How to get sleep even during a child's illness & what medicines to give when?

How do you console a crying child with a temperature? How do you revitalise a child running a temperature, but who is otherwise absolutely fine?

How do you ensure a temperature doesn't keep a child awake at a time when sleep would be the best thing to help them recover?  How do you do all this without appearing at the doctors office at the first sign of every sniffle?

Every mother I know has a stock of Calpol in the cupboard. Most also have Calprofen. I know we do. But I still go through a debate with myself before I dish out a dose.

Should I be reverting to medicine this quickly? Will they build up a resistance? Could they cope without it? All the questions that you answer one way when you have the luxury of debating it without a weeping child burning up in your arms, but of course, when it comes to it, you dish out that dose pretty quickly.

And so it then becomes a question of dosage and timing. Which to give and when to give it. It took a while for us to work out that you can give both at the same time. Calpol being for pain relief, Calprofen being an  anti-inflammatory. But if you literally give them at the same time, you then have a 4-6 hour window where they are not allowed any more medicine. After 3 hours this can be a problem.

So we tend to alternate.  Calprofen with meals (as required); at 6.30am, 12noon and 6pm. Calpol in between at 9.30am if needed, 2.30 if needed and, in order to ensure we get our sleep at the same time they do, we gently wake them at around 10.30pm to give a dose.

It's this 10.30pm dose that saves our sanity when they are unwell. It means that we get a good batch of sleep ourselves and if we're lucky until 6am. If we skip this dose they tend to wake at 3am; and I don't cope well with 3am wake-ups.  It is seriously detrimental to my ability to calmly nurse them better.  Particularly in the summer when, after sitting with them for half an hour you suddenly hear the birds start singing!

Last night I forgot. My daughter was running a slight temperature, and had swollen tonsils, but was generally fine and running around playing.  She had some medicine at 2.30pm, as she became very hot fairly suddenly;  but then we forgot to do anymore as she seemed fairly well. Of course, at 3.30am this morning she woke up, crying, very hot and with swollen tonsils that were hurting (I could tell by the laboured swallowing). A quick dose of Calprofen was required, but of course I had to sit with her for quite a while to wait for it to start it's work enough for her to fall asleep.

Whilst the Calpol and Calprofen combination works well for things like sore throats and temperatures; (where they are generally fine, but need help fighting something off) I find that the old fashioned cold, with it's runny nose and subsequent coughing, can be stopped just enough for your child to get a good nights sleep with one of these; Karvol, Olbas Oil or Vicks VaboRub. 

The choice depends on symptoms.  With a blocked up nose that needs clearing, Olbas oil works well.  For a runny nose that needs stemming, Karvol works well.  To ease the congestion and tickling at the coughing stage, Vicks Vaborub (rubbed on their feet - yes, I know it's weird, but it works) is our choice.

And did I get back to sleep last night?  As is typical of these kind of nights, the 5 year old then woke up having had a bad dream. I got back into bed at nearly 5am. It's lucky I have a lovely hubby who gave me a surprise lie in this morning in thanks for getting up with the children in the night!  You can't plan for bad dreams unfortunately!


Click here for tips on settling a child to sleep at night.

Please note: the advice here is in no way intended as a substitute for medical advice.  If an appropriate dose of medicine doesn't bring your child's temperature down within an hour, or indeed if they are obviously very unwell, you should seek medical advice.  The advice presented here is purely for those situations where the child is generally fine, but is fighting a slight temperature and occasionally needs assistance with that.

Explanations and apologies......

2010 readers will have noticed I've been somewhat on the quiet side this year.  Not by design (I hasten to clarify) but by an onslaught of health problems that, whilst perfectly manageable, were at times excruciating, at times unnoticeable and mostly very frustrating.  The long absence leads me to feel I should explain.

