sleeping time: going dotty
Argh, of course it was too early to write about sleep-training just two nights in, what was I thinking? Here's how it's going to pot:
Night 1: scream
Night 2: scream (but much less)
Night 3: sleep through the night!
Day 4: vaccinations at the paediatrician
Night 4: high fever, screaming, night feeding (twice)
The fever really caught us by surprise. At 3pm we were done with the doctor and headed home. Bao took a short nap at 3.30pm. At 4.30pm I woke her (because I wanted her to be tired enough for bedtime) and she was unusually cranky. We played and read for a bit and I noticed that she was hot. A temperature reading beeped 38.9ºC, which gave me quite a shock. I administered ibuprofen and tried to comfort her, and eventually she agreed to watch TV with her brother while I cooked dinner.
J was working late that evening and I was trying to achieve the bare minimum (i.e. get kids fed) which is really not much but I had been caught off-guard and felt a little shaken. Bao managed to eat most of her dinner and a fair bit of fruit after that, but her temperature still hovered around the 37.8ºC mark. I dosed her with paracetamol just before she went to bed and hoped for the best.
At 2am she woke screaming for milk. I gave in and slipped her more paracetamol while I was at it.
At 6.30am she woke again. This time I made J give her the bottle because my body felt like dull lead. He shook me awake anyway and told me that her temperature was back at 38.9ºC, so I got up and gave her some ibuprofen again.
This morning she was back to her usual self and cheery. She didn't eat much but she was active and playful so I felt a bit more relieved. I called the doctor's office and spoke to the nurse. She agreed that it was unusual for a post-vaccination fever to spike so high and so early (basically an hour after the shots), but thought that the fever could be the start of a viral thing and it was a coincidence that it began when it did. I'm going to keep an eye on her temperature for the next 24 hours and decide if it's necessary for a doctor to see her. She doesn't seem to have any other visible symptoms.
She was fine all day but at 5pm the fever hit again. This time round she didn't have much of an appetite at dinner and she also didn't finish her bedtime bottle. Tonight we're back on fever watch and since I want to keep her hydrated and happy those night feeds will probably be reinstated.
Oh well. We can always try again once she's better. Incidentally, while she was having a tantrum today I had a good look inside her mouth (living with Bao you learn to see opportunities in such situations) and saw what I hope (I hope I hope I hope!!!) is her last molar emerging. There are a couple of other teeth due to erupt but those molars must hurt the worst, so I guess that also is a factor in the all night wakings and general crankiness.
Thing is, once all the teething's out of the way, what can I use as a scapegoat for all the fuss Bao kicks up? And believe you me, there is plenty that child finds to complain about. For some reason she has decided she detests wearing anything with polka dots on them. Today her shirt had small dots printed on and she kept whining and trying to scratch them off. She also hates a particular pair of purple socks with white polka dots. The only dotty thing she tolerates is her new pair of shoes which are a lurid pink with yellow polka dots on them, only acceptable on anyone under the age of two.
She picked these out herself, wouldn't you know.
Night 1: scream
Night 2: scream (but much less)
Night 3: sleep through the night!
Day 4: vaccinations at the paediatrician
Night 4: high fever, screaming, night feeding (twice)
The fever really caught us by surprise. At 3pm we were done with the doctor and headed home. Bao took a short nap at 3.30pm. At 4.30pm I woke her (because I wanted her to be tired enough for bedtime) and she was unusually cranky. We played and read for a bit and I noticed that she was hot. A temperature reading beeped 38.9ºC, which gave me quite a shock. I administered ibuprofen and tried to comfort her, and eventually she agreed to watch TV with her brother while I cooked dinner.
J was working late that evening and I was trying to achieve the bare minimum (i.e. get kids fed) which is really not much but I had been caught off-guard and felt a little shaken. Bao managed to eat most of her dinner and a fair bit of fruit after that, but her temperature still hovered around the 37.8ºC mark. I dosed her with paracetamol just before she went to bed and hoped for the best.
At 2am she woke screaming for milk. I gave in and slipped her more paracetamol while I was at it.
At 6.30am she woke again. This time I made J give her the bottle because my body felt like dull lead. He shook me awake anyway and told me that her temperature was back at 38.9ºC, so I got up and gave her some ibuprofen again.
This morning she was back to her usual self and cheery. She didn't eat much but she was active and playful so I felt a bit more relieved. I called the doctor's office and spoke to the nurse. She agreed that it was unusual for a post-vaccination fever to spike so high and so early (basically an hour after the shots), but thought that the fever could be the start of a viral thing and it was a coincidence that it began when it did. I'm going to keep an eye on her temperature for the next 24 hours and decide if it's necessary for a doctor to see her. She doesn't seem to have any other visible symptoms.
She was fine all day but at 5pm the fever hit again. This time round she didn't have much of an appetite at dinner and she also didn't finish her bedtime bottle. Tonight we're back on fever watch and since I want to keep her hydrated and happy those night feeds will probably be reinstated.
Oh well. We can always try again once she's better. Incidentally, while she was having a tantrum today I had a good look inside her mouth (living with Bao you learn to see opportunities in such situations) and saw what I hope (I hope I hope I hope!!!) is her last molar emerging. There are a couple of other teeth due to erupt but those molars must hurt the worst, so I guess that also is a factor in the all night wakings and general crankiness.
Thing is, once all the teething's out of the way, what can I use as a scapegoat for all the fuss Bao kicks up? And believe you me, there is plenty that child finds to complain about. For some reason she has decided she detests wearing anything with polka dots on them. Today her shirt had small dots printed on and she kept whining and trying to scratch them off. She also hates a particular pair of purple socks with white polka dots. The only dotty thing she tolerates is her new pair of shoes which are a lurid pink with yellow polka dots on them, only acceptable on anyone under the age of two.
She picked these out herself, wouldn't you know.