Note: Spelling errors are most likely RAMPANT today, so please move right along and try to pretend that you still think I'm intelligent.
It is germapalooza around here, seriously. I can pretty much guarantee that any surface in this house has had enough used tissues and/or mucus covered little fingers on it to render any visitor automatically infected pretty much upon entrance. We should be quarantined. We are GROSS.
My surly mood isn't ALL about the Emergency Levels of Snot situation, though. I was pushed over the edge when, in an effort to cleverly humidify the air so as to comfort my congested children, I freaking scorched the crap out of my pretty shiny tea kettle. I had filled it up, brought it to a boil, opened the spout and turned the heat down a bit, then just let it go to work as a kind of homemade humidifier, right? And I was feeling all proud and efficient and nurse-like for a, thinking about humidifiers in the first place, and b, thinking of a way to accomplish air humidifying without dragging in the dusty Vicks contraption from the garage. A serene, efficient nurse probably wouldn't have just IGNORED the kettle for the next hour, though, until the sight of the FLAMES within it grabbed her attention.
But really? Really the worst thing about colds, scorched kettles-turned-humidifers aside, is the inability of small children to blow their noses. It's a serious handicap, and results in a nose that needs wiping roughly every five seconds. That's not even an exaggeration; I've been doing a case study all morning, and I estimated that that's what it takes- dabbing with a Kleenex LITERALLY EVERY FIVE SECONDS- to keep Addy from absentmindedly swiping at her mucus-covered lip with her sleeve. It is not possible for me to do this, however, considering I have to take breaks occasionally to deal with my own seal-bark of a cough, and to care for the eternally needy Eli, and the eternally messy kitchen, and the eternally empty sippee cup. Oh yes, and to BANG MY ETERNALLY POUNDING HEAD AGAINST A BRICK WALL.
I MEAN, and to go on children's Tylenol runs! (Rite Aid is my new bff, by the way. They have SUCH GREAT SALES on chocolate! All the time! It feels like poor consumerism to pass up bags of Russel Stover Private Reserve when they're only two for four dollars!)
While there, besides getting side tracked in the candy aisle, I am inevitably perplexed by the vast array of medicinal products. What do you guys give your kids when they have your run of the mill bad cold with excessive sneezing, stuffiness, and watery eyes? I've just been doing Tylenol, as when I was in the throes of this bug I felt really achy, and I'm just going to assume they do as well. But should I really be medicating them at all? And are those homeopathic treatments, like the Sniffles and Sneezes tablets or whatever the h they're called, any good? (Side rant: What is UP with all the Dimetapp, Robitussin, etc.? Did I HALLUCINATE that whole children's cold/cough medicine debaucle? I thought they weren't even supposed to sell that stuff anymore! So as to not confuse me with their array of multi-symptom treatments!)
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9 comments:
I KNOW on the cough medicine/recall thing! I mean, last time I checked, RECALL meant "no longer on the shelves". Yet, THERE IT IS. Ah well. I'm in the camp that says those thing might not help, but they probably don't HURT.
We've been using lots of Childrens Mucinex for hacky coughs, which you don't seem to have here, but it's the one product I CAN vouch for. HELPFUL.
Oh boy, I hope you all feel better soon. I rarely take anything for myself for a cold. And I've never given Zachariah anything but Children's Tylenol or Infant Motrin (and usually not unless he has a fever for either). So I have no advice. I figure it's viral and has to run it's coarse anyway, so I just let it. Luckily we've had very few colds and even less other illnesses with my son.
For a cold we really don't take anything. We do a humidifier with some of that Kaz inhalant, also some vick's under the nose (Only a teeny bit since kids can't be trusted)and steamy baths. Tylenol only if they can't sleep really. Vitamins are always good, but other than that, I can't think of anything.
Oh no. I have no useful advice to give. But I hope you all feel better soon. VERY soon.
My kid is 4 1/2 and STILL can't blow her nose. And is fine with licking it- at least Addy uses her sleeve.
I think, but I am likely wrong, that they pulled the infant cold stuff but not all the children's? The recall was for packaging, I think, so they just had to make it say "DON'T GIVE THEM MORE THAN THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO HAVE, DUMBASS!!!" on the box and then they can sell it again.
Mucinex is indeed good. And the grape Dimetapp seems to at least have some sort of placebo effect on my girl- she asks for it when she's sick and says she feels better even though her nose still runs.
end hijacking of comment section.
I use the baby Vick's on Maddie's chest and turn on the humidifier in her room. I also give her Tylenol during the day and Motrin at night. My pediatrician says that in young kids it's ok to give them medicine for ONE symptom, but the meds for runny noses/coughs/aches are the problem. She told me to pick Maddie's worst symptom and medicate her only for that. I usually choose the cough, since that's what keeps her awake at night.
I thought it was just that they found that children's cold medicines don't work on children. Which is indeed what I've found. That doesn't keep me from BUYING them and ADMINISTERING them, though, because OMG I have to do SOMETHING that makes me feeling like I'm doing SOMETHING.
Benadryl KIND OF works, in that it reduces every-5-seconds to more like every-30-seconds.
We actually have very good success with Dimetapp, which now lists dosages "under 24 pounds" as "Do Not Use" instead of "Ask A Doctor." And I pay just as much attention to the second as I did the first. It dries up the ickiness for a few hours. I even take the stuff when I'm snuffly. It's the only way I can sleep.
I am going to be laughing about the flames under the teakettle for, oh, all night.
Sounds miserable. I know, because we've been under quarantine for various reasons for over a month.
I read some study on cnn.com that honey actually has a better effect than cough syrup on coughs, if they have that. But only 1 year or older I think for honey.
Someone told me Vicks on the feet really helps. I put it on their back.
My fav med has been Advil Cold for kids, but not sure it's still out there?
My dr. went on a rant about the recall for the "useless medicine" at the last dr. visit - he thinks they are recalling all this stuff because they want to make us pay more money for it via prescription. He says it's all worked for him for years.
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