No more antibiotics!

As you all recall, the Bear got checked out by his pediatrician last week and was diagnosed with a double-ear infection. Then he had that cough and nasal congestion. NOT FUN.

Since then he's been on antibiotics. Amoxicillin.

What's interesting is that they've changed the number of times a dosage is administered during the day. He only had to take it twice a day. I remember when we had to take antibiotics three times a day. At breakfast. At lunch. At dinner. Typical right? But the latest directions said "Twice a day". The pediatrician said there have been studies stating that the change from three to two times a day didn't hinder the effectiveness of the antibiotic. I'm thinking that some researcher with kids decided to figure this one out. This way the parents can administer the antibiotic first thing in the morning AND last thing at night. This keeps the preschools and daycare providers free from handling any kind of medication. Hmmm...

When my little guy started taking the Amoxicillin last Tuesday, he fought me tooth and nail. I had to hold him on my lap and force it into his mouth. By Thursday, he was taking the stuff willingly. Seriously!

"Come on Bear. Let's get your medicine."

He'd come into the kitchen (because the Amoxicillin required refrigeration). I'd sit him on the island. I'd get the stuff into the syringe measuring deal. Then I'd give it to him. He'd take it in 5 squirts. He had to take 2 1/2 TSP of that stuff. Thankfully, he did come to realize he had to take it. There was no getting around it. I can't imagine the chaos if I had to force him to take it for 10 days twice a day. It would have been UGLY!

What's the oddest result of taking the antibiotic, is that his urine smells. It smells like the amoxicillin! It's weird! At least I can smell when he's wet his diaper. I can't wait for him to get the antibiotic residue out of his system, so his urine doesn't smell anymore.

Since he was coughing and congested, we ended up sleeping with him. Yes. It might not have been the smartest thing, but we had to. He was miserable. My hubs slept with him for two days, while I had the Princess in our bed. Then I slept with the Bear for 3 nights in my daughter's bed, while hubs had the Princess in our bed. The first night with the Bear I barely got any sleep. The second and third nights he only woke about 3 times each. We put him back in his crib after that because he was pretty much over his cough by then. Of course, he ended up sleeping in our bed one night since then. What's unfortunate is that he hasn't wanted to take an afternoon nap since he got sick. Yesterday was the first time that he's had a nap in his crib. I've resorted to letting him snooze (30-40 minutes) in the car. But I'm hoping to get him back into his regular nap routine.

But my boy has healed up. Like I said, his cough is gone. No more fevers. He's gotten his appetite back. I'm sure he lost weight those first couple of days. Back to his reckless and rambunctious self.

As a sidenote: My nephew (who is 5) was also given Amoxicillin last week. He only had to take 1 TSP! But his stuff wasn't diluted like the Bear's. My sister said that she had to put the antibiotic onto a regular spoon. It was too thick to put into a syringe or even one of those tube measuring spoons (you know the kind I mean, right?).