The Infant Ear Infection

This is Monster 7th month of life, and we've already experienced our first infant cold and an increase in infant teething.

Just when I thought we'd get things back to normal the worst thing happened! Last Monday in the late afternoon Monster was more crabby then usual. He had increase drooling, was chewing and biting and had a low grade fever. I gave him some Hylands Teething Tablets and Hylands Teething Gel to help relieve his teething pain and Infant Tylenol to bring down his infant fever.

Over the course of a day and a half the low grade fever increased to fever and Monster began pulling his right ear. All the teething symptoms started to dissolve but  he was still visibly ill. Hubbs and I decided enough was enough and we took Monster in to the after hours walk-in clinic at our family doctors office. After describing Monster's symptoms, and assuring the doctor "Yes, he is *only* seven and a half month old..." he prescribed Monster his first ever antibiotic treatment.

Hubbs was automatically concerned because Monster was prescribed Amoxicillin which is a product of Penicillin. The issue being the fact that Hubbs, his father, and his uncle are all allergic to Penicillin. We both discussed things to watch for in great detail with the pharmacist on duty and were reassured that even people who once were allergic to Penicillin are no longer because the drug has evolved and been "cleaned up" so much in the last decade or so. 

Skip to now, four days after the initial diagnosis and prescription, almost all is back to normal. Now we have to work on the damage this month of Monster not feeling well has done to his sleep schedule.

The Teething Monster

When The Teething Monster Attacks... dun dun dun!

Since my Monster was about two months old I've been dealing with sopping wet onsies and tee-shirts, not to mention mine and the Hubbs clothing getting absolutely drenched while holding him. It wasn't until recently that the pain aspect of teething hit. What I dislike most about teething pain is that is usually comes on suddenly, without any warning!

For the last week or two Monster has been slightly bi-polar, laughing and happily chatting with me and his toys while mouthfuls of drool drips everywhere. Then, suddenly, like a light switch he is screaming and thrashing with uncontrollable teething pain. That sounds rather dramatic, perhaps it is, but when you have a normally contented sunshiny baby, the screaming/thrashing comes with a shocked and terrified mommy.

We've looked into various ways to help sooth Monsters gum pains: Teething toys to chew on, Hyland's Teething Tablets, Kolic Gripe Water, and Infant Tylenol but the most effective tool we've found has been a cold, damp face cloth or towel to chew on.

Seems so simple! We actually found this cheap, homemade remedy by accident. One afternoon Auntie Tg and I took Monster to the beach for a dip, and when we all got out she slung him over her shoulder where her towel was lying. He immediately started to gnaw on her shoulder, where the cold, wet towel was. It's common for him to chew and suck on the clothes over our shoulders when we hold him, but he was really going to town on this towel.

Since that day, when teething pain begins to set in, he give him a cool, damp towel to chew on before resorting to over the counter medicinal (or holistic) treatments. I'm sure this at home remedy won't last through our teething days, but for now, I'm in!

Walking on Sunshine

Every single day my Monster changes, yesterday I discovered that he has become bored with the view inside our house. I have to admit, we do spend a lot of time in our house, playing games, bouncing in the excersaucer, and reading stories.

Of course I started by blaming his fussiness on four month sleep regression (he has been fighting his naps lately), teething pain, and growth spurts without thinking things through. Monster is a contented, happy little man who doesn't usually fuss unless something is genuinely pissing him off.

After trying his Hyland's Teething Tablets, which often works very quickly, he still wasn't a happy camper. I finally made a last ditch effort to help him nap by taking him for a car ride to pick Hubbs up from work. The soothing ride, seriously, works every time! Instead of going straight home we ventured down to our local big box store to check out some teething rings and toys.

Once we parked and left the vehicle Mr. Monster woke up with a huge smile on his face! Could it be? The happy little baby I've been waiting to see all day? We walked around that store for well over an hour enjoying the smiles, laughs and coo's of our little boy. He stopped to talk to everyone he saw, and looking with interested smiles at everything I had to show it.

Then it hit me... A new interesting environment = An interested, happy baby! Of course! The ever expanding brain of my Monster was merely bored with the sights he sees day in and day out.

I guess it's time to put my mommy pants on and think of new and exciting things for us to do together!