Do you notice the change in your child when they start to get ill? Daily rhythms and dynamics of my toddler were usually full of laughter and constant movement. Suddenly, there he sat lethargic, glassy eyed and quiet showing no interest in his favorite toys or other activities.
Illness, pain or suffering is the one reality as parents that we cannot take away. We are left feeling helpless and distressed in our inability to tackle a situation we have no control over. We must ride this illness through with our child.
The best we can do is stand on guard to provide comfort and tender loving care. We can start with checking for a fever and pulling out the children’s Tylenol to combat the fever and aches that usually accompany a cold. Note the time and set to follow a strict schedule, to give this to your child every 3-4 hours, as directed until the fever subsides.
The next step to do battle with this cold, is ensuring your child drinks a lot of liquids, to flush out germs. A fun alternative for children to encourage liquids, besides their favorite juice, are fruit popsicles. Maybe freeze some in the ice cube tray to add to his cup of juice too.
Along with fevers usually accompanies chills so we can wrap our child in a blanket. Sleep is the ultimate healer for the human body. Lay down next to your child to encourage him to rest. Let his or her body use this time to do it's own internal battle with the cold. I would tell my child a story of seven germ fighters (immune system) doing battle with that cold.
A couple of restful ideas;
- Lay down on the sofa with him or her and watch a movie together
- Listen to music and serenade your child
- Read a book together
- Lay down in the middle of your own bed together and encourage your child to take a nap
Feeling nauseous may result with your child not wanting to eat. Denying nutrition for the body is a bad practice to allow and food must be encouraged, especially while ill. I use to take baby pablum (extremely nutritious!) and mix it with apple sauce. I felt quite a measure of contentment knowing that my child ate something light and nutritious. Provide foods that will be easy to digest and light and build to meals that are high calorie and high protein before returning to regular meals.
A few other lessons to teach our child when they are sick can be ;
- wipe his nose with tissues
- wash his hands if in contact with his body liquids (sneezing, coughing)
- cover his face when sneezing or coughing
- drink immediately after coughing (coughs indicate dehydration)
The human body has it's own immune system to fight off illness and gives clues to bodily needs. Learning to identify and provide the needs - rest, liquids, nutrition - can give parents a better sense of strategy, to help our child through their illness. Our child returning to his toys and boisterous nature will tell us that the cold is getting overcome.
A fever left unchecked can lead to delirium, convulsions, tissue and brain damage. Lack of rest and poor nutrition can lead to a prolonged recovery period or new infection. The human body requires a adequate supply of energy through dietary intake to meet it's metabolic rate.
Chills bring on shivering from muscular activity which elevates the metabolic rate, increasing the demand for oxygen and nutrients. Other internal signs that develop will be a higher pulse rate, increased breathing respiration's, and thirst (lungs in need of extracellular water). Second stage of a fever leads to delirium, convulsions and brain damage.
Knowledge is the best armory for parents. Luckily, we can take pre-measures for our child with a cold. Regularly scheduled Tylenol, cool sponge baths, cold compresses on the forehead. Light and nutritious snacks, liquids and encouraging rest, are measures that help towards restoring our child's health and well being. A fever that persists beyond three days should be immediately investigated by a doctor.
One last tidbit of knowledge is to ensure that we have an adequate supply of Tylenol or other child approved medication for fevers, stocked in our medical cabinet, safely out of reach from our children.
By Gin G.
Published: 1/6/2010
Thank You For Visiting Our Blog, FEEL BETTER AND LIVE LONGER!
The purpose of our blog is to share what we have learned about nutrition, weight loss, fitness, and health, in order to help you find ways to feel better and live longer. It is amazing how much our diet and lifestyle affect our health and well-being.
Did you know that you can reduce your risk and even prevent many diseases and health conditions simply by making some changes to your diet? Check back often for valuable tips and information.
