So I’ve mentioned how sick the kids have been the last few days.  They’re finally recovering…no fevers yesterday or today!  But now I have a new worry.

Today I was changing Kelvin’s diaper and I noticed he had little red bumps all over his butt.  My first thought was heat rash, but he wasn’t out in the heat more than 2 minutes at a time today, so I don’t think that’s it.  I put some CJ’s BUTTer on him at each diaper change for the rest of the day, but didn’t notice any improvement.  I did notice some similar bumps on his face, though.

At bath time tonight, I noticed that Ava had bumps on her butt, too.  I looked more closely and she has them all over her stomach and back too, as does Kelvin.

I freaked out, thinking it was chicken pox, but after talking to my mom, I’m not so sure.  She said chicken pox has fluid-filled bumps, and these don’t look like that.  They’re just teeny-tiny red dots all over their skin.  I’d say each child easily has 100 on them and they’re not super-noticeable either.  Also, the fever is gone and my mom said if it was chicken pox it would last until they were done breaking out.

So I’m kind of unsure what it is and what to do about it.  They don’t have any other symptoms.  I guess I’ll be taking a break from Googling Outer Banks homes tonight (haha) and I’ll be Googling weird red bumps instead!

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Eczema is not fun, but is increasingly common. I’ve dealt with it, to various degrees my entire life. Throughout my entire childhood, my mom tried giving me every treatment for eczema she could find or think of…countless creams, going to bed wearing gloves (it itched horribly at night), oatmeal baths, etc.

And now poor Ava is starting to show signs of eczema too. Since she is far from the only child dealing with this, here are some tips that I’ve found effective:

1. Avoid baths and instead give the child warm (not hot!) showers. Showers dry the skin out far less than baths do. If the child does take a bath, try to make it a short one.

2. Use a mild hypoallergenic soap with no fragrances.

3. After the shower, apply a moisturizing fragrance-free lotion or eczema cream all over the body. Try to do this within the first five minutes after the child gets out of the shower, to seal in as much moisture as possible.

4. Dress the child in soft, loose-fitting clothing to avoid further irritation.

5. Hydrocortisone (steroid) cream can be extremely effective if used regularly.

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This week was already going to be kinda rough. The only time we got out of the house was on Monday and that was a very abbreviated trip because *someone* decided to throw a fit in the middle of the grocery store. I’ll give you a hint…that *someone*’s name both starts and ends with A and she’s 2! A quick check of the weather told me that we wouldn’t be getting out again this, because we were supposed to get snow and wind chills of 25-30 below zero! No thank you!

So I braced myself for a week of cabin fever and kiddo’s bouncing off the walls. Little did I know, I’d have to deal with a lot more than that!!

On Tuesday night, Kelvin threw up all over his bed and started having diarrhea. I was up nearly all night changing diaper after diaper. Not fun!

Luckily, that’s the only time he threw up. I can handle diarrhea, but throw up is really nasty. I’m lucky if I can clean up the mess without adding to it myself.

Unfortunately, Kelvin’s diarrhea was only the beginning. On Wednesday night, Ava started throwing up all over her bed. It got all over everything, and even went behind her bed. I’m so thankful Chad cleaned that up! My stomach could not have handled it.

A few hours later, I started throwing up. It was chaos….all night long. Both Ava and I were puking our guts out. Kelvin decided to boycott sleep and just toddled back and forth between the person hanging their head over the toilet (me), the person in the bath (Ava) and the person changing sheets and cleaning up puke (Chad). Not one of our better nights!

Yesterday was pretty rough, too. No more throwing up, but everyone was still dealing with diarrhea. My goal was just to make it through the day (which I did…barely).

Today, Kelvin is the only one still dealing with diarrhea, but all of us are still fighting to get our energy back. Hopefully next week will be a better week. The flu should be behind us, and we’re supposed to have temperatures in the 30′s, and even 40′s on some days! It’s sad that 30′s seems warm, but it sounds wonderful right now! I can barely wait!

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Readers of my other blog know that being cooped up indoors with the kids is starting to drive me a little crazy.  Which is sad because this is only our first snowstorm.  Something tells me we have a long winter ahead of us!

