overrated symptoms. Many parents have unwarranted fears of harm from the moderate fevers that all children experience. This is called fever phobia. It leads to lost sleep, over-treatment and unnecessary office visits. Here are some widely-held myths about fever:

FIRST: Fever causes brain damage. Wrong. The brain is not harmed unless the fever goes above 108° F (42.2° C). And natural fevers from viral and bacterial infections don't go above 105° F (40.6° C).

SECOND: Untreated fevers will keep going higher, to 110° F or 115° F (43.3° C or 46.1° C). Wrong. Even untreated fevers stop at 105 degrees, unless a child is trapped in a hot place (such as a car) or is over dressed. The brain's thermostat keeps fevers from infections within a safe range.

THIRD: Untreated fevers will cause seizures. Wrong for 96% of children. Only 4% of children can develop seizures with fever. And these, while frightening, are brief and harmless. Febrile seizures cause no complications.

FOURTH: Any fever is bad for you. Wrong. The ability to produce fever is present throughout the animal kingdom. Fever turns on the body's immune system and speeds up the production of white blood cells, antibodies, and natural infection-fighting agents. Fever also slows down the multiplication of viruses and bacteria.

IN CONCLUSION: Present evidence suggests that fevers are beneficial and sometimes necessary for survival. When your child has an infection, one of our treatment goals is keeping the fever between 100° F and 102° F (37.8° C and 38.9° C), not eliminating it. Fever is not the enemy.

As hard as it is to watch, try not to reach for meds like Tylenol or Motrin at the first sign of fever. Let the fever do its job and your child's immune system will be far better off for it.

Other references:
www.altonpeds.com/MythsAboutFever.pdf
I also recommend the book: "How to raise a healthy child in spite of your doctor". It is actually available online. Here is a link to the chapter about fevers:
http://books.google.com/books?id=yWATg4JNQKEC&pg=PA79...

S.
www.hazelaid.com
All natural, organic, handmade hazelwood necklaces for the relief of eczema, acid reflux, and teething pain for babies and their families.

1 mom found this helpful

I have a 14 month old on day 10 of this nasty virus giong around. They cough which makes them throw up, then the fever and a horrible runny nose. My daughter threw up everyday for 9 days it was horrible. THe key is hydration water, juice, pedialyte, popsicles any fluids you can get in them is the most important even if they can't keep solids down. My daughter threw up all the medicine too, advice nurse said to try and give them the dosage over a 10 min period just little bits..motrin is really hard on their sick tummies sometimes tyelenol wil stay down.
Call your pediatrician to ask when to bring them in. I took, my daughter in 2x and called almost everyday. We ended up at Emmanuel on IV fluids for 3 hrs because of dehydration it was not fun, and I was diligent about fluids..I finally asked for the iv because she needed a jump start.
If they cry and there are no tears or no wet diapers/urine output in 24 hours that is a sign of deyhydration and they need help.
Right now it just sounsd like this nasty nasty virus, hang in there!

1 mom found this helpful

Usually the ped will recommend trying to do little sips of pedialyte to keep her hydrated. Because her stomach is so empty more than a tiny sip can be to much. If it is easier you can use a teaspoon, and just do it one small teaspoon every 15 minutes or so. For now avoid any foods, if she keeps throwing them up. Usually if she is still throwing up the liquids after 12 hours is when they recommend taking her immediately to the ER. For the fever try lukewarm baths, cold compresses, and keeping her as naked as possible to help her air out. Of course as usual if you are still worried don't ever hesitate to call her ped or the nurse help line.

1 mom found this helpful

My daughter has these symptoms too (she is 7 months) and the doctor said it was probably flu. She isn't vomiting but has severe diahrea. I called my doctors office to ask if I should bring her in when her temp was 101.9 and the tylenol wasn't keeping it down, and they said yes. You could call yours and ask too. She said to give her pedialyte a little at a time to keep electrolytes in her and keep her hydrated, but not too much to upset her tummy. You should keep giving her tylenol, a little might stay down each time. My doc. also said to put a humidifyer in her room and to alternate tylenol and motrin every four hours.

1 mom found this helpful

For Each kid do this:

2 tablespoons Jello powder, 1 cup hot water. mix to dissolve (can be any flavor of jello they like). Have them drink it however they can..but slowly..sip a cup over an hour or so. It will settle their tummies and change the ph balance so that the bug that they have can't stay. I don't know why it works exactly but its been a home remedy in my family for a very long time. It also re-hydrates. You will probably only have to do it once, but plan on two just in case their tummies reject some. Sounds like they have a pretty good case of the flu, and all you can do is clean it up and wait it out really. The flu here usually lasts about 24 hours. We do the jello treatment as soon as we see a lull in the throwing up and they are done and even back at school within 48 hours.

will she suck on pedialyte popsicles? It usually feels good and they get very small amounts at a time so they are less likely to vomit.

