My oldest is starting prek this month and I didn’t even think of the germs he’ll be exposed to and bringing home…. Baby was in NICU for 32 days and will be 4mo soon. I was told to sanitize for 3mo but I’m still doing it. I’m so so terrified of him getting sick. We’ve done well so far but today my 1yo randomly got a stuffy nose and I suddenly realized school almost certainly will be worse
Is there anything I can realistically do to prevent anyone from getting sick?! Thankfully my oldest is great about hand washing. I’m thinking to do that as soon as he gets home and change his clothes? Baby takes PolyViSol w Iron. Maybe that will help him a bit?
@erin30ga You’re not going to prevent your toddler from getting sick. Whatever you do. We do hand washing when we get home from daycare, changing clothes is overkill imo. The obvious other one is to keep him away from the baby when he’s ill, no kisses, no touching the baby (especially not face and hands). And vaccinations for everyone obviously.
@sirsteve You’re totally right but I was really hoping someone had cracked the code to never getting sick Going to try my best - he loves his brother so much and smoothers him every chance he gets lol and yes of course, up to date always!
@erin30ga Keep up with vaccinations. You can totally do washing hands, and keeping baby away from people you know are sick. Masking when sick is also possible.
But mostly: be aware they WILL get sick. I got super unlucky in that respect. Baby and I had to go get him checked out for weight. It was the only thing we did. Baby, dad and me all got sick. But guess what? My only 7 week old preemie baby was best off out of all of us! He had a stuffy nose and a little loss of apetite for three days. His dad was sick for almost three weeks, with antibiotics and loads of medicine. I was sick for a week with antibiotics too.
@jonbradford Yes we definitely are doing that! Thank you!
That makes me feel a bit hopeful at least! We barely avoided a gtube and I’m so scared he’ll stop eating and need one if he gets sick. We’ve made so much progress these past months! Your comment makes me hopeful he’ll be more resilient than I’m imagining
@erin30ga My son actually had an NG tube for 2 weeks while in NICU. Little bugger decided he was done with it and yanked it out while the nurses were dealing with another little patient. He came home the day after because he ate enough to gain weight. So even if he would need one, it isn't always for long or very bad.
And yeah, babies are very resilient if you hear all the stories of them getting up to all kinds of trouble!
@jonbradford Thats amazing!! Our little guy had his for 30days then came home two days after getting it removed! I just really don’t want to go back to living in the hospital, it was such a hard time in so many ways.
And you’re right it’s not always long or bad, I need to come back to reality. I’m just letting my fears take the wheel I think
@erin30ga I still haven't gotten over all of my fears, I don't think I ever truly will. But I've accepted that and just try to be reasonable in controling them.
@erin30ga I know exactly how you’re feeling! My second came home during cold/flu/rsv season. I PANICKED! And then I realized no matter what I do, If his big brother brought home germs there was nothing I could do about that. We just washed hands as soon as he got home, and no touching babies face or hands. Kept distance if big brother had any sickness symptoms, but made sure he didn’t feel like I was shunning him or something lol.
@erin30ga Just keeping the baby away from big brother if he's sick. Unfortunately, bugs are a part of childhood, and I think it's inevitable that your oldest will get ill. So, I'd more focus on how to handle that and how much you're willing to do to keep them apart and what illnesses would trigger that protocol vs fighting an unwinnable fight. You could also call your pediatrician to ask what they consider worth trying to avoid vs ok exposure. Good luck
Going to try my best - he loves his brother so much and smoothers him every chance he gets lol and yes of course, up to date always!