HOW TO LOSE WEIGHT & KEEP IT OFF:
For the first time in my life I have found weight loss success. During my adult life I have tried dozens and dozens of so-called "diets" and none of them worked over the long-haul. Oh, I was able to lose weight with some of them, but once I went off of the "diet" I quickly gained back all of my weight (plus some).
I have finally learned that losing weight has to be a lifestyle change, not a temporary fix. Crash diets and all the other crazy diets will not only cause you to fail, they are harmful to your health. To lose weight and keep it off you must NOT go on a "diet." What? Why? Because we all consider a "diet" a temporary thing. For example, how many times have you said, "Oh, I will go on this low-fat diet until I lose 20 pounds." Okay, what happens after you lose the 20 pounds? Or you simply give up? You go back to your old habits and gain that 20 pounds back.
The only way you will ever be successful at losing weight, with the added benefit of improving your health, is to make healthy changes that you can live with for the rest of your life. Period. Not for a week, a month or 3 months, but for life. For me, my initial goal was to lower my cholesterol level. I had to have a blood test for my insurance coverage and my cholesterol level had to be lower than the previous year's levels or I would have to pay a much higher premium. Well, that was a pretty good incentive for me make some positive changes.
I sat down and figured out what I needed to do. I knew I had to change the way I ate and I knew I had to exercise in some form or other every day. So, I made a list and I stuck to it. It was difficult at first. To make matters worse, I am a compulsive eater. However, as the days went by, it became much easier because my body stopped craving sweets and processed foods. For the first time in my life, I was never tempted to binge because I never felt deprived.
Use the list below and make whatever changes you need to make in order for it to work for you. FYI, my cholesterol level dropped 65 points after 7 weeks, and my triglycerides dropped 70 points! Another benefit that I hadn't planned on was that after being an insomniac since my teen-age years, I now sleep like a baby every night!
MY LIST FOR WEIGHT LOSS SUCESS:
1. Avoid "white" Foods & Processed Foods. These foods have no nutritional value and are "empty" calories. Sweets, anything made with white flour,and anything that comes in a package with a long list of ingredients. Always read the food labels. Stay away from those long lists of ingredients. The longer the list, the more chemicals and additives are present. These are extremely toxic to your body.
2. Drink Lots of Water. Water keeps your body's organs hydrated and flushes out unhealthy toxins. It helps to fill you up and reduces your urge to over-eat.
3. Eat a Healthy Breakfast. Instead of coffee and donuts, try fruit, yogurt, grains like oatmeal or whole grain toast, and lean protein. NEVER skip breakfast. By eating a large, healthy meal when you get up in the morning, your metabolism will "rev up" and you will not be hungry by mid-morning. If you skip breakfast, your body will go into starvation mode and store calories in your body as FAT, yes FAT! So do yourself a big favor and eat breakfast.
4. Reduce Your Stress Level. So many of us live with too much stress. Stress lowers your immune system, making it easier to get sick. It also makes us lethargic, tired, and depressed. There are a lot of simple things you can do and a lot of ways to feel better about yourself and your life. Take a long, hot bath, read a book, listen to music, get a massage. Do something nice for yourself. Giving yourself something to look forward to is a tremendous mental incentive.
5. Move! Oh my gosh! There are so many ways to incorporate movement into your day, even at work. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Get up every hour and walk around your floor, your hallway or your desk. Park your car in the farthest space from where you need to be. Walk or bike to work. Skate, dance, golf, jump rope, clean house, play tag. The best exercise you can do is to walk. Try to take a walk every day! The more you move, the more your metabolism will be your friend. (I walk 3 miles every day whether it is raining, snowing or freezing.)
The purpose of our blog is to share what we have learned about nutrition, weight loss, fitness, and health, in order to help you find ways to feel better and live longer. It is amazing how much our diet and lifestyle affect our health and well-being.
Did you know that you can reduce your risk and even prevent many diseases and health conditions simply by making some changes to your diet? Check back often for valuable tips and information.
