by My week started with thunderstorms taking out our computer modem, and ended with one miserable two year old dotted with chicken pox. Through it all, I’ve learned that HP’s technical support beats Staples’ 800-number system hands down and that pretty much every over the counter anti-itch potion is too harsh for a toddler’s skin!
Toddler is our first child to never be vaccinated. For anything. And even with my two older children, I opted not to vaccinate for chicken pox. My medical doctor even advised me not to, saying the vaccine was basically peace of mind for working moms who couldn’t afford to take a week off to nurse sick children. And one week can morph into two or three if all the kiddos end up catching the disease. My chiropractor, who believes in going vax-free, told me that what most of the American public doesn’t realize about the chicken pox vaccine is that these kids will need to be revaccinated as adults and if they forget, they are in for a life-threatening case of chicken pox.
Anyway, I didn’t get on here to argue the pros of not vaccinating.
What I really crave are “been there done that” great tips on getting through this junk? I’d classify toddler’s case as just shy of “raging”…last night I was up all night with her while dh went on a midnight run to the nearest open store (thirty minutes away) to get more Calamine lotion, Claritin allergy for toddlers and Curious George band-aids (isn’t he the best daddy? And no, we don’t cover every sore with a band-aid…). I’m so thankful we’re done with the toilet training, b/c the pull-up I had her in for night-time was really chafing her sores. And she really doesn’t need a pull-up at night; she wakes up half a dozen times during the night to go to the bathroom (all false alarms for the most part, ugh) anyway. So she’s completely in cloth training pants now, thanks to CP.
We’re going to do an Aveeno bath soon and re-apply the Calamine. I hate to give the Claritin unless she just can’t sleep at night without it. Any tips and all prayers are greatly appreciated!
TIA!
You’re already out of diapers? Sheesh, I don’t think we’ll ever get there. I’m hearing more and more lately about NOT vaccinating. But I’ve never heard that recommendation from a medical doctor. I’d love to hear more if you ever do decide to post about it, though I’m sure it’s controversial.
Yep we didn’t vaccinate against this either and I don’t think it’s done here anyway, I think there are too many vaccinations these days anyway especially considering the childhood illnesses we got in our younger days.
Our boy got his pox at just a little over one year. We found that having no clothes on helped heaps, and just baths in oatmeal water (Aveeno that you’re using works too). That and tylenol to help with pain and fever. Took four days/nights to get over the worst of it (and he had a hard/bad case of it).
Georgiana, I’m not an expert on the no-vax thing, wish I was. I had my youngest at a birth center with a midwife and opted out of all the vaccinations after her birth. She was amazingly healthy (my other two were pretty healthy but each had a cold before they were 1 year old. Toddler went 18 mos before her first sniffles! And I breastfed oldest and youngest to 13 mos, and middle to 6 mos. Lost my milk after a serious bout with pneumonia and didn’t have any idea that I could get it back. Wish I’d known. Anyway, I had planned on getting toddler up to date on her vaccinations by age 2, but when I called my local health dept and asked for separate strains they said they didn’t do that. From what I understand, when they lump so many vaccinations into one shot it gets dangerous. We have 3 friends that have had perfectly normal, actually above average 2 year olds and then they get their MMR shot and suddenly can’t talk normally and are drastically developmentally delayed. So I’m cautious.
Amy, I agree. Way too many vaccines out there. I’m glad we don’t have to deal with all the disease, but some say that all these vaccines are the cause of all the auto-immune diseases we’re seeing an increase in. Have you read Robert S. Mendelsohn’s book “How to Raise a Healthy Child In Spite of Your Doctor”? Mendelsohn is a former MD with over 25 years of medical pediatrician experience. Very interesting read.
Annette, thanks so much for the encouragement. I think your 4 day prediction is right on with us. My toddler’s pocks seem to be scabbing and she’s not needing the calamine applied as often. I’ll be glad when this is over!
Oh Gosh! My two boys never got chicken pox. I did the vaccines.
But as a child I remember a lot of TLC and Calamine lotion. Benydryl is also a good med for itching.
I hope your little one gets well soon.
Thanks so much, Leticia!