Friday 1 February 2013

This week: fighting germs


We've had a week of coughs and colds, high temperatures and lots of general discomfort. My son has been off from nursery nearly all week. One day he seemed well enough to go back, just a bit tired after a couple of tough days unwell and he got through the afternoon there ok. However, five minutes after we were back home, he promptly fell asleep on his bedroom floor! We may have misjudged his condition after all.

My daughter was also unwell, although less severely and she managed to keep being her normal happy self for the most part. Yesterday I woke up with a sore throat and runny nose, inevitably the germs spread around the family.

One thing I have noticed with my son this week is the difference in dealing with him now that he's a four-year old and can really explain his symptoms and even recognise the benefit of going to have a nap during the day. It's a lot easier than dealing with a young baby who can't communicate their ailments and may fight going down for naps, instead prefering to be held lots more than normal. The latter is of course a lot more exhausting for the parent to deal with!

I looked back on a post I wrote nearly three years ago, When Your Child is Unwell: 10 Tips. It's definitely as relevant now as it was then and I have been following a lot of the suggestions listed. It's never fun fighting off the germs and the cycle of illness that tends to occur in the family is always dreaded and can feel never-ending.

It's been a long week but I'm staying positive. We had a good stretch of not catching colds or other bugs that have been going around. We even escaped head lice and chicken pox that had been present before Christmas amongst some children at the nursery my son attends. For that, I am very thankful!

Has your family suffered much from colds or other more severe illnesses this winter? What do you find the most challenging when your family is unwell?
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photo credit

3 comments:

  1. Uhhhh have we ever!!! No lice, and only a false alarm with the chicken pox. But colds, chest infections, and now conjunctivitis... *sigh*

    I have just bookmarked your link!!! :)

    As for the most challenging thing... like you I'm glad that my daughter can now communicate what is wrong. She absolutely LOVES taking medicine (and for that reason I put it away, far out of reach!) Except for eye-drops. Oh the screaming tantrums we've had! Other than that it's trying to get little lady moving when she's a little bit poorly, but not poorly enough to warrant not going out or to pre-school. x

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    1. Poor you, sounds like it's been a rough time! Hope the conjunctivitis has now cleared up.

      I know what you mean about getting them moving again after they've been poorly and feeling weak. It's not easy at all is it? Invariably my son's first day back at pre-school after being off unwell is super-exhausting for him and he's usually quite difficult to deal with when I pick him up and trying to last until bedtime. I do quite dread those days to be honest! x

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    2. Yes, it's always the way - looking forward to more of the same after this half-term! In fact we've picked up yet another half-term coughing bug to replace the conjunctivitis. Hey ho!

      Some days can indeed be quite difficult and it's a relief when daddy gets home :) x

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