After a bout of a particularly bad viral illness (flu systems with an horrific cough, leading at it's low point to a particularly embarrassing episode at my mothers when I had to borrow spare clothes due to simultaneous release of other fairly important muscles) I woke up one morning thinking I'd pulled a muscle around my ribcage.  Unsurprising after all that coughing, but after the pain had increased for a few days I toddled off to my local doctors surgery and was prescribed ibuprofen to, and I quote, "reduce the inflammation".  It worked, and the pain subsided over the next couple of days, but the cough....that dreaded cough, returned.  1 week later I'm in serious pain, on the phone to the surgery and they prescribe co-codomol.  (codeine and paracetamol), because they believe that, although I'm not asthmatic, I am suffering symptoms brought on by the ibuprofen!  Who knew?

7 days later I'm more than happy on these painkillers.

10 days later and I'm in absolute agony, on the phone to the out of hours service, thinking I'm having a heart attack, as the pain has localised around where I imagine my heart is. 

I'm in tears, struggling to breathe as I'm so frightened, and the nurse kindly takes me through a series of questions to try and establish whether the problem is indeed cardiac.  Luckily she doesn't think so, but is worried, as I shouldn't be in such pain when on those painkillers, so I'm given an appointment immediately.  If she's worried, I'm worried.  But 1 hour later the kind doctor (proper old school, tapping his fingers on the back of his hand, perfect bedside manner) is telling me I have Bornholm's disease, otherwise known as Devils Grip.  Apparently it's not at all worrying, and just needed some replacement anti-inflammatories, instead of the pain killers.  2 weeks of Diclofenac and it's been under control.  Though, now I've ran out of the tablets this morning, I'm almost waiting for the pain to return? 

I think the hardest thing has been coping with the chronic nature of the illness.  When I was taking the painkillers I could tell when my next batch of tablets was due because the pain intensity would creep up, and I was given an insight into how pain effects mood and behaviour.  I've been grumpy around my family,  have been sleeping and sleeping and sleeping and not feeling rested, and have shied away from cuddles from my girls because of the pain.  Just writing that last sentence makes me cry. 

I have the utmost respect for anyone that is going through any health problems that cause chronic pain and that can still raise a smile.  Luckily mine has been a treatable problem.  Not every one's is.

Sorry for the sad mood.  But I am now back in the rhetorical writing saddle, and will be posting some more useful tips and stories over the coming weeks. 

Apologies for my absence and take care. 

Harry Potter....and a new year's diet I wouldn't recommend!

My brain is slightly less fuzzy than it has been over the last three weeks, so I thought I'd risk a short post, so as not to leave my readers thinking I had truly vanished off the face of the earth. 

Although the doctors don't do the test now, it's fairly clear to all concerned that I have had (indeed still have) Swine Flu.  I've spent the last 9 days in bed, and the two weeks before that thinking I had the world's worst cold and cough. 

Debilitating though it's been, I have managed to read my way though the entire Harry Potter series.  Why I chose that particular set of books to read whilst confined to quarters I'm not entirely sure, but at least now the final films will make sense, if I ever get around to going to the cinema again.

My husband has, of course, stepped up to the plate, along with both sets of Grandparents and my sister, meaning the girls have been ferried to school, nursery, swimming, tiny tumblers, etc etc, without me having to worry.  I feel immense gratitude to all concerned. 

Today though, I'm still feeling weak.  My cheeks feel bruised (apparently that's the sinuses).  And I've lost about a stone.  This is not, though, a new year's diet I'd recommend to anyone. 

Now where's the paracetamol?

Definately NOT Yummy Mummy this week!

I've lost half a stone over the last week. I've not exercised though. And it's not a weight loss method I'd recommend! I've been stuck in bed, getting cabin fever, not eating at all. And I mean at all. Not even chocolate. (I know!)

I've lived on 1 slice of bread a day, because that's been the most I could face. My chivalrous husband has held the fort for the week, dropping off the girls to Nursery, picking them up, arranging extra childcare for them with Grandparents, and then getting them home to bed.... all whilst I've been sat on the sofa, barely able to move. Flu remedies not helping with the hot sweats at all.

