Please no, not the croup...
Isaac's sickliness continues. Being the kind gentleman that he is, he has now passed on the latest in viruses to Clayton, too. He does not have a fever, and does not act unwell, in sharp contrast to his election night bug where all he wanted to do was lay on a parental unit and occasionally whimper. Instead, he has an occasional death-rattle cough. About once an hour, maybe a little less, he coughs like he is bringing up lung tissue. The force is actually quite astounding -- it sounds like a real grownup cough, replete with phlegm. Last night, after having been asleep for two hours, he started coughing, still in his sleep. When he had been coughing for 15 minutes (still asleep), we went upstairs and retrieved him so he could sleep instead on Dad's chest, where he would be a) inclined so as to facilitate mucus-drainage and b) more closely monitored by Dad and I as we watched Spiderman 2. He slept soundly on Dad's chest, and then again when we transferred him to his crib later. But all today, he continues in his awful wet coughing spells.
I called the nurse to ask if we should do anything about it. She said:
1) Buy a cool-mist humidifier and use it as he sleeps
2) Before bed, run a hot shower for 20 minutes and keep him in the bathroom as it goes
3) Prop the "head" of his bed up 4 inches with a rolled up beach towel
4) He may have 1/4 tsp of Dimetapp DM if we feel so inclined.
I was a little wary of #4 -- I had heard NO decongestant stuff was allowed for kids under a year old, but she said "I give you permission" to use it.
Later, Mindy calls and says that Clayton has coughed so hard that he threw up. She also called the nurses' line, and a different nurse told her NO cough or cold medicine whatsoever, that they don't recommend it for kids under a year. Also, nurse #2 said that, as he coughs more, his airways will get swollen, meaning it also might help to add cold air treatments. She suggested, I am not kidding, sticking his head in the freezer (not closing it, of course). Since neither of the boys have a temperature and are acting fine, both nurses said not to worry unless they start wheezing and/or run a fever for three days. Let's hope it doesn't come to that, shall we?
I called the nurse to ask if we should do anything about it. She said:
1) Buy a cool-mist humidifier and use it as he sleeps
2) Before bed, run a hot shower for 20 minutes and keep him in the bathroom as it goes
3) Prop the "head" of his bed up 4 inches with a rolled up beach towel
4) He may have 1/4 tsp of Dimetapp DM if we feel so inclined.
I was a little wary of #4 -- I had heard NO decongestant stuff was allowed for kids under a year old, but she said "I give you permission" to use it.
Later, Mindy calls and says that Clayton has coughed so hard that he threw up. She also called the nurses' line, and a different nurse told her NO cough or cold medicine whatsoever, that they don't recommend it for kids under a year. Also, nurse #2 said that, as he coughs more, his airways will get swollen, meaning it also might help to add cold air treatments. She suggested, I am not kidding, sticking his head in the freezer (not closing it, of course). Since neither of the boys have a temperature and are acting fine, both nurses said not to worry unless they start wheezing and/or run a fever for three days. Let's hope it doesn't come to that, shall we?
posted by Claire at 8:54 PM
1 Comments:
oh NO fun. I used to get croup when I was little. I remember it being TERRIFYING because it felt like I was being forced to breathe through a tiny straw. My mom used to put me in the bathroom and run the shower on as hot as it would go because apparently the steam helps loosen things up. Poor little Isaac! I hope he's feeling better soon. :(
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