2011-2012 Expectant parent (cyclists) club!

walkingbootweather

Asprilla wrote:

DonDaddyD wrote:

FoldingJoe wrote:

Any help appreciated....

The missus has had to go to London for some meetings, so I'm WFH all week holding the fort. Issue is that the 3 year old (Olivia) has come down with Chicken Pox.

She got (and as did I) about 2 hours sleep last night. Tried the normal stuff (Camomile Lotion) and some new Vira-Soothe, but she keeps waking up about every 30 mins in discomfort.

Anybody had any experience and can pass on some wise words, or is it just a case of sitting it out for a few days?

Cheers,
FJ

Reposted in the hope you get an answer!

Calpol. She may not be in pain, but it also has a sedative effect to help you both get some sleep.

+1 It comes in different flavours so it useful to work out which one is favoured. Administer by syringe (into mouth not intravenously) – less messy than trying to use spoon, but have tissue ready to catch any excess.

rjsterry

Asprilla wrote:

DonDaddyD wrote:

FoldingJoe wrote:

Any help appreciated....

The missus has had to go to London for some meetings, so I'm WFH all week holding the fort. Issue is that the 3 year old (Olivia) has come down with Chicken Pox.

She got (and as did I) about 2 hours sleep last night. Tried the normal stuff (Camomile Lotion) and some new Vira-Soothe, but she keeps waking up about every 30 mins in discomfort.

Anybody had any experience and can pass on some wise words, or is it just a case of sitting it out for a few days?

Cheers,
FJ

Reposted in the hope you get an answer!

Calpol. She may not be in pain, but it also has a sedative effect to help you both get some sleep.

Sorry, but Calpol is just paracetamol, with possibly some sugar depending on which version you get. The only difference from grown-up paracetamol is that it is a lower concentration and comes as an oral suspension rather than tablets for obvious reasons. Paracetamol has no sedative effect. There are products which do contain sedative ingredients, but basic Calpol is not one of them. The perceived sedative effect may be due to the pain relief allowing more comfortable sleep. Anyhow, it sounds like pain is keeping her awake, so Calpol would be appropriate.

msmancunia

DonDaddyD wrote:

FoldingJoe wrote:

Any help appreciated....

The missus has had to go to London for some meetings, so I'm WFH all week holding the fort. Issue is that the 3 year old (Olivia) has come down with Chicken Pox.

She got (and as did I) about 2 hours sleep last night. Tried the normal stuff (Camomile Lotion) and some new Vira-Soothe, but she keeps waking up about every 30 mins in discomfort.

Anybody had any experience and can pass on some wise words, or is it just a case of sitting it out for a few days?

Cheers,
FJ

Reposted in the hope you get an answer!

Speaking as a lucky person who's had the pox twice (yes, I know, I'm a freak...). I've had it as an adult and it's so bad when you're grown up, so it's good that she's got it early, awful as it sounds. There's something called Caladryl that you can get from Boots - it's got calamine lotion in it, but it's thick and sticky (smells lovely). It doesn't flake off as easily as normal calamine lotion so the effects last for longer. It's also nice and soothing when you put it on after it's been in the fridge for half an hour. It's great for mild sunburn, heat rashes etc too.

Gussio

FoldingJoe wrote:

Any help appreciated....

The missus has had to go to London for some meetings, so I'm WFH all week holding the fort. Issue is that the 3 year old (Olivia) has come down with Chicken Pox.

She got (and as did I) about 2 hours sleep last night. Tried the normal stuff (Camomile Lotion) and some new Vira-Soothe, but she keeps waking up about every 30 mins in discomfort.

Anybody had any experience and can pass on some wise words, or is it just a case of sitting it out for a few days?

Cheers,
FJ

Both ours have had it. Calamine lotion didn't seem to help much. Would echo the Calpol advice above. The thing that ours found most soothing was bicarbonate of soda in the bath at night. Seemed to do a great job of taking the "heat" out of the rash. We used bog standard cooking stuff, a couple of tablespoons thrown into the bath.

asprilla

rjsterry wrote:

Asprilla wrote:

DonDaddyD wrote:

FoldingJoe wrote:

Any help appreciated....