What's caused all this? Tonsillitis.

I remember getting it a lot as a kid, but I don't remember it feeling this bad! I finally; 5 days in, when I felt I was getting worse instead of better; managed to get a lift down to the local GP surgery and was immediately diagnosed and prescribed Penicillin. I must have been bad. I thought they kept that locked up behind Bellagio level security these days.

It's only when you're ill you really appreciate the support network you have. One of my friends stepped in and looked after the youngest for a day (you know who you are - thanks!), both sets of grandparents were brilliant. The girls, despite not really understanding why mummy was so grumpy, were so good and very gentle with me, considering. And of course, my man looked after us all, whilst still working full time.

I love you all. Thank you.

Definitely didn't win any yummy mummy prizes this week though... I barely managed to get out of my pyjamas. Never mind. The medicine is doing it's thing. I'm back at work. We managed to do the elder's birthday party, and I'm sure the weight loss might help a little to streamline those hips in summer outfits. (fingers crossed x)

Sleep - or lack of it. Part 2

OK, so maybe reminding yourself how wonderful it is that your children need you, doesn't really cut the mustard at 4am when you've been trying to settle your baby to sleep (without waking your toddler) for the past 2 hours.

It turns out that my bout of sleepless nights wasn't over. I managed 2 hours sleep before she woke me, and 2 1/2 hours once she finally went back in her cot and stayed asleep. It was Thursday night, and, to be fair, it could have been worse. Yes, honest, it could have been! The elder managed to stay asleep, so I didn't have two of them to contend with, and since I was on my own that night I was incredibly pleased with that. And frankly, I could have had less than 5 1/2 hours sleep!

Last night they both slept. 7pm til 6.30am. It's so random. I've always found the unpredictability of it the most difficult to contend with. If I knew I'd get a full night sleep in 2 days, then I'd be able to cope with 2 nights of disturbed sleep before then. But I guess that's just one of the challenges that we face as parents.

It's 10pm tonight and the younger is coughing. So it sounds like she's not fully healthy quite yet! It remains to be seen how much sleep we'll all get tonight.

If you are the mum of a baby that is still waking in the night, I know how you feel. I've been there, done that, and although they are normally very good, I'm occasionally still doing that. And no, we don't all just cope with it easily. One of my biggest tests as a parent has been to learn to operate on less than 9 hours sleep a night. (I love my sleep!) Actually, scrap that. My biggest test has been to operate "without being grumpy" on less than 9 hours sleep a night.

My husband would definitely tell you that I haven't succeeded. It's best not to talk to me before, hmmm, say 10am, even though I've been up since 6am. It takes me that long to properly wake up and stop being grumpy! Well, at least until I'm falling asleep on the sofa at 10pm!

Speaking of which, that makes it my bedtime doesn't it! Goodnight.

Sleep - or lack of it!

Just when you think you’ve got the sleep stuff sorted, along comes another problem to test your patience and your ability to think coherently on next-to-no sleep.

We thought we’d got our two girls’ sleep sorted months ago. Bath at 6pm and asleep by 7pm for the one year old, and by 7.30 for the three year old. Both up somewhere between 6 and 7am. Closer to 6am more often than we’d perhaps like, but hey, you can’t complain at that. So, when the younger came up to her first birthday we didn’t expect to be experiencing a week of middle of the night wake ups from both of them.

I’m a big believer in the theory that babies cry because there is something they are trying to communicate, and therefore I should always, given long enough, be able to work out what the problem is and fix it especially once your got to know your babies cries quite well. So when the younger woke at 9.30pm one night, I thought her problem must be wind, since she only ever woke in the evening with that problem. I tried to wind her, and, sure enough, she snuggled up on my lap, in the ‘winding’ position, and tried to get back to sleep. But when I then kissed her goodnight and put her back in her cot, she screamed.

