Get your snuggles where you can

Anyone else feel like EVERYONE has a cold right now?! All over social media are poor parents posting statuses about sick kids. Parenting a poorly kid sucks. There’s not much worse than seeing someone so incredibly precious to you so vulnerable and so helpless (Sorry husbands it’s definitely worse than seeing you with man flu!)

The little guy and I joined my parents on holiday in Devon last week and he got so poorly that we ended up spending nearly all our time stuck in the cottage. It was an incredible shame to not get to enjoy our holiday but let’s be honest, who cares, the saddest thing was seeing my little guy so poorly. He had conjunctivitis, a fever for five days, a cough and cold. He slept for 6 hours in the days and then slept at night too (when he wasn’t screaming and sobbing because his temperature was so high). Then, just when he seemed to be getting better his temperature dropped very low and he got a rash all over his abdomen. The rash looked awfully like measles which seemed like a cruel irony the week before his vaccination. Fortunately it was ‘just’ a viral infection.

We’re raising a pretty sensible toddler (go figure!) who LOVES his sleep and generally if he wakes up in the night he gets pretty cross if you touch him or attempt to lift him out of his cot, all he wants is to go back to sleep. But, last week all he wanted was to snuggle in close. So, at 2am we were watching Peter Rabbit on the iPad and he was snuggled in as close as he physically could. His temperature was so high it was like lying up against a radiator on a high high heat. As his Mummy it was absolutely  unbearable.

Our little guy is not a cuddler. He likes to give you a quick pat (generally on the head) and then wander off to get on with playing. So, I did enjoy the cuddles for a time but a few days in when your toddler hasn’t eaten, hasn’t smiled and has spent most of their time asleep, you do not want the cuddles, you want them to get better.

The NHS website says that children can get up to between 8 to 12 colds a year. I’m pretty sure we’ve hit the 12 if not more and to be honest I’m a little fed up on his behalf. Let’s hope his immune system genuinely is becoming really effective and soon it’ll kick in big time to make him sort of super toddler.

I posted when the little guy was much smaller about coping with the colds and still recommend all the same things. This time we alternated Calpol and Calprofen as he had a constant fever. We also visited the local Doctor’s surgery whilst on holiday and the nurse practitioner gave us a great leaflet for when you’re worried about coughs and colds; have a read here.

If your little one has a cold then I hope you enjoy the snuggles but I also hope it passes quickly for you. And, if you’ve got a cold then keep going you can do it! Parenting whilst sick sucks, get yourself a bottle of Prosecco (or a massive Gin) ready to celebrate your awesomeness once you get through it.

We’re almost over this virus and I’ve almost stopped sniffling and coughing, but the little guy has had horrible reactions to his two previous immunisations and he has more next week. Boohoo. Wish us luck!