Timing is Key

Having knowledge about common childhood infections does not mean that I always know when to bring my children in to the pediatrician when they have signs and symptoms of colds. In fact, there have been a few times when I knew the cause was viral and there would be nothing for the pediatrician to offer, but I made an appointment anyway. I needed to prove to myself that that was the case and nothing more, especially before the weekend. Or perhaps I wanted to be able to tell the school that she's fine and can be in school. On the other hand, there was a time when I thought it was just a cold when in fact it was a "strep" infection that was rather contagious. After that episode, I err on the cautious side, but I still don't rush her in with every sniffle or cough -- unless she has a companion rash (turned out to be a contact dermatitis).

My daughter has had a cold for 3 weeks. It started out with a sore throat, sneezes, runny nose, and cough, but has not had a fever or changes in energy level or activity interest. Gradually her coughing started to get better, and her thick, yellow mucus stopped being a messy problem. And then at 5 am yesterday, I heard loud whimpering and complaints that her left ear was hurting and "I don't like it I don't like it I don't like it!" She felt warm to the touch, but too bad my thermometer chose not to work anymore. She had also kicked her covers off of her, claiming that they were making her hot. I tried a warm water bottle for her ear, which consoled her for 3 minutes. She then complained about her face hurting (probably from leaning on the mouth of the bottle). Nevertheless, I gave her 2 chewable ibuprofen tablets (2 acetaminophen would have been fine, too) in hopes of relieving her acute ear pain and treating her discomfort from the fever. She immediately fell back to sleep (without her lullabies cd) for 4 solid hours. She woke up yelling that she didn't feel pain anymore. By then I had already scheduled an appointment for her. Thankfully(?), she did have a slight headache. I wasn't going to take her complaints about ear pain lightly because it was sudden and she has had the lingering cold. But, yes, I did consider not calling and just letting her sleep it off. Despite her quick turnaround, I brought her in. The verdict? She was diagnosed with bilateral acute otitis media. Most of the cases are viral and don't require antibiotics, but this was likely a secondary infection. Ten days of antibiotics. I must say that despite her refusal to rest properly, my daughter is a good patient. She drank a lot of fluids, including chicken soup that my friend made and brought over. Moreover, she took her first dose of the antibiotic immediately in the car. The pharmacist made it easy for us with the free dosing spoon.

Ear infections are not contagious, but the resurgence of her cold may be, so she won't be going to school until she has taken 24 hours of antibiotics. However, she does not want to miss her clay class after school. Her first dose of the antibiotic was in the car. I just gave her her second dose. I had to wake her, but I wouldn't want to delay her dose to give the bacteria a chance to adapt to the antibiotic. Giving this class of antibiotics (cephalosporin) on time ensures killing of the bacteria. Timing is key; for the visit with the pediatrician and for giving the medication.