[survey77777]

So G had a stomach bug over the weekend and it was bad. He bounced back quickly though like kids do. Then on Monday he started coughing a little. I was worried it was because I think we might have forgotten to change his humidifier water in one of those "I thought you did that" situations. HIs cough was sounding pretty chokey so I was going to take him in to the clinic today just to make sure it wasn't turning into something for while we're away.
Then yesterday he got pretty whiney most of the day and at 9pm he started crying. He literally cried and screamed ALL night long. He had that horrible terrified look that babies have when they're in pain. Of course our pediatrician is away so I took him to a walk in today and he has a really bad ear infection and a throat infection.
If you got this far, I thank you greatly for reading my novel.
So now he's on antibiotics and naturopathic drops. I'm layering tylenol and advil but he just keeps waking up every 15 minutes or so screaming his lungs out. I've been up for a really long time and am losing my mind. I've propped him up on a pillow. I kept him in the steamy bathroom for about 20 minutes before bed (as per the doctor's advice), we have the humidifier running. Is there anything else I can do here?
Halp!!

TL DR: Babby is sick. Ear and throat infection. Abx, advil, tylenol on board and still screaming in pain...help me!

[Brookem]

Saline!! Squirt it up there and no need to suck it out, it will come a running.

When Violet was little I had these nights. We put a pillow under her mattess for drainage, used the steam in the shower... What worked for us was for me to literally sleep sitting up on the couch holdng her and she was sitting as well. It was a string of VERY LONG nights and I was worthless from lack of sleep. But... It helped the sniffles and the cough and I could tell she felt better.

My sister swears by the natural version of Vicks. Rubs it on the chest and feet under the fleece PJ's. they also make them as a plug in to fill the room.

That's all I've hot. Sorry

Good luck!

[MrsLMB]

Well, sh*t.

Claire has a terrible sore throat right now as well and if she isnt feeling better tomorrow we are going in. I have a feeling she has an ear infection too. She is sleeping now but is waking frequently and crying. I can't get her to drink enough water either which would help her.

How often are you giving the tylenol/advil? I use tylenol every 4 hours and advil every 8. We are giving 3/4 teaspoon of children's advil/tylenol, not the infant stuff. I got that dosage from our pedi. I alternate between the 2 but I always make sure that she gets the advil at night since it lasts longer and works better IMO.

Thats all I can think of right now. The antibiotics should kick in soon and stop the pain. Do you think it is pain that is keeping him up or the congestion?

[sodagirl]

Ohhhhhh!!! I feel sick thinking about it. (((hugs)))
Um - I put a drop of peppermint oil in the little thingo on the top of the humidifier, you can also put a few drops in a cup of warm water - I take it in the bath too. (don't put peppermint oil in bath!!! owww!!! tingley bits ow!!! - yes BTDT!)
Will he sleep propped on your arm? or you propped up on your chest? I'm guessing if AB felt like that she would need the all night booby bar.

[Linzie]

Xander has been this sick once, and you can't really do anything until the antibiotics kick in and stop what's causing him the pain in the first place. They can't do anything really but react right now. I'm so sorry he's having to go through this. Hopefully he will be better tomorrow!

[survey77777]

I'm pretty sure it's the pain keeping him up, not the congestion as it's pretty fluid and I've been salining it when needed. The steamy bathroom did seem to help and it relaxed him for bed too.

LeAnne: The Dr told me "nothing from the fridge". It turns out he was not encouraging me to make my own penicillin but explained that anything cold will aggravate the throat and ear pain and make them more likely to just overall refuse. He suggested warm liquids, teas, etc. He said if I want to give him anything from the fridge, such as yogurt to leave it til it comes to room temp. before I give it to him.

I've been getting more serious with the analgesics now and we've had long sleep stretches up to 1/2 hour between the screaming fits now. Not fun...poor peanut. He's such a seriously happy person that this is so weird to see. It doesn't help either that he has a huge bump and bruise on his forehead and another bruise and scratch on his temple from falling twice this afternoon due to his lack of balance with the ear stuff.

