First Cold

So, I'm at home on a very rainy election day with Bear, who is sick. For being sick he is in a very good mood. It is just a minor cold. (Thanks Dad.) I'm just glad he waited until he's four months old to get sick. I don't know if I could have taken him getting sick when he's any littler. He's too little as it is. A person that small shouldn't be allowed to get colds. Poor kid doesn't even know how to blow his nose at this point. The suction bulb is not a fun way to do things. Bear doesn't like having things stuffed up his nose, and I don't particularly care for being the one stuffing things up his nose. I thought that he would be the one putting things up his nose and that it would come at a later date. You know, marbles, peas, and who knows what else. I must say though that I'm glad that hasn't come about yet.

Okay, I was talking about his cold though... It isn't bad, just a stuffy nose. I want to make sure he gets enough sleep and we can get the stuffy nose to clear. I don't want it to get any worse in other words. So far he's still smiley, but makes funny noises when he breathes. That and he sneezes lots. The nicest part has been that I was able to talk to his nurse yesterday. She called me for a completely different topic and asked how Bear was doing. When I said he had a bit of a cold she called me back with a recipe for a home-made saline solution to put in his nose. This is because the cold medicines have been over medicating kids, so they aren't recommending that parents give kids (especially infants) the o.t.c. cold medicine. I'm okay with that since I don't even particularly care for medicines for myself. I like to get better, but it's nice to do it without drugs if possible. So we are doing the saline solution, have a humidifier going in his room, when he's nursing I make sure to have the baby Vicks on my chest. I found his skin doesn't like having Vicks put on it so I put it on me so he still gets the effects of the medicine, but doesn't have to have it irritate his skin.

In re-reading what I've written I realize it isn't the medicine itself that is over-medicating. It's the dosage instructions on the label and/or parents where the fault lies. It isn't the medicine that is making a decision.

In talking about medicine though, I am going to run to the grocery store and see what they have for eucolyptus oil or something of the sort to put in his humidifier. I'd like to have more options for making the little guy feel better. We are going to have to bundle up though because of the rain. That is one bad thing about today... I can't run by myself and leave Bear here in bed since Tom is in Salt Lake for training. That's also why I'm not at work today. Thank goodness work is good about that sort of thing.