My Top Tips to Help You Cope with Chickenpox

Miss M's back was pretty covered, and then she had nothing on her legs!

We are just coming through the second bought of chickenpox in the house within a month - that is the beauty of twins! On the whole things went pretty well, so I thought I would share my top tips for helping your little one through chickenpox with the minimum of fuss.

1. Keep your child cool, if they start to get hot they will feel more itchy.  I have a friend who swears by then being practically naked but I prefer to keep them clothed as it then makes it much harder for them to itch their skin.  Of course natural cotton or such is best.  Basically my girls stayed in their PJ's!
2. Give a spoon of Piriton (or another anti-histamine) in the morning and at night before bed to keep the awful scratching at bay.
3. If your child start to get too uncomfortable and hurts, offer them a tepid bath and gently sponge down their spots.  Remember not to use any bath product.  I know that some people advocate putting porridge in the bath - we did not try this!
4. Pat them dry and apply either aqueous calamine or Eurax cream, both moisturise and help to stop the itching.
5. We did not wash Miss E's hair for a week as she found this too uncomfortable with all the spots in there.  To be honest what is a week?  We did not fight about this, she looked greasy from all the cream we put on her neck but it was short lived. We also used a baby brush with very soft bristles so we did not scratch her scalp.
6. If your child get spots in their throat they may not feel like eating. Make sure they stay hydrated by offering ice lollies, smoothies, milkshakes or anything else that is cool and offers hydration.
7. Remember to offer pain relief as necessary and on the day or two when your little one is really bad you can offer alternate calpol and neurofen to ensure they are as comfortable as possible.
8. Distraction is probably the best remedy of all.  Keep your child busy, bake a cake, do some sticking, bounce on the trampoline. What ever they feel well enough to do, allow them to as it takes their mind off how uncomfortable they are and they are far less likely to scratch.
9. Remember that every child is an individual, they will all have the illness in a different way. Look to your child for the clues of what they need to help them, it may just be as simple as a cuddle while watching a DVD. The chickenpox can zap them of their energy.
10. One the spots have scabbed over and your child is no longer contagious it is temping to think they should be 100% fit and well again.  The chickenpox virus can really knock your child for six.  Miss M is now 18 days after her first spot appeared and she is still showing the signs of not being fully recovered.  She has been lethargic and generally more ratty and this has manifested as being willful and naughty.  I am having to remember that there is a reason for this behaviour.
11. If your child get spots around their genital areas (and this seems to happen quite often) try to keep them nappy free (if they still wear one) as otherwise this just makes the area hot and painful.  The bath also comes in useful for soaking these areas to keep them irritation free.

Miss E's back, not so many spots, but how angry do they look?

Miss E's hair was full of large spots

 

Poor old Miss M got covered on her face



But hardly anything on Miss M's tummy

As you can see from the photos of my two, chickenpox can look very different on each child. At first the spots can seem small and harmless and then within a day or two they expand, intensify, form blisters, break, can look like pox holes and start to scab over.

Miss E is over 30 days since she had her first spot and she still has red spots marking her body.  For a child who did not scratch at all, it sadly looks as if she will scar, so however careful you are you may not be able to avoid some marking, I just thank God she has a clear face.

Keep smiling, best to get it out the way while they are young!

#TheGallery - Celebrating Home Education

It's been a while since I joined in with the Gallery, which is a shame as I love the concept but such as life...  you know how busy things are sometimes and there just always seems to be something that just needs to go on the blog at the moment!  Yesterday I saw the Gallery theme was education and wondered what on earth I would post.  Tara said in a tweet that she was hoping for lots of old school photos but the more I thought about that the more wrong it felt.  When I was school, it was all about being with my mates and having a laugh.  I had no real interest in education to be honest, the amount of time that I spent in the isolation unit (yes really!  I liked to chat, can you believe that?) was unreal.

So again I thought about the word education and that did definitely fit more with doing my HND, degree and then Masters, so I have many great graduation pictures that I could put on here but I have to be honest again and say that my formal education has not really done a lot for me in life.  I believe that if you want to be a lawyer, accountant or work in another formal profession then going to Uni and getting your degree is the right thing to do but if you want to work in a vocation then don't bother unless you have the money to spare!

The best education I have had has been from my life experiences, learning from my hard working and moral parents or working way way up the ranks at work, happy to take on the crappy jobs when needed to earn the respect of my staff.  I was always the hotel manager who would wash the pots when needed. I am now the HR Team Leader who will do some filing, archiving or make the tea.  I have no problem with status, I know who I am and what I can do.  There is nothing I need to prove by not mucking in.

So the photo I have picked for this gallery is one taken just yesterday and it is Little Miss Chickenpox (also known as Miss M) having a nap with one of her teddies as they are poorly. By just being me I have taught my daughter (without meaning to) that when someone is upset and poorly you sooth them however you can.  Whilst Miss M was very poorly Sunday night she laid on top of me and I stroked her hair and sshhed her.  It was not too comfy for me but it seemed to be the only way she stopped crying and was happy for a while. So today, she explained to me that Ted would not stop crying and he better lie on her tum tum where it was all soft (that will be my flab!) and she could give him a cuddle and make it all better. Proud did not even come close.

I think this kind of natural and intrinsic teaching and learning is marvellous and this is what home educators really excel at.  I have a couple of real life friends and some bloggy ones who do Home Ed and I have such respect for them as I can not even imagine how hard it must be but I also see that if you keep your eyes open and spot the little things it could be overwhelmingly rewarding too.

What a great piece of education for me today! 

Here are a couple more pics of Miss M with her poorly teddies.