Mom Is Teaching

Naturally you all know that by writing this I am dooming my children to sickness.  But, as it is right now, they are sick, so I’m going to go ahead and spill my guts. 

First of all, I want to revisit what the experts in the article on Parenting.com had to say about fevers.  I’m going to just tell you what they said straight up instead of putting it my own words.  “Fevers do help fight infections by stimulating the immune system and killing bacteria and viruses that can’t survive at higher-than-normal temperatures. But that’s no reason to let your child be miserable. Try to strike a balance between keeping him comfortable and letting his body do its job.” 

And, the other thing is this, “If he has a mild fever but seems especially cranky, lethargic, or in pain, giving him the right dose of acetaminophen or ibuprofen will likely make him feel (and sleep) better. If he’s reasonably happy and energetic even though his temperature is 102 degrees, keeping an eye on him may be enough (just make sure he’s well hydrated). The exception: Any fever in an infant under 6 months merits a call to the doc at once.”

The way I feel about that is that the words “It’s best not to treat mild fevers” shouldn’t have been a myth.  We’ve found in our house that anything under 102 doesn’t even slow our children down.  I know people who go to the doctor every time their child’s temperature gets to 99.6 because that’s one too many, but most doctors that I’ve been acquainted with definitely think that is not necessary.

As I mentioned, both of my kids are totally different in the way in which they handle illness and most definitely fevers, but the fact of the matter is, neither of them has ever been sick much.  Walker is 5.5 and has some little cold now which was accompanied by a low-grade fever that we treated with Tylenol Cold.  We chose that combination because his fever did make it to 102 and his nose was running.  Prior to this, he had the croup last summer or was it the summer before that?  And, that’s it.  He had never been to the doctor for a visit except well-baby check ups. 

As for the “3.97 year old who is not potty trained”, he had the croup when Walker had it and this past winter he had strep.  He is allergic to penicillin, omnicef, keflex and zithromax.  We learned this the hard way this past winter.  As we learned of each allergy, the rashes, oh the rashes, the doctor would ask me, “what did he take the last time he was sick?” and all I could say was “I don’t know, he doesn’t get sick very often”.

We spent a week having that conversation and luckily my son just got well on his own.  He was a preemie and I ran to the doctor a little too much that first winter after he was born but he wasn’t sick again until he had the croup. 

So, how come my kids don’t get sick often?  Especially when their mom is sick all the doggone time?

See the next post, hehehe!