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Weird symptoms of her first bad flu season?

Lyndsay - posted on 01/31/2011 ( 7 moms have responded )

My 20 month old daughter has very rarely gotten 'doctor worthy' sick until this month... She has had an ear infection, a regular resperatory cold, the stomach flu, and now it looks like the start to another ear infection... ALL IN 3 1/2 weeks!!!!!! Well now while she's sleeping, she's scratching at her ears, scalp, chest, and back of her neck until they bleed (no bugs and she's already on claritin for allergies). And has started grinding her teeth so loud we can hear it across the room. It's killing me because she has always been such laid back, happy child and now it looks like she's showing signs of chronic stress or hypertension (yes, I'm a psych major, so those areas are always on my mind)... Have any of you experienced these behaviors during a child's illness and did they go away????

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Shannon - posted on 03/14/2011

I cant say anything about the sickness which sucks and I hope she gets better because I HATE when my son's sick but all I can reccommend for the scratching is Arbonne products because I sell it and i KNOW it works. My son had dry skin on his cheeks so I bought the Arbonne baby lotion and after applying it it was gone the next day! It works because instead of using mineral oil which is a carcinogen and other chemicals they use botanicals and herbs.

Shannon - posted on 03/14/2011

Hillary - posted on 02/12/2011

I would call your doctor and talk with him or her about these symptoms....you may need to simply change detergents, bath soaps or she may be having an allergic reaction to her medication.
As for the teeth grinding, my 21 month old started doing that when she realized that she had teeth and could make that noise....eventually she quit doing and I'm sure your daughter will too.
Another tip, when my 21 month got her first cold, we used Hyland C-cold tablets and with in about 4 hours, her nose was no longer runny and she had quit cough altogether! I swear by them!
Hope your little one is feeling better!

Melissa - posted on 02/11/2011

Grinding of the teeth is normal for kids. Some do it when they're stressed others just do it out of boredom.

It was a tough cold and flu season. In a month my family had colds, two stomach bugs, coxackie virus and even bronchitis. The itching my be due to allergies to any antibiotics taken or just plain eczema.

My children and I have eczema and its pretty bad during the winter. We use dye free, fragrance free detergents and fabric softeners. It is less irritating. For the dryness use Cetaphil cream right out of the bath or Aveeno moisturizing cream. If she has dry patches or lesions use Aquaphor. If none of this helps you might need something stronger like hydrocortizone or prescription meds like Triamcimilone. Hope this helps. Luckily, only I have had to resort to prescription meds. My kids are fine with cream and Aquaphor.

Becky - posted on 02/08/2011

My daughter had started scratching like crazy for a little bit. For us, it was a combination of the dry air, needing to make sure her soaps were all "sensitive" (including laundry detergent), and using a cream instead of lotion. And we keep her humidifier running in her room all night. We went through the teeth grinding thing too (though not at the same time as itching). That seemed to happen when she "discovered" her teeth and that she could make that noise. It makes me crazy! But I ignored it and eventually she stopped. I know it sucks when they get sick and there really isn't much you can do. Take a deep breath...it will get better. It is very unlikely that she would go from being healthy to being chronically stressed and hypertensive. She's more likely uncomfortable and miserable from being sick. I know you posted a couple weeks ago, so I hope everyone is feeling better now.

Schmoopy - posted on 02/02/2011

712

Just wanted to say that teeth grinding is very common for young children. My DD does it, and it's terrible to listen to - very loud!

Amanda - posted on 02/02/2011

383

Try a different allergy medicine. We use Zyrtec and actually will switch at different times of the year based on what is working or not for my kids. My son is worse than my little one, but I've also become a little more experienced since he went through it. Try a vaporizer or humidifier in her room and use something like cetaphil to help heal her skin. Also, try to give showers instead of baths, it reduces the risk of ear infections and if there are irritants it will reduce exposure to them, including soap. I have found that even "hypoallergenic" soaps can cause sensitivities. If she is scratching head, neck, chest, I would try switching shampoos. Both my kids also get a daily pro-biotic yogurt drink (Dannon immunity booster) which seems to help. My son hasn't had the flu or even so much as a cold in over 3 years, and my little girl hasn't been sick since she started drinking them. If nothing else it is a little extra calcium for the day!