This post was written by one of our guest bloggers, Stacey Starley, all information and photo credit goes to her.
Sometimes as a Mom all other
responsibilities/plans fall by the wayside, and simply, surviving the day-to-day
necessities takes over.
I feel like, February is the beginning of our
family cold and flu season and runs until May. With 4 kiddos, all under the age of eight, running around here it can be a monumental task attending to their care, doctor
visits, medicine dosing, and laundering.
Each of my kids has unique reactions to
medicines, soaps, or foods. Trying to remember which kids can have
Tylenol vs Motrin, Penicillin vs Clindamyacin or sulfa...it's daunting when I
am sleep deprived. So I keep a list of which drugs each child/husband
needs to avoid in my medicine cabinet to keep me straight in the middle of the
night.
Of course, my baby is throwing us for a
loop with his hives. He has reacted to each and everyone of these the
sun, and all foods. He's also not reacted on the second testing, just to
keep it interesting. Mostly it's superficial (meaning it manifests as a
rash not interfering with his breathing) and he may grow out of it.
Some
reactions are simply due to sensitive skin and whenever he gets overheated from
the sun or from a fever he rashes out. Mostly we lather him in baby lotion for excema and Claritin doses (selected by his pediatrician) to keep his histamine
levels normal. We have had better success with the children's Claritin
than Benadryl.
Poor baby. He is beautiful and
happy even when he is itchy and uncomfortable.
Bathing him in soap less
water is soothing as well as fresh air walks or rocking him in my arms while
sitting in a swing. I can't stress enough what a blessing it is to
discuss his reactions with our doctor and receive advice and affirmation in our
treatment as well as managing my expectations/fears for the future. Usually, I
leave with a sigh of relief and peace.