The missus has had to go to London for some meetings, so I'm WFH all week holding the fort. Issue is that the 3 year old (Olivia) has come down with Chicken Pox.

She got (and as did I) about 2 hours sleep last night. Tried the normal stuff (Camomile Lotion) and some new Vira-Soothe, but she keeps waking up about every 30 mins in discomfort.

Anybody had any experience and can pass on some wise words, or is it just a case of sitting it out for a few days?

Cheers,
FJ

Reposted in the hope you get an answer!

Calpol. She may not be in pain, but it also has a sedative effect to help you both get some sleep.

Sorry, but Calpol is just paracetamol, with possibly some sugar depending on which version you get. The only difference from grown-up paracetamol is that it is a lower concentration and comes as an oral suspension rather than tablets for obvious reasons. Paracetamol has no sedative effect. There are products which do contain sedative ingredients, but basic Calpol is not one of them. The perceived sedative effect may be due to the pain relief allowing more comfortable sleep. Anyhow, it sounds like pain is keeping her awake, so Calpol would be appropriate.

True, but it works.

It's also handy for long haul flights.

rjsterry

There have been double blind tests on this - it's not the paracetamol. Maybe TMP is a better sleeper than you think - also we've certainly found any form of transport to be a very effective (often unwanted) sedative.

They are really tightening up on the use of paracetamol in infants at the moment, having halved the recommended doses recently and advising only to use it if the child is obviously in discomfort, and not to bother if they just have a slight temperature. Interestingly, our youngest has just had her jabs and it was mentioned that there is currently a problem with parents unnecessarily 'pre-medicating' their children with paracetamol before getting jabs. Given that paracetamol takes effect within 15 minutes of taking it, this is a bit pointless.

clarkey cat

We (by that I mean my missus) tries to avoid the 'reach for the Calpol' solution - although it has been a bloomin' lifesaver on more than one occassion!

rjsterry

The issue with paracetamol is that while it is effective for a few hours, it hangs around in the body for longer, so it accumulates with repeated doses - hence the Xml every 4 hours, but no more than 4 doses in 24hrs.

snooks

Asprilla wrote:

Calpol. She may not be in pain, but it also has a sedative effect to help you both get some sleep.

So how much doe FJoe need to take to get himself to sleep then? :?

veronese68

Eurax, works really really well. Tried calamin and all sorts of stuff, not much good. Eurax worked wonders.
I don't work for them and I have nothing to gain from this.

FoldingJoe

I was about to enquire as to whether anybody had tried Eurax (recommended on Mumsnet!! )

FoldingJoe

Although I'd always be wary of comments like this on NetDoctor...

Crotamiton is a medicine that is applied to the skin to relieve itching (pruritis). It is not fully understood how it works.

el_presidente

Loads of medicines that no-one knows why they work - including paracetamol. (Note - try not to bring this up if you are arguing with a homeotherapist)

EDIT - I tell a lie, apparently they sussed out paracetamol last November http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/feedarticle/9960535 Apologies for being behind on my pharmacology reading

NGale

My mother always found brandy worked with me if she needed to get me off to sleep when ill.

Might actually explain a lot and says a lot about the 70s :shock:

the_fuggler

Bit late in the day, but when our eldest had Chicken Pox at 15 months, the doctor prescribed an antihistamine to help with the itching. Fortunately, he didn't really seem bothered by the spots, so we didn't use it. Your doctor / pharmacist / NHS Direct should be able to advise.

FoldingJoe

She's over it now. All the spots have crusted over.

Now just waiting for our 1 year old son to get it, so will keep all of the above suggestions in mind (except the brandy)!!

M-A-S

I have one week of work left then I'm off for a month on "additional paternity leave"!

Mum will be off too as she has about 6.2 million days leave accrued while on maternity, so a nice family month off!

Also it can't come too soon as we are pregnant again! Only found out a couple of weeks ago and the Mrs is getting the 1st trimester tiredness! Doesn't sound fun while having to keep an eye on a 9 month old terror!

No commuting for a month, going to have to find some other time for my cycling fix!

Anyone else done, or planning to take additional paternity leave?

DonDaddyD

SpaceBadger wrote:

Ahhh I had sensed there may be a thread like this heading in the direction of the forum

Congrats mroli and to all others expecting.

