Why can't they be like that at home?

Wednesday morning I barely get home from dropping the kids off at school and the phone rings. It's the school. "Mommy, I forgot to tell you last night, I'm out of lunch money and my teacher said I have to call. " Also my son couldn't find his gloves and has taken the good ones to school which I only like him to use for skiing. After morning naps and finding the other gloves I pack up the two youngest and go to school. After dropping off the money for lunch, I go to my son's classroom and find he is currently at lunch. He begs me to stay, so I buy Imogen a lunch. My oldest's class comes while we are sitting there and she and here friends sit with us too. They are all so excited to sit together. After a bit my son show his 4 year old sister where to take her tray and then leads her by the hand out to recess. When I catch up with them, he is trying his hardest to lift her onto the swing. He only weighs 5 lbs more then she does, so is not very successful. Once I lift her on he insists on pushing her and then takes her up the slide and reassures her that it's not too scary and even defends her against kids who just want to push her down the slide because she is holding up the line. They were both sad when he had to go back to his class. These of coarse are my same two children who fight about everything when they are home.

It's heeerrrre!!!!

Those three little letters that strike fear in the heart of parents everywhere are here: RSV. Bronchiolitis which is the symptoms that RSV can often cause come around every winter. Usual symptoms include breathing fast, having lots of nasal secretions, wheezing and decreased appetite. Lots of different viruses can cause bronchiolitis, but RSV is the most common. You or older children can have RSV but have basic cold-type symptoms, in young babies it can be much worse. Bronchiolitis is definitely a spectrum, you can be just a little bit more sick then your normal cold or really bad and need to be in the hospital. How bad your child's symptoms are can change at anytime. Bronchiolitis symptoms can last up to a month. Antibiotics do not help the symptoms of bronchiolitis. The best thing to do is keep a humidifier going in the room the child spends the most time 24 hours a day. I recommend cool mist, the warm mist humidifiers are fabulous breeding grounds for bacteria. I recently heard something from a patient about the cool mist humidifier will make the room too cold and make kids sick. That is not true. The other thing to do is nasal saline spray and suctioning. I give my own kids a squirt of saline and suck them out with the blue suction bulb whenever they are having a hard time sleeping or eating because they are congested. There is not medication that is safe in young children to make congestion go away. I know they hate being sucked out. I know they cry like you're trying to kill them. Do it anyway. Do use gentle suctioning, don't do it so hard that they are bleeding.

Good reasons to see the doctor:
1. Your child is breathing faster then 60 times a minute if less then 1 or greater then 40 times a minute if greater then 1. Take off their shirt and watch their chest for a full minute and count. Don't count for 15 seconds and multiply. Best to count when they are as calm as possible.
2. They are having more nasal secretions then you can handle with the bulb suctioning. I know around where I live there are several respiratory clinics in hospitals that are open around the clock where you can take your child to be deep suctioned if needed. Ask you doctor. The clinics most likely need an order first.
3. Your child has any signs of dehydration; making less then 2-3 good wet diapers a day, not making tears when they cry, when you look in their mouth it is tacky instead of moist.
4. They are having any signs of respiratory distress. Flaring their nostrils when they breathing, using their stomach muscles to breath or pulling in between their ribs with breathing, otherwise known as retractions.