The Medicine Cupboard

Diarrhoea, vomiting, fever, teething, colic, blocked nose…help!!!

One of the biggest challenges of being a parent is dealing with a sick child. I often wonder how mothers in less developed countries dealt with their children falling ill, not least for the reason they have less access to healthcare but also because they often had to juggle several other things along with looking after their children.

Whilst having my own and my husband’s medical knowledge, one of my best friends numbers on speed dial (she happens to be a paediatrician), along with numerous other mummy medic colleagues, I still enter ‘panic mode’ when one of my girls become unwell. Why is this?? In that moment, I am no one else other than a worried and sometimes crazy mother. Most of the time, common sense and my own knowledge goes out of the window and I feel helpless. Whether it may be something trivial or a fleeting viral illness, those hours or days feel like decades!

I have therefore compiled a list of medicinal products I feel make me better equipped to deal with a sick child.

In the ‘Clever Doc’ household, we have a ‘kids medicine cupboard’ which contains most of the treatments we feel we need for most ailments.

As I have two girls, some of these are more useful for a baby while others more so for a toddler.

Colic- Infacol and Colief are very good for colic in the newborn stages. Infacol is a ‘wind-releasing’ medicine given directly into the mouth via a pipette before every feed. In my experience, it takes a few days for you to see the benefits. Colief is an enzyme that helps to decrease the lactose in milk (breast/formula) and enable baby to digest milk more efficiently. It is added to the milk (milk needs to be given in a bottle) prior to each feed. It has worked very well with my girls in the past.

Nappy rash- Sudocream is a popular cream to combat most skin-related fungal or bacterial infections especially nappy rash. A good alternative and preventative is coconut oil. This has anti-fungal and antibacterial properties and is useful for most things related to baby and toddler.

Diarrhoea, Vomiting- Most often this is viral in nature (rotavirus) and will resolve on its own without any medications. It usually can last up to 10 days. You are advised to keep baby well hydrated and treat any temperature (above 37.5 degrees) with Calpol.

Nasal blockage- This is the symptom my little ones have experienced the most. It is more distressing for us as parents to see our babies having any difficulty with their breathing. The measures I have taken that I feel is most useful is to 1) Use the nasal aspirator and saline to physically suck out the blockage and relieve their breathing 2) While baby or toddler sleeps, attach the Calpol plug-in to release vapours that help to clear the airways overnight 3) Place a humidifier in the room baby sleeps to make the air purer and help breathing, alternatively put a teaspoon of adult Vicks into a bowl of boiling water and place next to baby’s bed, vapours should help to clear airways

Ear Wax- it is NOT safe to clean your children’s ears with cotton buds! This can cause damage to the ear canal and possibly perforate your eardrum. When I can see wax in my girls’ ears, I use a drop or two of olive oil to help clear it.

My personal favourites:

1.Nasal Aspirator– provides instant relief from nasal blockage, use with saline to soften before

2.Calpol Plug-In-provides a good means of continuous camomile vapours to help clear airways so your child can get a good nights sleep

3.Colief– both my daughters had colic when they were infants and this product has helped tremendously in giving them some relief from the pain. It works quickly and is very easy to use.

Hope this post helps you with your little ones. Let me know how you get on and if there is anything else you would like me to write about on this theme.

MCD

xxx