How do you get over the fear???

[Chloe'sMama]

My 15 month old dd is unvaxinated and I have no intention of doing any.... that being said... I am worried quite a lot about illness. When she has a high fever I panic. I wonder if it is something serious and wonder how to treat it. As I understand it, medicating against fever causes more serious results. How do you know when to give relief and when to let the body run its coarse. I hate seeing my baby in so much discomfort.

This is all over the place, but I am just having such anxiety about her being sick and the upcoming cold and flu season is not making it any better.

What resources do you have (books, websites etc). I want to be prepared with how to treat everything.

[MountainMamaGC]

I love the book, How to Raise a Healthy Child Inspite of your Doctor. It has many tips on how to deal with all kinds of childhood disease.

[mysticmomma]

I'm more afraid of the vax's and their potential for harm than any of the diseases we vax for.

[MountainMamaGC]

I think vaccines are a scam and that my child is no more likely to get sick than anyone elses child. When she gets sick I take it as it comes. She is strong and pulls through like a champ everytime so I imagine she will keep doing that.

[PingPong'sMom]

I get this at my chiropractor's office:

http://www.pathwaystofamilywellness.org/x_index.html

and it always seem to address what's freaking me out at the moment.

I think you can get it at the bookstore too but it's free at my chiro's office and there's a free email newsletter too.

Do a search here and in Health and Healing, I think, for what you're freaking out about. These mamma's are wonderful and smart and my homeopathic remedy and herb cabinet is stocked and ready for the season because of them.

Good luck!

[Marnica]

Kids get sick...vaccinated or not. Just remember that each and every cold/bug/virus that your child fights off, the stronger their immune system is for it.
Yes I hate seeing my son sick too. he is 17 months and we have had our share of colds/bugs, but each time I see him conquer it naturally, I trust more and more in his immune system and the fear lessens.

Fever is a positive response to infection and does have it's bebfits. With that said if I feel my child needs relief we turn to homepathy and natural medicine and have had excellent results with this.

Maybe if you learn about all that nature has to offer, you will feel confident in treating any illness that your DD may get. Go to the health/healing forum. Lots of naturally minded mamas there, and there are sooooooo many books on natural healing and so much to learn. The more you educate yourself, the less afraid you will be. Knowledge is power!!

[SuburbanHippie]

Reading! The more I research, the more sure I am of my decision to not vaccinate.

[13Sandals]

How do you know when to give relief and when to let the body run its coarse. I hate seeing my baby in so much discomfort.

As a rule, I always let the fever burn for the first 24 hours, at least and try for 48. I know this may sound arbitrary, but I find the 24 hour 'rule' really allows the fever to do its job during the initial onslaught and having this mini goal helps me not reach for any medication right away! HOWEVER, I really believe the ability of the child to 'rest' is very important and if they are unable to find sleep after a long period of time or if the throat seems sore and parched, I will go to OTC pain relief (after 24 hours). never tylenol because it hamstrings the immune system at a very early point in the inflammatory process, but I do use motrin when necessary.

That being said, I have gone through most of my current babe's illnesses without any OTC, but I do keep some on hand.

[SunshineJ]

Your child will get sick at times, that's just unavoidable. But even if you did the full schedule of vaccination, your child would *still* get sick on occasion. That's just life. And honestly, some of the things that worry me the most are the things you can't vax for - cancer (thank goodness we haven't dealt with that one!), a return of a heart condition, total loss of hearing from allergies. I can vax my children with every known substance under the sun and it's not going to help with those, and it still won't prevent them from getting the common cold. And I know that with the exposure to these germs, their systems are stronger and better for it.

As for fever relief, it depends on which child. With DS if it goes over 102 we use something OTC simply because it NEVER goes that high, and if it does he is affected pretty hard. With DD as soon as it hits around 100 we give her motrin but only because with her it can spike and spike fast and send her into a seizure.

[Chloe'sMama]

thanks for all the responses. DDs temp often gets close to 104 when she is sick... two days ago it was 103.7 with no other symptoms... just freaks me out.

DH wants to medicate as soon as she seems a little cranky from the fever and I know the body can't do its job, but I agree that I want her comfortable.

What natural pain reducers do people like? Something that may not fight the fever, but give her a little relief.


Thanks-

[rabrog]

Put her in the tub to play. It cools the core temp and will help her feel better. That's the first thing that comes to mind.

I can't do the 24 hour thing with most fevers DD gets because they do get very high (104-105 range) and I won't let a fever that high go on it's own. She's had a couple over the years that stay around 102 and I let those ride and hold her, give her a bath, drink cool liquids, etc.

She's got H1N1 right now and she's doing great, acting normal (except for appetite) as long as she has some ibuprofen on board.

Jenn

[Noelle C.]

Here's how to get over the fear: Put it in perspective.

We are all more likely to die from being in a car accident than the flu/piggy flu, measles, mumphs, chickenpox, etc., yet we don't stop getting into cars. We take REASONABLE precautions, such as seat belts and only being in cars with working brakes, but otherwise, we go on our merry way. We are also more likely to be murdered. (I looked up the stats a couple months ago, but it's 5:14am and I don't feel like doing it again right now.) With some diseases, like polio, we are more likely to be strike by lightening a few times than to even get it in the first place.

So ask yourself if you're more likely to be killed in a car accident or murdered than to die from one of these illnesses.