The last 5 nights have featured the first stretch of sleepless night in our parenting experience thus far. During a growth spurt, Lilah has woken up for a small snack before going back to bed. Her top 4 teeth seem to be racing each other to break through. She's been miserable, and dragging her parents to misery as well. She's been waking up multiple times a night to eat, play, whine, cry, what have you. She only wants me, but keeps Dano awake as well. I'm resentful because she won't go to anyone else, and he's resentful of being constantly dragged from sleep by a baby who doesn't want him. It's a lovely combination.
Several people have suggested all-natural homeopathic teething tablets. They have raved, "They work instantly", "Babies love 'em!", "They can have as many as they want!", and "All natural = healthy!" I was a nanny for a family who started using them. I looked at the package before giving one to the little girl. They were sublingual tabs, which is one of the fastest routes of med administration. That caused me to be a little leery. Fast is good, but in the case of an allergy or ill effect, fast is very bad very quickly. I read the list of ingredients and two in particular caught my eye. Coffea Cruda - coffee. Why in the world would there be coffee extract in a teething tablet? I read on. Belladonna. Holy crap. There was seriously a small dose of belladonna in these tablets! And you can give the baby as many as they need to do the trick! Belladonna is in the nightshade family. It has narcotic properties and is a natural sedative. Ann also informed me it is one of the most ancient abortifacients. All that being said, why was it being used by parents for small babies?! I gave the parents I worked for a list of the ingredients from the back of the box and also a list of their effects, both positive and negative. They stopped using the tablets, something they had started because they felt more comfortable with natural products! Since becoming a nurse, I realize coffee was often used as a natural antidote for narcotic poisoning. I am extremely uncomfortable with these tablets and would never use them for my baby. I have, however, found a great alternative - gripe water. It's available at Walgreen's, and not terribly expensive. The active ingredients are deionized water, ginger, and fennel - all wonderful. It soothes colic, upset stomach, gas, and teething pain in babies, children, and adults. It works quickly, and it does work. Lilah likes the taste and smiles when she sees the bottle.
In other news - H1N1. Scary stuff. Even the regular flu seems to be hitting hard this year. School are closed and people are near panic. I'm not overly concerned about Lilah. She's breastfed and not in daycare. She has an excellent immune system. I'm mostly fearful for our already over medicated culture. If it ails you, there's a pill for it. The FDA normally takes 7-10 years to produce a drug it is comfortable is safe for the masses. It worries me that they can declare "safe" an H1N1 vaccine that is so new, no possible long-term effects could have even been considered. I won't even get a flu shot. My RN supervisor has seen many cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome as a result of the vaccine, even though it isn't supposed to be a live virus. We're seeing MRSA as a consequence of over medicating with strong antibiotics. Shingles and whooping cough are popping up in the college age population despite varicella and pertussis vaccinations. Strange cases of scarlet fever are being reported. I believe America is setting itself up for an epic fail of the human immune system. Pharmaceutical companies are making literally billions in profits, but at what cost? People did, indeed, survive to adulthood before us.
Coming from a nurse, this rant might seem a little strange. I rail against natural medicine in one half, and against conventional medication in the rest. The point I'm trying to make is somewhere in the middle - be informed, and be careful. You only have one body, and it's a temple. As parents we are charged with the holy responsibility of caring for our children. We need to make informed, responsible decisions about their medical care and not respond out of fear. We have opted out of several vaccines for Lilah, but there are an equal amount where the benefits outweigh the risks. As the patients, you always have the option to say no. Protect your body and take careful note of what is being put into it. It matters more than you think.
Time for me to go. My daughter is sucking on my ankles, then looking up at me and hissing. I don't know who this child is sometimes.
