Three days til flight... Isabella has a bad cold!

[crazyforgoofy]

Some of you may have read that we brought Isabella (age almost 4 1/2) home less than three weeks ago. She's our granddaughter and will be with us indefinitely. She's adapting to life with us quite well all things considered and is SO excited about meeting Mickey Mouse and all the gang. But this morning the little sniffle she's had has turned into a raging cold. Both my husband and I succumbed earlier so I should have seen this coming. She alternately has a stuffy then a drippy nose. She's draining down her throat and has a barky seal cough. My son Jeff and his fiancee, Thea, were here for the weekend so Thea called her dad, an ER physician. He gave me the correct dosage of Tylenol Cold and told me to make sure to dose her 1/2 hour before flying, give her things to chew and swallow during takeoff and landing, plenty to drink in the meantime, lots of rest, etc.

Anything else I should do to help her feel better on the flight and during the trip? I'd appreciate any advice. It's been 21 years since I've had a 4 year old in the house and my "mommy medical info" is a bit out of date.

Thanks,
Mary Alice

 

[crisi]

My kids often have raging colds - but it seldom seems to knock them down the way it does grown ups. How is Isabella fairing?

The only thing you didn't mention in that set of advice is a humidifier for her room at night. That might help alot.

And don't be shocked if she is just fine three days from now. Kids can bounce back fast. On the other hand, don't be surprised in the barky cough stays for a few months, either.

My kids don't like the solid forms of any of the medicines, but like the liquid forms. Stop by the drugstore and do some shopping. And you know that now you NEVER give a child asprin due to Reye's syndrome.

My son is about her age and loves to chew gum. Which might help with takeoff and landing on the flight. And, although both my kids can easily drink out of a "big" cup - sippy cups are the eleventh wonder of the world - particularly when the kids are sick or in transit.

 

[TigerLilly's Mom]

I agree with the above poster, that she will probably be just fine in a couple days. Kids seem to bounce back easier and faster than adults. My dd will hardly be sick with a cold, while the same cold will knock my ds out. But within a couple days, both are doing better. My kids are prone to ear infections, so when they get a cold, I always give them dimeatap when they go to bed to keep the fluid from building up behind their ears. I would never do this during the day though, it really knocks them out. Humidifiers are great too. Let us know how she is doing. Tonia

 

[DisneyPhD]

Hopefully the warmer weather at WDW will help a lot. Right now both my hubby, daugher and I have colds and coughs. But I bet if we were somewhere warm we would all feel better.

Have a great trip.

 

[CRCrazy]

Be sure that she isn't percolating an ear infection - my youngest gets one with every cold she catches~I would bring her in to the pediatrician either tomorrow or Tuesday to be sure!

 

[Tinky]

Don't forget the hugs!!!

They do wonders!

 

[crazyforgoofy]

Now have the humidifier running. She doesn't like it much but she fell asleep anyway. Okay, I know the no aspirin thing but I assume children's motrin, etc is acceptable, right? She's not crazy about gum but we've agreed to shop together tomorrow for some she likes and try it out before the plane. She HATES the "purple medicine" (children's Tylenol Cold) but gets it down with a bribe of something that tastes good.

I'm hoping she bounces back fast, she deserves some fun.

 

[susy]

Get her to the doctor immediately!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If she
has an ear infection- she needs drops and antibioctics.
She will be in agony if she has to fly with an ear infection.

when my son (age 5) has a cold I :
run the cool-midst humidifier- you can get one at the drugstore.
Run it especailly at night.

Give her cold medicine -children's sudafed is good for just the nose and won't make her drowsy. tylenol has a new "Simply Cough" just for coughs- or get a combo medicine. take tylenol fro pain/fever

Before bed:
use vicks vaporub before bed. Give her a warm bath using Johnson's vaporbath(in the babycare section), then apply the vaporub, then the medicine, then the humidifier. she shoudl sleep great!

My son also had the barky couhg- croup. His doctor gave him a shot of cortisone and then oral med. for a couple of days.

I would get this taken care of ASAP!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Jordan's MOM]

Here's just wishing you "get well" thoughts for Isabella. I too agree a trip to the Dr.is a great idea. Get those ears checked out though it might be a little early for an ear infection to show up. I would beg for an antibiotic to take along since you may not know yet how she recoveres from a cold. My DS was one of those that always got a secondary infection of some type.
You might need to slow your pace down a little more to keep her from getting so tired.
Mortin is great and wonderful in case she develops an ear infection. I would in fact pack the whole medicine shelf!! Take everything that you could think you might need. Don't forget a thermomater.
A funny story. We were at WDW with my son once when he was just recovering from a cold. He was just fine by the time we went but he always has a lingering asmatic cough that sounds awful. No matter where we went people would try to stay away from us. No one crowed our parade spot, or tried to crowd us in line. He even got some special attention for CM's for being "sick". We were use to the "bark" and knew he was not contagious nor did he feel bad. Worked out pretty well !! LOL. Prayer and Disney magic comming your way.