HOW TO LOSE WEIGHT & KEEP IT OFF:
For the first time in my life I have found weight loss success. During my adult life I have tried dozens and dozens of so-called "diets" and none of them worked over the long-haul. Oh, I was able to lose weight with some of them, but once I went off of the "diet" I quickly gained back all of my weight (plus some).
I have finally learned that losing weight has to be a lifestyle change, not a temporary fix. Crash diets and all the other crazy diets will not only cause you to fail, they are harmful to your health. To lose weight and keep it off you must NOT go on a "diet." What? Why? Because we all consider a "diet" a temporary thing. For example, how many times have you said, "Oh, I will go on this low-fat diet until I lose 20 pounds." Okay, what happens after you lose the 20 pounds? Or you simply give up? You go back to your old habits and gain that 20 pounds back.
The only way you will ever be successful at losing weight, with the added benefit of improving your health, is to make healthy changes that you can live with for the rest of your life. Period. Not for a week, a month or 3 months, but for life. For me, my initial goal was to lower my cholesterol level. I had to have a blood test for my insurance coverage and my cholesterol level had to be lower than the previous year's levels or I would have to pay a much higher premium. Well, that was a pretty good incentive for me make some positive changes.
I sat down and figured out what I needed to do. I knew I had to change the way I ate and I knew I had to exercise in some form or other every day. So, I made a list and I stuck to it. It was difficult at first. To make matters worse, I am a compulsive eater. However, as the days went by, it became much easier because my body stopped craving sweets and processed foods. For the first time in my life, I was never tempted to binge because I never felt deprived.
Use the list below and make whatever changes you need to make in order for it to work for you. FYI, my cholesterol level dropped 65 points after 7 weeks, and my triglycerides dropped 70 points! Another benefit that I hadn't planned on was that after being an insomniac since my teen-age years, I now sleep like a baby every night!
MY LIST FOR WEIGHT LOSS SUCESS:
1. Avoid "white" Foods & Processed Foods. These foods have no nutritional value and are "empty" calories. Sweets, anything made with white flour,and anything that comes in a package with a long list of ingredients. Always read the food labels. Stay away from those long lists of ingredients. The longer the list, the more chemicals and additives are present. These are extremely toxic to your body.
2. Drink Lots of Water. Water keeps your body's organs hydrated and flushes out unhealthy toxins. It helps to fill you up and reduces your urge to over-eat.
3. Eat a Healthy Breakfast. Instead of coffee and donuts, try fruit, yogurt, grains like oatmeal or whole grain toast, and lean protein. NEVER skip breakfast. By eating a large, healthy meal when you get up in the morning, your metabolism will "rev up" and you will not be hungry by mid-morning. If you skip breakfast, your body will go into starvation mode and store calories in your body as FAT, yes FAT! So do yourself a big favor and eat breakfast.
4. Reduce Your Stress Level. So many of us live with too much stress. Stress lowers your immune system, making it easier to get sick. It also makes us lethargic, tired, and depressed. There are a lot of simple things you can do and a lot of ways to feel better about yourself and your life. Take a long, hot bath, read a book, listen to music, get a massage. Do something nice for yourself. Giving yourself something to look forward to is a tremendous mental incentive.
5. Move! Oh my gosh! There are so many ways to incorporate movement into your day, even at work. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Get up every hour and walk around your floor, your hallway or your desk. Park your car in the farthest space from where you need to be. Walk or bike to work. Skate, dance, golf, jump rope, clean house, play tag. The best exercise you can do is to walk. Try to take a walk every day! The more you move, the more your metabolism will be your friend. (I walk 3 miles every day whether it is raining, snowing or freezing.)
Treating Children's Colds, Fever and Dose of Love
12:22 PM
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Hi Jay, I hope you find it greatly helpful in the world we know as Parenting. :) thank you for visiting and sharing your comments. :)
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