Sick Baby :(

Well Kye made it 9 months! But he has officially had his first cold 🙁 Yuck!

Of course he started getting sick before we left for our ski trip back in the beginning of December. His nose was just runny and I thought it could be another tooth so I didn’t worry much about it but Mrs. Charlotte had a tough time with him while we were gone. It was the first time I’ve dealt with having to “put my foot down” as a parent. Mrs. Charlotte truly felt like he was sick and needed cold medicine. Courtney gives her babies Dimeatapp in small dosages often when they aren’t feeling well. Zach and I talked about it and just didn’t feel comfortable with that. The FDA pulled all baby cold medicines off the shelf so the only cold medicine you can buy has a dosage for ages SIX and up. Um Kye is 9 months old. I do not want to be giving him something meant for a 6 year old! It was tough because she and I really didn’t agree on it. Nothing against her, she felt her way and that her way was right. But as his mom I felt my way and that my way was right. I really respect Mrs. Charlotte as she listened to me and did not give him the medicine even though she wanted to. She instead gave him Tylenol to help him ease his pain and be more comfortable. I felt like that was a great compromise!

When we got home it turns out he DID break through tooth #2! So that probably accounts for a lot of the discomfort he was feeling. However, he was also sick. It’s been quite the battle and is just now (almost a month later) ending. I know his friend LL was sick for several weeks and ended up with a badddd ear infection and bronchitis! Thankfully Kye’s ears haven’t bothered him and he hasn’t had ANY fever.

He’s had a more difficult time sleeping as his nose runs and when he lays down he can’t breathe out of it. He had a week or so where he was waking up waaaay too early in the mornings and a couple times in the middle of the night. We’re not used to that at ALL! The poor kid. We struggled with what to do as we like to stick to our schedules and rules and one of our rules is that he does NOT get out of the crib until it’s time to wake up. I did a little research on the Babywise Blog and came to the conclusion that when you have a sick baby, comforting comes first. Zach (he handles night duty! Am I lucky or what?) would pick him up and comfort him at night and even sometimes rock him back to sleep before laying him back down in the crib. That’s okay. The situation called for a slight change and he’s already back on track with that. The BIGGEST mistake you can make when you have a sick baby is bringing them to your bed and we didn’t do that so we’re good 🙂

Here is what we have found out works for a baby with a cold. It’s tough since you can’t give them cold medicine!

• run humidifier (cool mist) on highest setting and have it aimed at the crib
• prop up one side of the crib so baby is sleeping on an incline
• use saline spray, we used Little Noses and it’s awesome, about 10 min before nap or bed to flush out the gunk
• give Tylenol before bed and naps (if needed)
• rub Baby Vicks on chest and back before each nap and bed time (it’s not medicated so it’s safe)
• give longer, warmer baths
• give lots of love and comfort as needed!

Even though he was sick he never broke schedule. He may have not slept as well at night or as well for his naps but we’d keep going. I didn’t feed him earlier if he was up and I didn’t put him to bed waaaay earlier (sometimes he’d go down for a nap 15 min earlier but never earlier than that) either. Honestly, he was still great when he was awake! We ONLY had issues when he was in bed. One night Zach had to go in there at 10:15 and didn’t get to come out until like 11:30. He actually had to sit with Kye in front of the humidifier to let his nose drain, poor thing. Even with very little rest (he had a day where he literally only slept for an hour all day for his naps where he usually gets about 5 hours of naps in!) he was a sweet, fun baby boy!

A couple days ago he started coughing. To me, that’s a good sign that the cold is coming to an end. However, coughing is VERY uncomfortable for him! It scared him and he had a REALLY hard time sleeping. I decided to call the pediatrician. I may say some crap about Dr. Griner’s office and may sometimes have my doubts but I was SO impressed with them this time! They listened to me and sent a prescription in, without us having to go up there. I LIKE that they trust me as his mother and didn’t try to make money off an office visit. He prescribed him C-Phen DM Drops which is basically a cold medicine. I know, I know, I wouldn’t let Charlotte give it to him but now I am?!? The difference is this is prescribed by his doctor with a proper dosage for a child HIS age. I still am not using it like crazy. It says “as needed 4 times a day.” We give it to him before each nap and before bed so only 3 times a day. It’s really helped and he’s been sleeping much better. He’s back to the old Kye for sure! He only used it for 4 days and he really doesn’t need it anymore.

Dealing with a sick baby is tough. You feel so bad for them and feel helpless in a lot of ways. You wish so badly that you could trade places and be the one that is sick instead. I do think Zach and I have handled this situation like pros though! We’ve done everything we can to make Kye comfortable and to still stick to our routine. I feel like routine really helps in situations like this as it’s comforting for him to know what’s coming next. One day he actually crawled into my lap about 10 min before his nap and laid his head on me, basically saying he was ready for bed! I hate that we’ve had to go through this but I’m thankful that it didn’t interfer with Christmas. He was honestly precious for the holidays and you wouldn’t have even known that he was battling a cold.

Zach and I both rarely get sick. When I do get sick I need to take a couple days and relax then I’m over it. When Zach gets sick he has SUCH a strong immune system that he stays kinda sick for a looong time because his body keeps fighting back the cold but not beating it. I think Kye may have his daddy’s immune system!