Now the younger only ever had a short period of needing to be settled to sleep. Being the second child she worked out how to settle herself fairly quickly, both through necessity, and the fact that I knew how to teach her this time. So crying, when put back in her cot, is for her, most unusual. Back out she came for more winding, but it soon became clear that wind wasn’t her problem. I tried sitting with her for a bit, waiting for sleep, and then attempting the cot transfer, but... no such luck. I then tried giving her baby paracetamol, sitting with her for a further half hour to give that chance to do its bit, assuming that her next tooth must be causing her problems (she’d been biting everything in sight that day), and attempted the transfer again. Nope. Changing her nappy, which wasn’t particularly necessary, but I did it anyway, also made no difference. In the end her dad sat with her for a further half an hour, and managed to get her in her cot. It’s funny how sometimes a change in parent can do the trick, particularly if the first one is starting to lose patience.

Not long after that the elder woke up, and wouldn’t settle without one of us being in the room for a bit. I fell asleep in her room. Not long after I’d returned to my own bed at about 1am, did the younger wake again, and dad went to resettle her. At 5am she woke again, I sat with her for a while, and the elder woke up at 5.30, so dad went to settle her. The elder, of course, didn’t go back to sleep. The younger had another hour to try and catch up and woke around 7.30am.

This pattern, of the younger waking early evening, settling her, then having to deal with the elder, and the younger waking again around 2/3am, continued for around two weeks. But it wasn’t nearly as simple as ‘wind’.  The younger had picked up Conjunctivitus and at the same time a cold consisting of a runny nose and nasty cough. The elder then picked up the cold. We ensured that both girls got a tissue with Karvol on it in their rooms. (It’s a very effective vapour that stops the nose running, effectively then stopping most of the cough, which had been the result of the phlegm running down the back of the throat.) The younger also got a big bowl of water in her room to increase the humidity and aid the cough further.

The next few nights slowly improved, but the elder kept being woken by the younger's crying. Then, just as the younger had a couple of days with almost no cold symptoms she got really bad nappy rash. Lots of cream seemed to help, but her night waking increased that night, every time she wet her nappy.

The next day we discovered spots on her legs as well as her bottom. She’d had a similar spotty rash during a previous cold, and the doctors had confirmed it was viral. This time the doctors thought the same, but were less sure when we discovered larger blister like spots on her fingers and toes. Strangely, other than the spots, you wouldn’t think there was anything wrong with her. Her conjunctivitis had by this point cleared up, and the cold had gone. Well, until the next morning anyway, when the runny nose came back. But she was livelier than ever, and that night we gave her a dose of paracetamol before bed and for the first time in almost 2 weeks she slept through without needing intervention. (we heard her murmur a couple of times but that was it.) The doctor thinks the spots may be a common childhood condition called Foot, Hand and Mouth, but can’t confirm it.  If it is, it’ll just get better within the next week or so.

We’re convinced that she has, simultaneously, been teething, so the poor girl has really had a lot to deal with this last fortnight, but I’m hoping that this period of disturbed sleep is drawing to a close. It would appear that you never can tell with children. Especially children that have both recently gone back to nursery after the summer break. Pity they share illnesses so much more easily than toys!

I guess my reason for sharing this is to say, that there was a reason for the crying. She wasn’t just being difficult – I don’t believe babies know how to do that deliberately. She needed us for various reasons, and we weren’t quite as adept at fixing her problems as well as we perhaps did when the need was purely for milk! We are learning all the time. And struggling a lot of the time. So for all you mums out there short on sleep, take heart. The time when you are having to haul them out of bed to get them to school will be upon you before you know it. So what if you have a few disturbed nights now. There’s something quite comforting about sitting in the dark with a child falling to sleep in your arms. It’s a reminder that we’re needed. And though it’s sometimes difficult, we wouldn’t have it any other way.