[not_telling]

<p>DS, my poor little guy, has been sick the last few days.  Runny nose started 4 days ago, but instead of being the usual faucet, it seemed to mostly just want to stay up inside where DS would have a hard time blowing it out.  Two days ago he got a fever, his first ever that I know of.  He's been pretty consistently in the 100.7-102 range (armpit).  He is waking a lot at night and sounds horrible when he's sleeping.  The congestion seems to be somewhere where DS is able to breathe a little bit through his nose, but it makes a horrible rattley snoring sound.  I can also tell that stuff is going down the back of his throat, too.  Today there have been a few times when he's been fussing with his ears and two of those times he started crying.  He hasn't been eating much and he's not drinking as much as I'd like him to.  His breathing is rapid and I read that that's common when there's a fever.</p>
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<p>BUT, when I ask him specific questions about how he's feeling, he denies that anything is bothering him.  Does your nose feel stuffy?  No.  Is your throat scratchy and kinda owie?  No.  Do you feel hot?  No.  Is there an owie or an itchy in your ear?  No.</p>
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<p>Now, I know he's feeling crappy.  I can see it.  And I've certainly had enough colds myself to know what it feels like.  I wish I could believe him about his ears not hurting, but I don't.  I had DH buy some Hyland's Earache Tablets and I think we'll use those tonight.  If he has a fever tomorrow that will be day 4 of moderate fever.  This is definitely different than the other handful of colds he's gotten over the last two years, and the congestion part without the super runny nose makes me nervous about him getting an infection (ear, sinus).  Should we see the Dr. if he's still ucky tomorrow (fever, etc.)?</p>

 

[CrunchyChristianMama]

<p>I wouldn't worry about it too much if he seems pretty happy.  The dr. isn't going to be able to do anything for a viral cold, so I would avoid exposing him to more germs in the dr's office. </p>
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<p>I would just keep focusing on trying to get fluids into him and encouraging him to rest.  It may be time to break of some movies if you're not opposed to that just to get him to sit still and rest. </p>
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<p>For colds around here we give Yin Chaio (a Chinese herb), Old Indian Wild Cherry Bark Syrup (if there's a cough), and use essential oils in a humidifier (eucalyptus, tea tree, and lavender).  It usually clears things up quickly.</p>

 

[shanniesue2]

<p>I think you should just follow his behavior leads and not worry about it if he tells you he doesn't feel sick.  DS is a little older than your DS and he is just now figuring out what it means if he says he feels sick... he got a few tummy bugs this fall and we would ask him how his tummy felt and he would say "it feels better."  and then he would promptly throw up.  Now he's starting to understand what it means to say one "feels sick." </p>
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<p>As for possible ear infections... some kids can get horrible ear infections and just not be bothered too much by the pain and some kids can get really minor infections and feel really horrible.  Ear infections have always caused me very serious pain... but they don't seem to with DS.  We've taken him in a few times and he's had really nasty infections that we didn't know about b/c they don't seem to bother him that much.</p>
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<p>Anyway, I wouldn't worry too much about getting the right answer out of him when you ask him if he feels sick.  Just see what he feels up to doing and go from there...</p>
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<p>and just speaking for myself, if DS ran a fever for more than three days and symptoms weren't improving, I would probably take him in for a doctor's visit.  But a lot of that has to do with our personal experience and preference.  DS was hospitalized with pnuemonia a couple of years ago, and DH really freaks out any time DS starts coughing or gets a fever.  So it's more to comfort my husband than anything else.  Plus our doctor is awesome about only recommending abx when they are actually needed.</p>