All our lives we have been told (if you paid attention to your Dr or in health class š) that fevers are beneficial to fight infection. Having a fever can be scary, especially if it gets into the 104+ range. However, itās also good. A fever, which is an elevated body temperature, sets in motion a series of mechanisms that regulate our immune system.
If you remember back to health class in high school, your hypothalamus is what sits at the base of your brain and regulates body temp. When your hypothalamus detects pathogens from the immune system, it signals for the body to generate and retain more heat. Thus triggering a fever.
Thereās a saying…..āfeed a cold, starve a fever.ā If you have a fever you should avoid eating. You want your body focusing on the fever and riding itself of pathogens. By provoking digestion, you are over stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system.
Most fevers, a doctor will tell you to just stay home in bed and rest. When my son was 2 he got a fever of 104. The doctor told us to put him in a luke warm bath. If him temp continued at 104 or higher for two hours or more, then we were to take him to the emergency room. Itās scary, but again the body is just fighting an infection.
Whatās crazy now days is the minute we find out someone has a fever, we go into full on panic because itās possible they have corona virus! Before this pandemic, if someone had a fever they were told to go home and rest and no one really thought twice about it. But because of this virus, you get a fever, and people literally run from you! Lol
You body does some really cool things if you just pay attention to it. People are so focused on a quick fix and pump themselves with medication too early so their body becomes reliant on medication vs allowing it to use its immune system and fight it as god planned. Mind you, not all illnesses can be fought off by the immune system. I think we can all agree that there are quite a few cases where medication is needed. Please donāt go on the attack. I am not anti medication. I am just one who prefers to let the immune system try to work first. Then if help is needed, you call your doc and get your body extra help!
Nursing in public…..to do it or not to do it…..š¼
Iām a huge advocate for letting your immune system build and do its job. I have a few close friends that are the opposite. At even the slightest hint of illness they immediately push for medication. (Medication not immunization. Two totally different topics) šŖš»
Iām pretty particular about what my child eats. I give a little here and there. But one thing I donāt budge on is sweets. I personally believe we introduce candy and sugars into childrenās diets at too early of an age. Most doctors and dieticians will recommend waiting till a child is at least 4 before introducing them to candy and sweets (longer if possible).
Truth: I have let my kid eat dirt (it was one time and it was more of a little dirt disc He found on the floor) and sometimes I have to pull things out of his mouth that he picked up off the floor (like an old blueberry he found on the floor that the dog didn’t eat and I didn’t sweep up). If his pacifier fell on the ground, at home, I dusted it off and popped it back in his mouth. But I totally disinfect his toys every two weeks. It’s all about balance!
I always said I would never be one of those moms who just stuck their kid in front of the tv or let them spend hours playing a video game. I’m still not. However I will use technology to my advantage.
People warned me when I had a baby Iād get no sleep. To be honest the first 6 months werenāt too bad. Ryder slept pretty good. The problems came at around 7 months when his night gas got bad. He literally woke up crying like he was in pain. The minute the gas passed he fell right back to sleep with no problem. But that gas is not fun. He was up anywhere from five minutes to an hour. And of course it happens at the worst times. Typically between 2-5am. I called his doctor and she said it could be the food heās eating or the food Iām eating. I cut out dairy in my diet and bananas in his diet. Lactose and potassium are two things that cause gas in babies. I tried gripe water and it seemed to lessen the gas but doesnāt rid it completely. Not only was is it exhausting for me but also for him. When he woke up in the morning he had bags under his eyes. The poor thing just looked so tired and pitiful. He seemed so out of it for the first few hours till nap time. After his morning nap itās like he was back to normal! I hate that he had these gas problems. Heās now 9 months and it does seem to be affecting him anymore. Maybe itās just something he had to outgrow or his body may have needed time to just make its digestive process stronger. Who knows but Iām glad itās over! I hated seeing him hurt!
Every baby is different and will respond differently to foods. However there are several foods that are typical in causing gas. The reason is because they break down slowly in our bodies. Here are a few on that list:
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