We've been doing Advil every 6-8 and Tylenol every 4 or so when he wakes up. The tylenol is still the infant one at 2ml and the advil is the children's one at 6ml. He's just over 25 lbs now. I'm going to page the RN from our pediatrician and ask her to max out the doses for me to see if I can get him to rest a little.

Ami...BTDT with the peppermint oil. I can't even recall the situation but the memory of the sensation remains with me. Another to avoid with bits...Gold BOnd powder...just trust me on that one.

[momoftwins]

Oh I SOOOOOOOOO hear you!! Literally, just a couple minutes ago, I posted a very similar post on our FB page! Mine was more about some pain relieving ear drops that I've heard about, but never gotten. I've been through probably 30 ear infections between all 3 kids (ENT says all 3 have narrow ear canals, causing the infections) and my kids are still miserable! My BTDT experience does nothin! I hauled Mason in 2 weeks ago, knowing full well that he had an ear infection (had a double, whopper in one ear) and he's just getting worse. Same as G, WILL NOT SLEEP. Yesterday he just hit a wall. He was absolutely exhausted and looked like crap, so I gave him some Benadryl last night just so the poor kid could get some rest. He FINALLY slept and he did look a lot better today, but we're back to not sleeping again tonight. It's kind of hard to get better if you can't get rest! Poor kiddos.

Anyways...sorry for my rambling, but just wanted to tell you that you are doing everything you can do. Ear infections just plain suck. I hope G feels better soon and gets some sleep! And that YOU can get some sleep too. If you are in the same cycle as me, you probably feel like crap too without getting sleep with your SLE! BLAH!

[-erin-]

poor baby I don't have any advice, but it sounds like a vicious cycle... throat and everything hurts, so he cries/screams, which in turn probably makes the throat pain worse I've had tonsil infections before and they're no fun. I hope all the meds start helping soon.


(And the tags you put on this post made me laugh)

[icarryyourheart]

Oh poor little man. And poor mama!

Is he drinking? Is he running a fever?

If he doesn't start to turn a corner soon, I wouldn't hesitate to take him in to the local hospital. I know, sounds drastic, but seriously.... Maybe he needs something more than the oral antibiotics? If nothing else they can give fluids, and maybe some stronger meds to help him rest comfortably.

So sorry mama. PM or email if you need anything.

[gingerrae]

I use natural stuff to help my children's immune systems, so for ear infections I put a little garlic oil in the ear with the infection. Garlic has great healing properties. Then a cotton ball taped over the ear to prevent the oil from leaking out. It helps clear it up with no problem.

[MrsLMB]

Well, I took Claire to the doctor today and it turns out she has mono.

[survey77777]

Oh ***** LeAnne. That's awful. If it were me I'd push for a really clear diagnosis due to a personal experience with "mono type illness". Poor little thing. KUP on how she's doing!

Jana, I had to get the homeopathic drops because for some reason there was no Mullein Garlic oil anywhere I went...that was my first choice but I had to stop dragging my sick toddler around so went with what I found. I'm glad to know you've had such success with it. I'm still feeling really weird about giving him the antibiotics to be honest. Today I took him to the chiropractor, and that was interesting. He called the walk in clinic the amoxill clinic and I have to agree. The pharmacist also talked to me about the fact that it's far more likely to be viral than bacterial...but because of his runny nose and the fact that we have to fly...ugh, I haz self doubt.

A: I can get him to nurse when he's asleep so that's what I'm going with. Tonight I gave him some really warm water with honey in it and he drank a little of that. He's still low grade fever with tylenol and advil layered so I'm sure it would be a decent temp unmedicated. It's really the pain that worries me most. Hopefully tomorrow is a better day. Chiro said it looked improved.

Sorry for the novel, but with my lack of sleeping I haven't talked to anyone in real life so I'm doing all of my sharing here about this dull tale!

[sodagirl]

(((((((((hugs))))))))))))) poor little guy!

[Brookem]

How is he?