I have a recipe for today but I don’t think I can give it the time it deserves, so I am going to save it until next week.
Emory is quite ill. The fevers are back.
Last year he suffered from fevers that brought with them Febrile seizures. That duo seems to be making an encore presentation this year. And I hate them. So, I’m trying to keep his temperature down as much as possible, switching between Motrin and Tylenol. It’s gonna be a long day and night. We’re a tired bunch.
Do you have any tricks for fevers and colds? I’m all ears and a little desperate. Or if you wanna come over and keep us company; there’s only so many times a family can watch Night At The Museum and we’ve cruised way past that allotment.
I have heard “Starve a fever. Feed a cold” which is a good thing since he won’t eat anything—not even cookies! Thus far, the only thing I’ve gotten him to eat has been watermelon, which is super since he doesn’t seem to want to drink fluids either.
My poor child.
Oh no! I hope he gets better. I’d come keep company if I lived up North. May they go by quickly.
Belladonna 30c. Homeopathic pellets. About 2 or 3 under his tonuge every couple of hours. You can’t over dose and they tast like little sugar pills. They are magic. I had this too with my son, and my friend, (a Naturopathic doc) recommend this and it worked for me. Good luck!
Popsicles are what I’d try to get more fluids down him. Homemade? From watered down juice or pedialyte or something?
He won’t eat popsicles either. Won’t go near OJ and now he’s even refusing ice cream. :[ I am at a loss. When does one worry about dehydration? What do I look for? Worried!!
Maybe he would like a smoothie? A watermelon one since he liked the watermelon. Even crushed ice or a “slushy” of ice and watermelon.
Also, if he will let you, keep his wrists and neck cool with a cold cloth.
Good Luck!
Shannon
Soak a washcloth in vinegar and apply it to the soles of his feet. Always works on my kids but I am not sure why.
And now the little bit of pee he does have smells of ammonia. :[
I will try vinegar. Getting more worried. Usually I can get him to eat or drink SOMETHING.
Does he like baths? A slightly cooler-than-usual-but-not-chilly bath might help with the fever, and if he is anything like my son, maybe he likes to dip his face in the water and lick his lips? Maybe two birds with one stone?
my daughter became dehydrated last May and we had to take her to emergency to get an i.v. put in, it was very scary, but very necessary. The signs are lethargy, no urine, and the urine he has will be dark in color. His finger nails will stay white if you push down on them. You will know, and if you are already worried I would take him to the doctor to be sure, your instincts are the best for your child. Hope he is feeling better soon:(
You know the motrin and tylenol. Alternate them every 3 hours and make sure he doesn’t get too much tylenol in a day, but if you’re giving it every 6hrs (because it’s alt w/ tylenol) you will be fine.
Cool cloths to forehead, under the armpits, and if he’s feeling like crap and will lay still and let you, in his groin. Don’t let him bundle under a lot of blankets unless he is miserably uncomfortable, shivering is your body’s way of trying to wear off the fever.
Whatever he will take – pedialyte, juice, water, ice cubes, go for it. If it’s fluid, let him have it.
Poor baby! I hope he feels better very, very soon!
I would give Aiman a slightly cooler than usual bath and just let him chill out in the water to keep his fever down. I’d also have him in as little clothing as possible –having the baths and little clothing would help.
Hope he’s better soon =(
Mil, Amy, Kirsten, and Amira have it covered about right. I’m a pharmacist who thinks we all overuse drugs, but Kirsten has it right. I don’t have any expertise in pediatrics, but I understand that seizures in babies, although scary, are not especially damaging (I can’t think of how to say that properly, but you know what I mean).
God bless, Mike
Thanks, everyone. Somehow we made it through the night in one piece. We negotiated with Emory a great deal to get him to consume water and/or OJ. Ice water seemed to work, but only very small bits. He even refused his favorite: milk!
His fever spiked last night at 1 AM at 104. (Underarm) We were so close to taking him to the ER, but Motrin seemed to take care of it. Also, worry not! I live with a man who knows more about drugs than some doctors. He his very wary of Tylenol (and Motrin to some degree because of what it does to the stomach) so we are very careful not to overdo it with Emory.
The sucky thing tho? Is that Motrin works SO FREAKING well on him. It’s amazing. However, I think the dose at 1 Am combined with the empty stomach is why he threw up all over me this morning.
No fever left this morning and he hasn’t had any meds since 1 AM. So, we’re hoping we out of the fever weeds at this point.
And, yes, the febrile seizures are totally harmless, just scary as hell. And they seemed to have “grown up” a bit this year. Now he hallucinates!! I am used to this. My older brother used to do this every time he had a fever. It was very strange. Anyway… we made it through the worst of it, I think. I hope.
Thanks again for all your help. I do listen to you and try these things! (Off top of my sleepy head: Amy: I checked his nails and made sure to look for pee and color of it. I also tried the foot/washcloth thing.) Much thanks again!!!!
I love you guys. I don’t say that enough.
Glad Em is better. My son’s doctor recommends lukewarm baths. The reason you want a somewhat warm bath is it opens the pores and allows body heat to escape and will drop the fever rapidly. We also rotate the motrin & tylenol but if his fever remains high we do the bath in addition and as often as necessary. You do not want to let the fever get too high so for instance if it gets to 102 and its not time for meds yet we then do the bath (just wetting his hair and body) and it works like a charm. Once my son refused to eat drink and we got a medicine dropper and used it periodically with the unflavored pedialyte and I have done that with chicken broth as well to prevent dehydration. If you push his skin on the arm and it doesn’t rise back up normally that is one sign of dehydration. Also a sunken soft spot (for babies).
Glad to hear things are looking up!
Remember to look after yourself as well.
meg
I just saw this and I’m glad the fevers seem to be going down with meds. When my son’s fevers spike I use an old Turkish remedy (I’m half Turkish) that sounds disgusting but it works. I bathe him in vinegar and water, and for some reason it works. I take a small basin, hold his extremities over the basin and saturate a washcloth with the mixture and squeeze. If he will tolerate it, I will sit him in the tub and do his torso as well, and then you can rinse off with lukewarm water to get rid of the smell and keep the mess contained. Don’t know why it works, but it WORKS.
Best to you.
You can double up on Motrin and tylenol – they are safe together.
Frozen pedia pops or even just regular sugary frozen ice pops, the kind that come in those plastic wrappers, always kept my kids hydrated and the sugar in them settles their stomachs a bit if they are nauseous.