We’ve had a rough time of it these last few weeks with the children and getting sick. To say I’m sleep deprived is an understatement, but so is everyone else in the house. We are passing a grumpy hat round as we can only have one person be grouchy at anyone time to avoid complete fall out!
I picked Princess up from nursery the other week, and she was covered in chickenpox. Apparently they appeared in the space of half an hour. Fortunately it was the end of the day as getting her home any earlier would have been such a battle.
To be fair she got away with it last time it was doing the rounds which was a huge relief as it was when little Pudding was due. I was dreading having a spotty newborn and poorly toddler at home in those chaotic early days.
Princess has coped with the bug far better than I thought she would. We used Piriton in the morning and at bedtime, which seemed to keep the itching at bay. Calpol kept the temperature under control too. She didn’t pick one scab, which was a complete surprise. I guess she was too busy sucking her thumb and fiddling with her belly button. The spots just seemed to disappear uneventfully really. Hopefully that means no scars.
So we have been waiting ever since for little Pudding to develop the spots. We really thought we’d got away with it but then 2 1/2 weeks later we had an awfully restless night, and in the morning she was covered. I’ve since learnt that it can take up to 21 days for the spots to appear.
She’s got loads of spots on her back, which really irritate her at night when she’s laying down. When it really bothers her she throws her helpless little body all over the shop and it’s heartbreaking not being able to fix it. I put camomile lotion on but it didn’t seem to make a jot of difference.
Babies under one can’t have Piriton, but we’ve found putting oats in a sock in the bath really helps. I’m hoping for a much better nights sleep tonight anyway. She seems full of cold too, she’s just one poorly little mite who can’t leave the house. Hopefully we’ve only got a few more days of it. It’s frustrating not being able to go anywhere.
Poor little Pudding though, as she’s under 1, she may not retain her immunity to chickenpox, and she could get it again. Now that would be very frustrating, considering what her little body has been through this week.
It feels like someone in the house has been ill from about December. Princess brings all the bugs home from nursery for us to try, we’ve been telling her we don’t want them but it doesn’t seem to work. I’ll be so pleased when the better weather finally breaks through and we can knock all these germs on the head.