Due date 12th Feb 2012 here, am 4 months and starting to feel the squeeze in normal clothes. I am also starting to realise that the nursery we will have to use is near my place of work and not Mr SB's, so there goes the bike commute for a while - pah!

This little critter had better be worth it

Updates!!!!

DonDaddyD

The Fuggler wrote:

Second one due on 16 November.

Riding opportunities (in both senses of the world) have become quite limited after Captain Chaos arrived. Suspect more of the same after number 2 is born...

....it's worth it though!

Updates!!!

DonDaddyD

Simon the Pieman wrote:

Hey All

What a useful thread this turned out to be!

D-Day for Mrs Pieman and I is Oct 12. Our first and according to her our last!

Am surprised that nobody has raised the issue of what pram to get? We went to John Lewis and were discussing wheels and suspension. Recomendations????

Also, are you too shatttered to commute once the little one arrives?

Pip Pip

SDP

Updates!!!

DonDaddyD

Butterd2 wrote:

Another one for the expecting parents club, we are expecting our 3rd daughter in December.

Fortunately Mrs B. is getting pretty good at this pregnant thing now as I'm off for a weeks cycling this month and then I'm in Dubai, South Africa and Paris next month with work, I'd never have got away with that the first time around!

Update!!!

DonDaddyD

And anyone else who posted in the thread annoucing they were gonna have a sprog. Update please!

EKE_38BPM

DonDaddyD wrote:

And anyone else who posted in the thread annoucing they were gonna have a sprog. Update please!

Are you getting broody and thinking of having another one already?

DonDaddyD

No, I actually feel like I've just got enough love for my Son at the moment, wouldn't know how to feel about another one yet.

bonkstrong

Never thought I'd be posting on one of these threads but.... 20 Weeks scan been and gone. Due date confirmed as June 10th, so it'll be out in plenty of time for Le Tour.

The name debate has begun - at this rate his name will be "veto"

bigmat

BONKSTRONG wrote:

Never thought I'd be posting on one of these threads but.... 20 Weeks scan been and gone. Due date confirmed as June 10th, so it'll be out in plenty of time for Le Tour.

The name debate has begun - at this rate his name will be "veto"

Boy's names are tough - DDD, what did you go with?

jonnyboy77

Son #2 arrived on Jan 21, so now two boys to get onto their bikes Here's the first making early progress (age 2 and a bit):



I had two weeks off for Paternity leave where the bike(s) never turned a wheel, but I'm back at work and commuting again.

My (ambitious) plan for this year is to ramp up the mountain biking too, in addition to Son #1 getting more confident on his balance bike, to the point where we can ride together safely, and potentially add son #2 to the Hamax seat at some point!

Just going through the motions of remembering all the stuff I'd block out when son #1 was a newborn ... sleepless nights, endless inconsolable crying, nappy rash etc. The great thing is I know it's not a permanent thing this time around, so I'm a lot more relaxed about it! Although my first ride back into the office on Monday was rough on only 3 hours (broken) sleep!

- Jon

DonDaddyD

BigMat wrote:

BONKSTRONG wrote:

Never thought I'd be posting on one of these threads but.... 20 Weeks scan been and gone. Due date confirmed as June 10th, so it'll be out in plenty of time for Le Tour.

The name debate has begun - at this rate his name will be "veto"

Boy's names are tough - DDD, what did you go with?

1). The user (suspected female) name is bonkstrong and in capitals "Tee hee hee".

2). I named him Lucas.

bigmat

DonDaddyD wrote:

BigMat wrote:

BONKSTRONG wrote:

Never thought I'd be posting on one of these threads but.... 20 Weeks scan been and gone. Due date confirmed as June 10th, so it'll be out in plenty of time for Le Tour.

The name debate has begun - at this rate his name will be "veto"

Boy's names are tough - DDD, what did you go with?

1). The user (suspected female) name is bonkstrong and in capitals "Tee hee hee".

2). I named him Lucas.

I think BONKSTRONG is male? Anyway, nice name choice, does that mean he shares your initials? (that's what I did with my boy)

DonDaddyD

Nah I just loved the name. He has his Grandfathers names as middle names. I've laid down the foundations for some traditions to be established.