Note from author: I am “refreshing” this post a bit from last year, it’s hard to believe it’s been exactly a year since our little one went through his first cold after we brought him home from the hospital. We are blessed that he went 9 months without getting sick after he was released from the NICU right after birth. A year later, I have learned so much as a mom and I’m a bit more relaxed when it comes to worrying about germs, but I still am vigilant when it comes to washing hands- I’m a firm believer it works! If you are a new mom and are dealing with your little one’s first sickness, or if you are a toddler mom and your little one is sick- I hope these tips help you to maintain your sanity!
This past weekend was the first time our little one was sick (except for his stay in the NICU right after he was born). It was what I call, a sneak attack. We took him to the pediatrician last week for his 9 month check up, and as always-I was careful to clean my hands and his, made sure he didn’t touch anything, sat in the well waiting room…I did, in my mind, all that I could to protect him. Guess what? It still wasn’t enough! On Friday evening, my mom and I were at a restaurant with our little one, feeding him dinner as normal. He had eaten some baby food and few ‘puffs’, almost immediately-everything he ate came right back up. My husband was at the house, so I called him and asked him to bring the thermometer down for my to check his temperature. 103.1. That couldn’t be right! We all thought it was a fluke, it was our first time using this particular thermometer…we just thought we hadn’t used it correctly. Our little one was acting fine, no other symptoms than the incident at dinner. We checked with another thermometer…103.5! I was concerned at this point. I made a call to the pediatrician’s after hours line and we were advised to bring him in on Saturday morning.
Saturday morning, our little one’s temp was 104. I was really concerned at this point. The doctor told us it was probably nothing, just a virus. Rest, time and some medicine would do the trick. Our little one acted fine, was playing and the only symptom he had was the fever, which lasted through Sunday evening. Saturday, we even went to the pumpkin patch for a bit to get some fresh air.
Sunday afternoon was the most difficult point of the weekend. My hubby was at church and I decided to take a short nap with our little one. He woke up about 30 minutes later, screaming. He screamed for 2 hours. His temperature was around 102, so I wasn’t too concerned about that. He was just mad. By the time my husband got home, I was at my wits end. I was afraid I was doing something wrong, I was afraid our little one was hurting and I didn’t know why or where, I was afraid that I had missed a symptom and he was getting worse. My husband assured me that our little one was just overtired and asked me to run out to pick up dinner and get some air.
I drove around for a bit, to regain my composure. In 10 minutes my hubby texted me a photo of our little one asleep in his arms. Our little one slept through the night, woke up the next morning and his temperature was completely normal. He was back to himself, playing and being silly. Exactly as the doctor had said he would be. We are still keeping an eye on him and keeping his as quiet as possible to ensure he’s 100% better. Looking back, there are a few lessons I learned from our first experience with a sick child.
It’s ok to ask for help. They tell you this when you bring your newborn home, but no one really prepares you for the first time your little one is sick. Call your mom, call a friend…call someone who has been through this before and ask them for help.
Extra cuddles = just what the doctor ordered. Our little one has been so independent lately that he rarely lets me sit and rock him or cuddle with him. This weekend, all he wanted to do was cuddle. Thanks to our DockATot Grand, cuddle is just what we did. I put his DockATot in bed with us and we cuddle away. We lounged around, watched TV and rested. It seems like sleep helped our little one more than anything, and his DockATotallowed him to get comfortable and sleep longer and better. A few of the DockATotfeatures that we love are:
Two sizes (Deluxe for 0-8 Months, Grand 9-36 months)
- Made in Europe, designed in Sweden.
- Breathable
- OEKO-TEX certified
- All natural, 100% cotton
- Grand is perfect for toddler bed transitions
Trust Yourself. Trust God. I think being a NICU mom and having seen how sick our little one was when he was born put a fear in me that I didn’t really deal with until our little one was sick this past weekend. I didn’t realize how fearful I was of his first sickness. What if he ended up back in the hospital? What if I didn’t know what to do? My husband had to remind me (mid-meltdown) that God is in control and I needed to trust Him, and my motherly instincts to take care of our sick child.
Keep Supplies on Hand. Again, as a first time mom, you don’t really know what to do or what you need for the first time you have a sick child. We had some infant acetaminophen on hand and a thermometer-but that was it. We had to run out Saturday and buy some more medication. Now, we know what to keep on hand.
Know How To Use The Supplies You Have. This was the first time we used the ‘ear thermometer’ for our little one. When we realized he was warm and we needed to check his temperature, we realized we hadn’t even opened the thermometer! We had to open it, read the instructions and then second guess if we even used it properly. The same goes for the pain relievers/fever reducers-we had no idea what dosage to give our little one. Looking back, I would have asked these questions at our first or second doctor visit with our newborn. I would have kept the chart for dosage amounts on the fridge and known how to properly measure them (midnight with a sick child is not the time to make sure you know how to properly give medicine). Prepare yourself ahead of time.
Take a deep breath. This goes back to trusting God and myself. Realizing that this isn’t the end of the world and that your child, while it does break our heart to see them sick, will be ok-really puts things in perspective. The calmer you are, the better you can care for them. Take a drive. Take a shower. Drink a glass of wine. It will all be ok.
I’m so glad your little one is feeling better!
Greta | http://www.gretahollar.com
Me too!