Okay, so apparently my daughter has the flu and now my husband and I are starting to feel it. Influenza is really spreading around our town right now. I am trying to treat us with as little drugs as possible. I don't ever recall having the flu and my daughter has never had it before. When do I need to worry about taking her in? I am worried about her getting pneumonia. Both my husband and I have had it before (though our pneumonia was caused by black mold). How can I tell when her flu becomes pneumonia?
She is feeling a lot of pain when she coughs and tries not to complete her coughs because of it.
jjaelovesenglish
02-24-2007, 12:07 AM
I would take her in. If she is afraid to cough they may be able to give her just a cough supressent pill that makes her less misserable. I remember having that and it is quite painful. Poor little girl!
mrsjune
02-24-2007, 12:09 AM
Im sorry.. I would take her in if she is scared to cough! I hope yall feel better soon..
moonphishers
02-24-2007, 12:15 AM
she's 6/7? yeah - I'd take her in too if it's causing her pain to cough. :(
camdensmommy
02-24-2007, 04:48 AM
No, she is 2. Her throat hurts which is why she doesn't like to cough. It is painful. DH and I are both now sick and I can understand it. We've been doing a lot of steam and that helps.
I don't really want to take her in right now. The only thing they will give her is drugs.
The steam seems to be making a big difference. The only frustration is that when she coughs, she doesn't spit the stuff out, you know? She just swallows it down again. Any tips for getting a 2 year old to spit out nasty stuff, LOL? Her way of getting the phlegm out of her system is to throw up, ugh.
heather_c
02-24-2007, 07:01 AM
No advice here, but I am sending you hugs and get well vibes. Sick kiddos and parents is not fun at all.
kezoo
02-24-2007, 07:35 AM
No, she is 2. Her throat hurts which is why she doesn't like to cough. It is painful. DH and I are both now sick and I can understand it. We've been doing a lot of steam and that helps.
I don't really want to take her in right now. The only thing they will give her is drugs.
The steam seems to be making a big difference. The only frustration is that when she coughs, she doesn't spit the stuff out, you know? She just swallows it down again. Any tips for getting a 2 year old to spit out nasty stuff, LOL? Her way of getting the phlegm out of her system is to throw up, ugh.
Well, I don't know that they'll give you drugs...When Gavin was 9 months old, he & I both got the flu. I was a mess, I had it really bad, and Gavin just slept and slept and slept, waking only to nurse. Well, he also had a fever (102-ish) for several days, and on day 3, I asked dh to take him in to the ped just to check. The ped said, yes he's got the flu, we can't do anything for him, keep doing what you are doing (letting him sleep, lots of nursing, etc.). Gavin recovered quickly, I took a lot longer (2 weeks).
I don't know how to convince a 2 yo to cough out the phlegm. A steamy bath or shower helps things loosen up, perhaps you just keep asking her to spit it out and she'll get the idea. Also, a few drops of eucalyptus or tto or mint-type EO in the bath will help with decongestion. Hope you all feel better soon!
camdensmommy
02-24-2007, 12:08 PM
Well, I don't know that they'll give you drugs...When Gavin was 9 months old, he & I both got the flu. I was a mess, I had it really bad, and Gavin just slept and slept and slept, waking only to nurse. Well, he also had a fever (102-ish) for several days, and on day 3, I asked dh to take him in to the ped just to check. The ped said, yes he's got the flu, we can't do anything for him, keep doing what you are doing (letting him sleep, lots of nursing, etc.). Gavin recovered quickly, I took a lot longer (2 weeks).
I don't know how to convince a 2 yo to cough out the phlegm. A steamy bath or shower helps things loosen up, perhaps you just keep asking her to spit it out and she'll get the idea. Also, a few drops of eucalyptus or tto or mint-type EO in the bath will help with decongestion. Hope you all feel better soon!
Thanks. The mentality around here is drugs, drugs, drugs. The naturopath that I love and we normally go to is out of town so we'd have to go to a clinic. A lot of people I know have been taking their kiddo's to the clinic's for this flu and they are prescribing various medications.
Anyway, the eucalyptus helps a lot. We are putting some of that in her vaporizer and last night I put a few drops in the armpits of my shirt so that she could nurse easier.
aschrimp
02-24-2007, 02:02 PM
You might let her practice spitting with some water into the sink or tub (a hot steamy bath to practice spitting into might be just the thing). At two, she probably just doesn't quite know how to do it (or at least doesn't know to connect it to you telling her "Spit it out").
If you show her, use the words alot while you both are doing it, it might help her connect it all up so that when you remind her to spit after she coughs, she will at least try.
PS - we had bout after bout of colds and flu last winter with my ds. He had bronchiolitis every time, so his chest was gunky sounding all the time. The dr said that pnemonia takes on a crackly sound, not just gunky. We went in several times just to get his chest listened to to make sure it wasn't turning in to pnemonia. I would start worrying when it got to 10 days or so and he was *still* running a fever and coughing.
When my little brother had pnemonia (in his teens), he would just cough and cough and cough - there was NO WAY he would be able to stop coughing just because it hurt.
GBMama
02-24-2007, 02:52 PM
If you've had pneumonia yourself, you know the pain is in the chest, not the throat & is often accompanied by a horrific headache. I actually got pneumonia because it was a crazy-busy time of year & I just kept suppressing the symptoms w/traditional OTC meds so I could keep going. Your body makes you cough / runny nose / etc as a way of washing out the virus.
DD just got over the flu last week. It lasted a good 11 days. I took her to the Dr on day 7 just to make sure she didn't have something else as we were flying out of state. She did have an ear infection, but since she hadn't been complaining about it, I didn't give her the antibiotics, just Hyland's earache medicine. Hyland's cough syrup also worked great at night and before naptime to help her sleep. I added Hyland's vitamin C & Boericke & Tafel's Alpha CF - a German homeopathic cold/flu. I'd only give her the cold/flu & cough syrup before bed though. I'm sure you are, but just in case, make sure she's drinking plenty of water. It'll help keep the mucus thin and easier to cough up as well as flush out her internal tissues & circulatory system. Be prepared for her to pee a lot more though - that's good!
As for the sputum, my DD wouldn't spit it out either. I just had to reassure myself that their little bodies are capable of processing it okay. They have much better immune systems than us stressed out, over tired adults. She may get an upset stomach though...
Hope you're all feeling better! DH & I got it from DD too. DH got it the worst though.
iris0110
02-24-2007, 10:54 PM
DS1 just did a round with the flu, the rest of us didn't get it. We can't give him any thing at all because of his severe sensory issues so we had to do what we could to make him comfortable. AS you are already doing, steam steam steam. Also GSE, SA and elderberry extract are all good to treat the flu and keep it from getting to anything worse. Flu caused pnumoina is usually evidenced by a severe and painful cough continuing out past 10 days from onset. Also high temperatures for more than 7 days. Ds seemed to get better for a couple of days, then worse for a couple of days and then finally better completely.
9800Emily
02-24-2007, 11:08 PM
When I had the flu they gave me some anti viral pills that worked wonders. I'm not much on taking medicines, but this was worth it. My flu lasted a total of 3.5 days not 7 plus. DH was given 2 days worth of the medicine and it kept him from even getting it. My dd never got it either. The doc said the meds were approved for age 2 and up. I did have to start the pills within 48 hours of the flu so it may be too late for your dd, but not you and your DH. My mom recently caught the flu and used this (http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=31289&catid=47606&brand=12262&trx=BS-12262&trxp1=HPFP&trxp2=0&trxp3=31289&btrx=BS-12262) . The chiro told her about it and she was only sick for a couple of days too. :hugs: hope you all recover soon.