Part of what makes it so hard is keeping the kids busy.  I definitely don’t want them sitting in front of the TV all winter long, but I don’t want them swinging from the light fixtures either.  Here are some ideas for keeping kids active in the winter that I’m planning on using:

1. Get a children’s fitness DVD.  I have to admit, I haven’t tried this yet, but I plan on getting one.  Ava loves doing my workout DVD’s with me, so I think she’ll be thrilled to have one of her own!
2. If you have a nice basement (doesn’t have to be finished, just not really yucky), move your outdoor toys down there.  This week, we went to a friend’s house and she had tricycles, ride-in cars, a toddler basketball hoop, and a toddler jungle gym in her basement!  This time of year, you might even be able to snag a low price online.
3. Turn on upbeat music and get everyone dancing!
4. Take them to an indoor play area.  We have one at the mall, but several fast food places also have them (McDonald’s, Sonic, etc.).
5. If the temperatures aren’t too extreme, take them outside, even if it’s just for a few minutes.  The fresh air will do them good!

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Well, it is now the season of “being-sick-every-few-weeks”, isn’t it?  Like I just posted on my other blog, I am sick…again.  The kids have also had a couple of colds so far this season.  I am not against using over-the-counter or prescription medications when necessary, but I like to try natural remedies on colds and minor illnesses first.

Here are some of my favorites:

1. Sore throats and coughs – Use lemon juice and honey.  Mix a Tablespoon of each, microwave it for about 20 seconds, and then swallow it.  Keep in mind that babies under 2 should not have honey.
2. Stomach or Neck Pain – Rice and a sock.  Fill a sock with uncooked rice, tie it closed and heat in the microwave for about a minute.  Makes a great, inexpensive substitute for a heat wrap!
3. Headache – Ice and a bandanna.  Wrap the ice in a dishtowel and place on your forehead.  Keep in place with a bandanna.
4. Colic – Chamomile tea.  Chamomile is known for its relaxation benefits, and it works well on babies’ intestinal muscles, too.  Give it to the baby an ounce at a time and don’t give them more than four ounces a day (so that they’ll still have room for their breastmilk or formula).
5. Nosebleeds – Cayenne Pepper.  Sprinkle some on a q-tip and swab the nostrils with it.  Shockingly, this doesn’t sting and it works great for clotting.

Keep this list handy (be sure to include it in your online backup…you don’t want to lose this! ) and try these remedies next time you or your child aren’t feeling well.  You’ll be surprised at how well they work!

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This week, we had a WIC appointment, so we had a discussion with a dietician as usual.  She was looking over Ava’s food log and then at mine and noticed that I eat less fruits and vegetables than she does.  I explained that we eat the same thing for breakfast and dinner, but I usually fix her a balanced lunch while I’m holding Kelvin and then I just grab leftovers or something really easy after they go down for their naps.  She suggested that I eat lunch with her, too, because it would help me eat more fruits and vegetables and it would also set a good example for her when she saw me eating them.

I decided to give it a shot, but didn’t expect to see much difference in Ava’s eating.  She’s already really good at eating a lot of fruit and she eats TONS of green beans and broccoli, but doesn’t really like other vegetables.  So the next day, I made lunch for both of us and included carrots as part of it.  Usually, she won’t even touch carrots but I was out of green beans so I gave them to her anyway.  Sure enough, she saw me eating carrots and polished off all of hers and even wanted seconds!

I’ll admit I was very surprised.  I knew children are always watching their parents and picking up their habits, but I didn’t think a simple thing like seeing me eat carrots would change her attitude about them!

And here’s a thought…you could probably get your children to drink more water if you buy these snazzy promotional water bottles and they see you drinking out of them!

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Newborns obviously cannot swallow pills and capsules. This means that they use liquid medicines.

A study just published has revealed that newborns who are given liquid medications may be exposed to dangerous toxins that are added to the medicine to improve the effectiveness, taste and appearance. In addition, these babies may even be consuming more than the recommended adult guidelines!

For the study the records of 38 premature babies were examined. The newborns had been born at or before 30 weeks gestation. The researchers analyzed the type and ingredients of liquid medicines these babies had been given.

The study found that the babies suffered regular exposure to 20 different types of chemicals. Many of these chemicals are called “excipients.” Excipients are put into medicines to improve the taste and look of the medicines. They include binders, coatings, disintegrants, fillers, flavors, colors, lubricants, preservatives, sorbents and sweeteners. These substances can potentially damage the nerves.

Ethanol exposure was found to range from 0.2 to 1.8 ml each week – that equates to about 1 to 7 units of alcohol. Sorbitol exposure ranged from 0.1 to 3.5g per kg per week. Adults guidelines recommend that sorbitol intake should not exceed 20g per day. When reduced accordingly by weight, it was found that 18 babies were ingesting more than this amount for at least a week.

This study documents a huge problem. Medicines being given to babies may lead to them being exposed to harmful chemicals with short and long-term toxic effects being unknown.

Parents and consumers need to be informed and educated about these potential health issues for their children so that they can make informed decisions about how they care for their children and take the precautions they feel are necessary.

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