S.

Flu bug, nasty stuff. There is an acetometiphin (tylenol) in suppository form. Talk to your druggist or call the nurse hotline at your pediatrician's. To keep a high fever down, you can give her a tepid bath, slightly warm, not cold. You can also use cold compresses on her forehead to help with any headache pain. You can give her jello water and even jello will provide some fluid for her. Jello is a great thing for all your sick kids (and you too!) Because of the chest and sinus congestion, I'd call and get an appt with the dr for all your kids. Especially if the discharge from their noses has any color to it (yellow-green) or if they're really coughing hard. It's difficult to get the rest they need to heal. Get well soon. We're on the down hill side of this nasty stuff at our house, it's been here for 10 days and there's 4 of us in our home.

My kids just had the same thing. Just let them rest give them popsicles and keep offering them water.

If the fever doesn't break with motrin(every 6 hours) and tylenol(every 4 hours), yes you can do this, just make sure it's been an hour in between doses. Keep her hydrated.(Nothing worse than holding your child down while they put in an IV to re-hydrate) Pedialyte would be a good idea to keep on hand. They have it in generic, less expensive.

This could just be a cold "virus" (get used to the word virus, it's a common diagnosis and you can't do much for a virus but wait it out). Your mom instincts are usually spot on. Go with what you feel. If you feel seeing the DR would be best, make an appointment or urgent care/ER.

Also with the cough, fever, vomiting, & runny nose, RSV should be considered if this goes on too long: http://www.rsvprotection.com/what_is/what_is.aspx

J. - Man, I remember my first son getting sick like that too. It's scary.
Just remember that you don't have to give your daughter a full glass of water. Try two sips. Wait 15 minutes. Try another two sips. Go very slowly. My son would barf up the two sips also, but we just kept trying because you are right, you don't want them to get dehydrated.
Don't try juice or gatorade or even pediatlyte until they are able to hold down water first.
Good luck, L.

This sounds like the same thing that has been going around my job (about 10 people) Instead of trying to give her a whole dose of tylenol at once, break it up into 3rd's like every 5 minutes until the full dose is taken, that way you can let her stomach settle before the next little bit and if she does get sick, she won't lose a whole dose. Get some pedialite and have her take little sips every couple of minutes. My doctor says if they don't eat, they will be fine as long as they don't get dehydrated. Try to give her a luke warm bath to cool her body and cold packs under the arms and in between the thighs are also a good way to lower body temperature. I would say if it persists through tonight, then take them to the doctor.

104 to 105 is the ER temp trip marker. If they are vomiting, you are only supposed to offer a tablespoon of water only, and wait 20 minutes or more to offer more, if they keep that down. Re-offer, in small sips. I sometimes would offer a pedialite pop to suck on slowly, once they kept the water down. I was advised not to offer any food until they 1. kept water down, and then move to dry toast or a broth and see if they kept that down. Mostly, you want to focus on water, or diluted herbal teas. If they are still suffering after a few days, I'd take them in. My kids are 7 and nearly 5. It's not easy watching the lil ones be sick. Watch for ear tugging or complaints of ear pains, as an ear infection can pop up when sick like this, as well. As far as tylenol, try after they have kept water down for a while, maybe a couple of hours. Good luck!

I would agree that you should contact your doctor's office. If she threw up after/during a coughing fit, it may not be stomach issues, but just from coughing.
After consulting your doctor you can get tylenol suppositories if she can't keep the drops down (won't help though if she has diarrhea too).
Even if she is throwing up, keep offering water or pedialyte. You can give it to her by the spoonful, in a dropper or in a bottle/sippy an ounce at a time.
I don't know where you live, but if you need to get her seen, I would do so today - there are a few clinics that have Saturday hours.
I avoid the ER if I can, because it equals hours of waiting...
I hope they feel better soon!

I just went through this with my son. The worst part was it kept coming back (he also has asthma). Last week I took him to the ER (2nd time in 3 weeks), and they said it was croup. Steam helps a lot. We had to get medicene in suppository form (boy, he fought that one, big time!) because he couldn't keep anything down. So it was not just the cough and fever, but flu-like symptoms too. Every time I gave him medicene, he threw up (my bed, the kitchen, his room, etc...). You can get Tylenol (maybe not brand name) and Promethazine (also has other names- used for tummy sickness) in suppository form. We don't eat sugary things often at all, but I bought my son popsickles just so he was getting liquid...that was the doctors idea. Als, unless the fever gets above 102, or lasts more than a few days, it is actually the bodys way of fighting the illness. I hope you get some advice from someone that will help you out. Good luck. Helpless is...having a sick child being unable to make them well, or comfortable. I hope it works out for you. God bless us moms. hee hee