So, we wanna know:
- Teagan has begun repeatedly smacking herself in the head. On the one hand, I think it's pretty comical, but I'll agree with Amy that on some level, it is somewhat disconcerting. What does this mean, should we be worried about it, and what, if anything should we do? I really don't want my li'l girl to grow up to be a masochist...
- How do you manage when you both are ill? We've managed (just barely) to stagger our illnesses: Amy had a bad end of the week last week, I was out Saturday night through Monday morning, Amy was back down Monday afternoon til this morning, now I'm down again. Whaddya do when you're both too sick to take care of the kid(s)? The last thing we want to do is give Bambina what either of us have (oddly enough, we both have different crud).
6 comments:
Her smacking herself doesn't mean anything right now, I think. She's so young. She may be experimenting with those two arms she didn't know she had. Or she might need some stimulation like an over the head toy that she can bat at.
Kids do weird things. I worried and still do when my kids do something odd. Em loves to cough incessantly. Not sick. Just coughs. But in the end, most of the time it's just a passing fad, tailor made to make mommy and daddy crazy with worry.
As for the feeling sick and taking care of her... she'll be ok if you keep your distance with smooches and the like. Also, maybe you guys could ask a friend to watch her for a few hours while you guys rest. Someone you trust. They may even stay at your house while you sleep, kind of on call for the baby.
I've been there. Sickness and child care is sooo hard. You just get through these days. I wish I lived closer or I'd be there in a heart beat.
Feel better my friends.
I agree with Joann. Kids do weird things at this stage since she's probably just learning her motor skills.
And as for feeling sick at the same time. The answer is you just deal with it. Right now it's a little bit easier than later. In theory you can just lay her down and try to rest as much as possible. When they start running and crawling all over the place is when it gets tricky. As far as germs go, like Joann said, she'll be fine if you keep your distance and don't give her kisses n such. You're in the same house and there's always the possibility of her catching something. That's just the way it goes.
And if y'all need a break, you know that M and I are just a phone call away. :-)
Tom,
If you remember the commercial for plastics a while back where the running line was "it'll be a miracle if he/she lives to 18," and you'll have your answer. Kids will occasionally do thinks that make you wonder what the heck they're thinking, but as long as she's not grabbing plates and smacking her head, she'll be okay. Now, if she is still doing this a year later, then maybe it's time to do something, but if you freak now, she'll think "hey, I got a reaction doing that! Let's do that again!"
As for #2, we've been lucky in that we've both never been sick at the same time. If we were, I'd probably be the one to handle most of it anyway; I'm used to sleeping on the couch during cold and flu season while everyone else is sick.
--Mike L.
Wait…there’s something wrong with hitting yourself in the head?
Seriously though, I agree with the others, it’s a natural part of fine tuning those motor skills. If she’s still doing it in six months, then you can worry.
If it really bugs you, put a small dog cone over her head – that’ll take care of the problem.
As for both being sick at the same time…other than the basic precautions others mentioned – you are out of luck! It’s one of those classic “suck it up and get through” – preferably without harming yourself or others. I’m trying to be funny, but it’s seriously hard sometimes – especially when the whole family starts throwing up!
You can try taking turns watching Tegan while the other gets a few hours of uninterrupted sleep or better yet get someone to watch her while you both sleep.
And don’t worry too much about her catching stuff from you. When she starts daycare she’s going to become a germ factory. And if you’re lucky, she’ll just keep passing them around to you two. Won’t that be GREAT?!
Tom and Amy,
The only thing i can think of about Teagan smacking her head would be that maybe she has an earache. If the doctor checks her ears and sees fluid, then there is the answer.
hsf mom -
I had initially thought earache, too, but there was no screaming accompanying it. At her recent checkup, the pediatrician didn't tell me anything was wrong with her ears, so I'm hopeful that's not the problem.
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