Jordan's mom

 

[crisi]

Motrin is fine.

Here is another "trick," but some background, because I don't think people should do this unless they need to.

My son gets febrile seizures. These are seizures brought on by his tempature climbing fast as he comes down with something. Doesn't happen every time, they aren't harmful, he seems to have outgrown them - we've been a year plus without one (and they tell me he probably will outgrow them), but they sure are scary. His are unusual because usually a child will just have one with each fever - my son has been known to "chain" them and has had as many as six over a 48 hour period. Because of this, fever management is important around our house. You can give the children's tylenol and then, halfway through the tylenol dose (every 4 hours? so at the 2 hour mark), dose with Motrin - halfway through that, dose with tylenol again. As I said, I wouldn't do this unless she has a raging fever - I'm not a fan of pumping my kids full of unnecessary medication.

My daughter is ear infection girl - but they don't happen nearly as often now as they used to (she is 3 1/2) - and by your grand daughters age, most kids have outgrown the frequency. But I do agree that before you get on the plane, have a doctor peek in her ears. If you do suspect an infection requiring antibotics, as for Zithromax. It isn't a penicillian one, but requires a single dose for only five days (ah, the advances of modern medicine in the last 21 years).

(Try the cherry or the bubble gum tylenol. She might know if she likes the red stuff or the pink stuff better than the purple stuff)

 

[Fox&Hound]

How is Isabella feeling today??? I have no advice to offer -- everyone else gave you great advice already. My kids are just getting over colds too. DS4 had a cold for five days but the cough is still lingering. (The pediatrician said it could be another week before the cough goes away.) DS1 had a cold for a few days longer. Both are doing great now. I use the various Tylenol and Motrin products, and sometimes Robitussin, for the kid's colds -- all seem to work the same and I usually stock up when one goes on sale. (Luckily, neither of my DS's have had ear infections.)

(P.S. I agree with Crisi -- the bubblegum flavored medicines (Motrin) are always a hit. They aren't as harsh tasting.)

I hope she gets better soon!! Disney will be a great treat!!

 

[crazyforgoofy]

and has discovered that she likes chewable cherry flavored tablets well enough! That's a step in the right direction. She's so excited that tomorrow is "the day with the car on it" on the calendar. That's the day we drive to Kansas City to spend the night at her Aunt Michelle's house so we can get up extra early for our flight to "Mickey Mouse's House".

On a side note, we saw the attorney today who will help us gain legal guardianship of this little one. We hope and pray it goes fairly easily so no one's feelings are hurt too much but that she is protected for as long as necessary. I know it must hurt her mommy to give her up but her life is so far out of control she can't provide a safe home for her.

But for the 8 days beginning Wednesday we plan to think of nothing but fun and pixie dust and a tiny girl's smiles of wonder!

Thanks for your good wishes and advice.

Isabella's "Grand Mary Alice"

 

[PattyH804]

Hi,
Just wanted to wish you a safe and happy trip.
I can't wait to hear how it all goes when you get
back. It's such a heartwarming story. I hope you
and your husband take some time for yourselves
as well. Running after Isabella will certainly be
tiring.
I'm glad you found that she can handle the
chewable medicine. My DS doesn't like the liquids
and actually learned to swallow pills at 4. I don't
know how he did it.
My DD, is 4 now and is prone to the ear infections
that others have mentioned. In the beginning they
are painful and alternating the tylenol and motrin
every 2-3 hours works great.
My children prefer lollipops to gum on the planes.
They also take sippy cups because we don't have
to worry about them spilling in their backpacks. The
flight attendants will even fill them up for us with
apple juice.
I don't know if you'll even get this before you go
but my MIL finds cheap activity pads and coloring
books at the Dollar Stores. They are great for on
the planes. Just bring a small box of crayons or
washable markers.
Have a super time!!
Patty in TX

 

[crazyforgoofy]

Thanks everyone for your encouraging words and advice. Isabella is doing much better today and can't wait to get in the car for the first part of our trip (to Kansas City). She's got Raffi on cd, a pink Leap Pad and lots of her favorite cookies. We're stopping on the way at the Dollar Store for a couple more books and a coloring book (Thanks, Patty.)

We'll report back when we return. Wow, our trip is finally here. Isabella wants to meet Belle "cause we have almost the same name." We're going to have so much fun!

Bye!