[KelliHope]

A friend gave me a parenting mag and I was thumbing through it this morning and came across a "middle of the night survival kit", here's what it included:

- pain & fever relievers (child's ibuprofen, acetaminophen)
- child's antihistamine & cortisone cream
- saline nose drops or spray
- nasal aspirator
- medicine dropper
- petroleum jelly
- digital thermometor
- cool mist humidifier

What do you think of this list? Are there things I should add to it, or not bother with? Do you NEED a humidifier???

Thanks!

 

[Moonprysm]

A humidifer is great for a non-medicinal approach to colds, coughs, ect. I definitely wouldn't be without mine. We've used tylenol or ibprofin maybe 3 times in DS' 2 1/2 years, so honestly it wouldn't bother me much not to have it around. Saline drops and an aspirator are good ideas.

 

[caiesmommy]

I think the aspirators a good one,but the tylenol and things, i didnt even know you were allowed to use them on newborns???

I dont have a humidifer/vaporizer, I use to use a steel bowl full of water and eucaliptis oil and put it infront of a vent, now w ds in a big boy bed it isnt safe, but back then it was perfect.

My list wouldnt have much
an aspirator(nose sucker to us)
digital thermometer(ds was a strep baby so we had to take his temp often)
weleda bum cream
petrolium jelly(which was the only thing that made meconium poop easy to remove)

 

[rockportmidwife]

I had a humidifier with my last baby. It was great for white noise. He would sleep well with it going and the rest of the house didn't have to be too quiet.

 

[quietserena]

I have a nose sucker and a humidifier. I also have some Motrin somewhere but we haven't used it much. I woudln't use it on a fully breastfed baby unless the child had a temp that was out of control. I did splurge on the fancy nose sucker though the harder ones work just the same. Actually, I've been thinking about getting the NoseFrida thing instead of the sucker.

I have a thermometer but I don't trust it anymore, I should probably replace. I rarely used it with DD as it was, because if she was really hot to the touch and was uncomfortable, I didn't really need a number to quantify any of it. A few times when she couldn't stay asleep we gave her Motrin, only a half dose and things would get better. But, DD rarely gets sick and if she were more sickly and had abx or something, I would have probably used my thermometer more.

I think the first aid kids are the sort of thing like formula being sent home with the new moms - they want to get you using them early on lest you rely on some other technique that won't make those manufacturer's money. Maybe I'm just jaded though..

Oh for the saline drops? Nothing works better than breastmilk for a stuffy nose. The milk doesn't burn once it hits the throat like the saline drops do. I never did figure out how to squirt milk directly into DD's nose but I would put it on a soft baby spoon and tip it into her nose. (So I guess the 'kit' at our house also has a soft spoon. ) This all became funny shenenigans once DD got old enough to know what a spoon was and woudl just open her mouthh to get the milk. I ended up having to cover her eyes a few times so I'd get it into the nose.. babies are weird.

 

[xakana]

My thoughts:

- pain & fever relievers (child's ibuprofen, acetaminophen) -- Not for baby: infants should NOT take acetominophen according to recent guidelines and fevers under 102 should be left alone unless baby has had a febrile seizure. Breastmilk is typically the best treatment. And certainly not CHILDREN'S anything! Ibuprofen runs the risk of stomach damage, Acetominophen is VERY easy to OD and can cause kidney failure.
- child's antihistamine & cortisone cream -- Not for babies, useless
- saline nose drops or spray -- That one's up to you, although I never used it--a squirt of breastmilk up the nose works better as it both hydrates and has healing properties
- nasal aspirator -- many people find these unnecessary--I liked having one and my baby liked me using it, but they can potentially cause damage to the delicate nasal cavity of a baby--my DH hated using it as he still has terrible memories associated with it from his own infancy/toddlerhood, though our daughter would actually BRING it to us
- medicine dropper -- Any medicine you will need will come with one marked for infants, so this is unnecessary
- petroleum jelly -- no idea what this would be for, aside from rectal thermometers, which I never used and find unnecessary and... ouch.
- digital thermometor -- yup! learn to take an axillary (armpit) temp--usually pretty easy
- cool mist humidifier -- I don't know why 'cool mist' but a humidifier can help particularly in the winter when babies get stuffed up a lot... we have one, but never really use it

 

[jr'smom]

My oldest is 4 yrs old and the only things we've ever used on that list is a humidifier and a thermometer.

 

[Super~Single~Mama]

breastmilk up the nose to cure stuffiness? I've never heard that before (not surprising...) Good to know though.

 

[quietserena]

Quote:

Originally Posted by xakana - cool mist humidifier -- I don't know why 'cool mist' but a humidifier can help particularly in the winter when babies get stuffed up a lot... we have one, but never really use it

Cool mist because the other kind is way more likely to grow bacteria and mould in it.

 

[jenniet]

Things I found helpful for ds #1 and will have around for ds #2:

-We have forced hot air heating and it gets very dry in the winter while sleeping so my two year old sleeps with a cool mist humidifier every night (as do DH and I).

- Infant Tylenol (rarely used but when baby has a high fever, like a pp mentioned, I don't treat minor fevers, but it's nice not to have to run out in the middle of the night when it' needed) also, my son had a few nights of really rough teething, he would wake up with his hand in his mouth screaming, I mostly used Highlands Teething Tablets (another great thing to have on hand) but saved Tylenol for when it was really bad

-Infant Motrin cannot be used in babies under six months but I was very glad to have it on hand when ds recently woke up in the middle of the night with a fever close to 105

-Thermometer, I think this is important to have on hand, I just take temperatures under the arm

-Nasal aspirator, used it probably a have dozen times when ds was really young and had a cold, I was careful to be gentle about it though

Alternative Treatments to have on hand:

-Homeopathic Teething Tablets
- Lavender Essential Oil (once when ds was two months old, we could not get him to stop crying, my SIL rubbed some lavender oil on relaxing pressure points on ds's feet and he fell asleep peacefully)
- Amber Teething Necklace (I didn't have one with ds #1 but I plan on buying one for the new baby, a good friend of mine swears by it for her dd)
- Breastmilk (it probably doesn't fall under alternative treatments but squirting a little breastmilk up ds's nose when he had a cold worked wonders, our pediatrician also recommended doing this when flying on a plane to prevent illness)