A sick child

Reese is down with a cold again. This time, I have no idea how he got it. Could it be from one of the kids in my classes? Anyway, this time the cold is quite bad. His nose is so runny that the mucus will tickle down his throat and irritates it so much that he will cough.

Whenever he tries to sleep, after 20 minutes or so he will be awaken by a choke and follow by coughing and then he will vomit. Not to mention it will take him quite a while to go to sleep because of the blocked nose.

It all started on Saturday morning. So I gave him the decongestant nose drops and also Clarityne (cold). Come Sunday it became worse. We all didn't sleep well. Yesterday it got worse so I took him to his old Pediatrician in Pantai Hospital, Bangsar. Boy, it was expensive! Haven't seen this pediatrician since a year ago after we discovered another pediatrician near our home and it's alot better and cheaper. Anyway, no choice...given the circumstances yesterday.

After a chat and a check, pedi said Reese has no viral infection, just a very runny nose and that is causing all the cough. So asked me to continue with Clarityne, a cough mixture and a different nose drops. That's it and it cost me RM153.90. His consultation alone is RM90! It used to be RM70.... It has gone up!! Anyway.... it's a relieve that it's nothing serious.

So last night Reese slept at 7.30pm but woke up and vomitted. What a big mess. After cleaning up and changing the bedsheets... he played a while and slept and sometime around 11+ pm... he got up and vomitted a little bit, we managed to control the mess and then he went back to sleep.

I didn't sleep much... Reese was tossing around on the bed and I have to constantly monitor him and also the room temperature. Any slight choke or cough woke me up. Hope today is going to be better for Reese. Taking the day off today.

One thing about parenting, I hate taking care of a sick child. Not only is it physically draining and mentally stressful, my heart also aches alot watching my child suffers.

P.S: I asked the pedi how effective are vitamin/multi vitamin pills? He said there is no research that actually proved that these products are effective in boosting the immune system. In fact if taken too much it may be harmful. (which confirmed what I read sometime back).

Then I ask is there anything that can help boost the immune system? He said you can take Cod's liver oil because of the DHA compound in it and according to him, more and more research has shown that Probiotics actually help boost the immune system. So he recommended Probiotics instead of vitamins..... and what brand? He just said go for reputable ones and it's costly too. About 28 days supply it will be about RM100. For toddlers and older children it comes in capsule form. Just put it into a drink and let the child drink.

So mummies, forget about vitamins and go for cod's liver oil or probiotics if you have a weak child else just make sure your kid takes a proper balance diet!