When you put "baby" in front of something, it automatically makes it sound cuter. In our case, however, the red bumps on her face were a sign of allergies, and a sign of worse things to come (Drawn by sleep-deprived Althea Peterson)
When a baby is sick, she is sometimes so tired that she won't move all night and be happy in the morning. Or, she can wake herself up coughing and then wake everyone else. (Drawn by sleep-deprived Althea Peterson)
Not all baby sicknesses are created equal.
My baby has only gotten noticeably sick once before (you can read about it
here)
But, that was a tiring illness. Baby never slept better than that night. What happens when your baby won't sleep at night?
Warning signsThe first sign that this was going to be a rough week was the baby hives. She had an allergic reaction to something and got red bumps on her face after holding her hand there too long while feeding. They washed right off.
Then, she wouldn't stop coughing due to congestion and woke herself up. All the rocking and bouncing in the world didn't put her back to sleep, so I nursed her.
A trip to the pediatrician revealed she had her very first cold, but that wasn't the end of it.
After running a fever and being sent home from daycare (on a holiday weekend!), the pediatrician's office asked her to come back in for re-evaluation, as colds can turn to bacterial infections.
She has a chest infection. The coughs weren't going away for possibly another week.
Zombie-ficationThe first night or two will feel like a flashback to those early months when your baby was getting up every few hours to feed.
Oh, this isn't so bad. Anything for our baby. She'll go back to sleeping regularly soon, right?
By day three, it's time to start finding caffeine, resorting to all soothing methods and praying for an end to a fussy, sick baby, for the sake of everyone's sanity.
After a week of occasionally fussy night baby syndrome, you will not care about anything except your baby being well again. Showers? Skip. Breakfast? Not hungry. Football? Meh.
Getting your baby to sleep or stop cryingIf your baby is still fairly new (3 months or younger), I highly recommend the methods described in the book
"The Happiest Baby on the Block" by Dr. Harvey Karp. The five S system really worked wonders back then:
1- Swaddle (wrap baby tightly in blanket)
2- Shush (either verbal "shh" or having neutral background noises like a vacuum cleaner or washing machine)
3- Side/stomach (this one works better now that she's older and no longer hates "belly time")
4- Sucking (pacifiers are the greatest invention in the world)
5- Swinging (rocking your baby to sleep)
For my 5-month-old, we can no longer swaddle her. She's too big for the blanket and can roll by herself, making this dangerous. If she's coughing excessively, that means that the pacifier flies out regularly.
Here's some older baby alternatives:
1- Nursing to sleep/soothe. No matter how much my baby is coughing, she will return for food most times if she's hungry. And since she's a growing baby, she's hungry a lot.
2- Bathing. Not only will this usually cool a fever baby down, but the nightly routing bath seems to relax her, so long as the water doesn't get in her congested nose (babies are nose-breathers)
3-Gas medicine and Pedialyte. While never a good idea to give medication to a baby that is not absolutely necessary or recommended by a doctor, if your baby is waking up tooting or is congested, both will help.
I am only five months on the job. I would appreciate any and all suggestions here. When baby doesn't sleep, nobody else does, either... and if baby isn't happy, nobody else is.
-- Althea Peterson
PS: Please leave a comment. And then, please join me again next Monday as I attempt to bust some baby myths (what I assumed about babies before becoming a mother)
Trimesterly tribute: I was never sick during pregnancy that I recall, but I was definitely getting up in the middle of the night, pretty much every night. It was usually for an annoying bathroom break, but occasionally, the cat would lurk above me, threatening to pounce on my belly.
Mommy moment: As I would hear a very unhappy wail in the night over congestion discomfort, and baby being overtired from the coughing and sniffling, I've found myself praying a lot. Please let her be well. Please let her stop coughing. Please let her sleep. Please let her fever go down. Please let her be happy and healthy again and I will NEVER complain about anything ever again!
Baby bit: While she has been sick all week, she did have a cute development this week: A roaming tongue. She'll use it to blow raspberries at mom and dad, lick water during baths, or just try to find new things to taste. And yes, it's incredibly cute when she's not acting sick.
Althea's previous entries:
Aug. 27: Baby's appetite changes can make breastfeeding more difficultAug. 20: Mom's hospital stay after the baby arrivesAug. 13: Returning to work after maternity leaveAug. 6: Life as a single, working mother with a babyJuly 30: Dealing with a baby's first sick timeJuly 23: Delivering a baby by Cesarean sectionJuly 16: Introducing a new baby to your pet cat and dogsJuly 9: Breastfeeding a baby is a challenging decisionJuly 2: Baby airport travel requires patience and timeJune 28: Baby means there's never an awkward silence
Althea Peterson is the proud mother of a five-month old girl. Althea returned to work at the Tulsa World in May after two months of maternity leave. Baby advice, baby questions or baby words of encouragement can be sent to althea.peterson@tulsaworld.com. Also, follow Althea and other parents on Twitter at twitter.com/twbecauseisaid.
