August 30, 2013

This is the Cold that Never Ends....Yes it Goes On and On, my Friends...

By Amy

I was going to show you pics of two sweet dresser re-dos, but, I need to ask you experienced mommas for your input instead.  Here is my question:

ARE CHILDREN ALWAYS SICK??!

Holy Moly.  Hayden's colds seem to roll in like the tide; there's a week of blissful peace before the familiar signs start up, and BAM...he's a coughing, miserable, snotting, mess again.  I feel bad for him, poor kid!  And it's a nasty cycle, cause after the cold, comes the Aftercold effect--two weeks where he's acting in every other way healthy, but still running out the nose faster than I can wipe it.  ALL. DAY. LONG.  Haha, I look like this neglectful mother at the grocery store.  I want to holler to the passing elderly woman, "I wiped that nose like, 3.5 seconds ago, for the trillionth time today!!!  DON'T JUDGE MEEEEE! "  I stuff a wad of kleenexes in my pocket everywhere we go, and I still usually run out.  I'm just thinking, "Dang kid, where IS that all coming from!?  In the course of this day, you probably drained the equivalent of your weight in snot!"

My mom, who at one time had three little girls under the age of 4, used to safety-pin handkerchiefs to my sister's shirts when they all had colds, and just wiped their noses every time they walked past.  Ha!  Nasty but brilliant!  I want to patent a soft, thin absorbent (washable) strip of cloth with elastic loops at the end that hook around the child's ears.  They wear it across their face--under their nose and above their upper lip, to catch the flow all day.  Genius, huh?  I mean, yeah it would obstruct breathing through their nose, but they can't breathe out of them anyway when they have a cold!  It's a better idea than the old wrestling trick for stopping bloody noses--tampons up each nostril.  (I probably would have tried that with my son, but baby nostrils are TINY.)

Poor kid was sick, but still couldn't resist an empty box!
But really, what do you do when your child is always somewhere on the cold spectrum (getting a cold, has a cold, or getting over a cold)?  I mean, I'm all for limiting the passing of germs, and I TOTALLY get that other moms don't want their kids catching a cold, cause I know it sucks, but are we supposed to just stay in the house and not go anywhere?  Should I skip church, stop meeting to exercise, avoid the library, stay away from get-togethers and sit in quarantine if my child has any cold symptoms?  I would NEVER go ANYWHERE!

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about a sickness like strep throat, stomach flu, chicken pox, pink eye, etc.  To those, Yes.  The answer is: Quarantine yourself.  Nobody wants that crap!  And I'm also not saying, "Woop-di-do, what's the big deal, kids?  Come take a lick from the sick kid's lollipop!"  No.  But, you can't stop living your life when your child gets cold once a month and the cycle lasts three weeks.  That only leaves one week a month!  I just read in a pamphlet from my pediatrician's office: "Young children will often have anywhere between 6 and 12 colds per year.  That is why we call them 'common'."  Oh great.  It really is once a month!

My son felt miserable (hence the rare cuddling).
Now this blows my mind...What about you moms with several kids?  Do you EVER have all members of the family healthy?  Cause they just pass it to each other, right?

Oy.

I'm a little bummed out that my son is sick, yet again, and we have a big family party this weekend.  And I don't want to pass germs to 14 nieces and nephews.  But...I REALLY want to see everyone and I'd be so sad if we missed it!  Maybe, if I'm honest with myself, it get frustrated too, because it's hard for me to miss out on fun, social functions when my son's sick.  I've always been super social--this stay-at-home-momma craves being with people!  But it's not fair to get upset--I mean, and, it's not his fault that he gets these colds!  My poor babe....He's so sad-looking with his weepy eyes and runny nose.  The only plus side: we have some sweet cuddle times when when he's sick!  Usually, he's running 95 mph at all times, but when he feels crappy, he doesn't have the energy to squirm and run off when I hold him! :)

Does it get better, mommas?  Is there an age when they stop catching every cold wafting by?  And, do you stay home every time your child has any cold symptoms?  Any tricks you have for helping your kiddios stay healthier?  (Besides the obvious of not leaving your house.)  I'd love to hear!


12 comments:

  1. When my guy was little he was sick ALL THE TIME! He got croup once and now anytime he gets the tiniest cold he gets a cough that sounds like croup, gross! When he started nursery is when he started to get sick all the time. So annoying! As soon as he started sunbeams this year he got so healthy, it was amazing! But anytime my babes play on toys that aren't theirs they get something. For example we played at the mall toys on Tuesday and now we are sick :(
    We stay quarantined as much as we can but sometimes it's just not possible plus I think fresh air is the best medicine so we still play at outside parks. Wiping noses and washing hands are the only brilliant ideas I have. Hang in there! Having sick babes and being a sick momma is no picnic!
    -Tess

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    1. Thanks, Tess! My son gets the croup cough, too! Like a barking seal! Yeah, nursery starts next month. I'm excited, cause he goes bananas sitting with us in Sunday School, but...oh the germs! It's like a petri dish of viruses! I am taking him outside this afternoon. Thanks! :)

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  2. One of my girlfriends baby was always sick and nursing a massively runny nose. They tried a bunch of stuff, and finally they had my friend cut dairy out of her diet (nursing baby) and his "sickness" cleared up! Maybe it allergies?

    - Whenever Lucy is sort of sick/getting over sickess, but not full-on stay home sick (hard to do when I was RS president, and hubby was teaching youth Sun school), we still take her to church, but she spends sunday school and RS/priesthood with one of us. We have also done this when we see a sick-o kid in nursery. We don't want her to get it, so she doesn't go!

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    1. Yeah haven't really looked into it being allergies...do you think if he has periods of time when he's fine, then it's probably not? I don't know, I should check it out, though.

      That's a good idea; then you can still go to church, you just don't have her around other kids when she's sick!

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  3. Are you sure it's not allergies??!! That's my only advice!! ;)

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  4. I don't know...I should probably look into it! I didn't really think of it, since he has periods of time when he's fine. I don't have allergies, and neither does Patrick, but he does have family with allergies, and so does my dad. Thanks, Lauren I need to look into it. :)

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  5. I thought maybe allergies too. I have also heard if they have something stuck up in the nose that is will run constantly. Good luck, when Addison was little she would get cold that would the become an ear infection. I would keep her out on nursery sometimes when I would see the other kids visible sick. Others moms didn't understand why, but every little cold with her would get worse. She had tubes and now is great.

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    1. It turns out that this time, Hayden had an ear infection! I hope little Addison can kick the ear infections. :)

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  6. Dang that doesnt sound fun amy! Hey im no doctor but lately we've had alot of little kiddos at the clinic with hayfever/allergies with runney nose off and on etc. They have been given childrens claritin or zyrtec, but i would always ask the doc first :)

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    1. Hey, I didn't know they would give little kids allergy medication! I'll have to look into that if he keeps having issues. Thanks, cuz! :)

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  7. Oh goodness - I know the feeling!!! I went to girls camp last month and my kids got sick right when i got home, then were sick for 3 1/2 weeks! I try to keep them home for most of the time, but for a few hours when theyre feeling good (thank you, tylenol!) I try to take them to the park, or to like a movie when not alot of other people will be around. Good luck!! We had Tytan checked for allergies, but hes got none - he just catches everything.

    Hope your sweet boy feels better soon!!

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    1. Thanks, Maddie! Yeah, it's sad, huh, when they're little sickies? Oh man, I think Hayden and Tytan are in the same club.

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