My 2.5-year-old son has only been sick with a fever a few times in his life. I think we can mostly credit this to the fact that he didn’t go to daycare or preschool until a few weeks ago. I am so grateful that I was able to arrange a schedule in which he didn’t have to be under the care of anyone outside of family for the first 2.5 years of his life. Let’s face it. We all know that having a sick baby with little or no communication skills can be miserable. And if I had the opportunity to decrease that misery during the baby years (I mean, he’s still my baby, but you know…), then I was all for it. But when my husband and I made the decision to start him in preschool recently, we knew that sickness would follow soon after the first day, and that it would also be a general presence in our lives more than before. No fun, of course, but at least he’s older now and can communicate better about how he feels. Rowdy’s body was showing the signs of possible illness to come with a runny nose for days. And then, sure enough, the other night he woke up crying. This kid’s a good sleeper, so I knew something was wrong. Long story short, he ended up being sick with a fever over the entire weekend. I chose to give him Tylenol and Hyland’s Cold ‘n Cough at home. I also used his vaporizer every night and during nap time. This was also our first experience with Boogie Wipes. I always saw them in the store previously thinking, “May as well just use wet wipes”….good idea. They’re basically the same thing. Anyway, I had a brief thought about taking him to the doctor, especially when his fever peaked at 100.8, but I didn’t. I used common sense in order to stay rational about the whole thing, and you know what? It worked out. I’m not totally sure what the doctor would have done, but I’d guess that he would have prescribed antibiotics. I’m not anti-doctor or anti-medication, but I am anti-irrational. I didn’t feel the need to freak out, overreact or take Rowdy to the doctor this time around. I know there are plenty of doctor visits with medication in our future. No need to get a head start if I don’t have to.
What do you think? Do you prefer to go to the doctor every time your kiddo gets sick? Or do you prefer home remedies most of the time?
Kind Kiddo 
I usually try and fight the sickness at home also. Unless the fever is 102 / 103 or greater I don’t usually even call the Dr. You know your child and how sick they are. Common colds come and go and will always be in and out of your life. The more he is around kids the more his immune system will grow stronger. I was told by my Dr when my boys were little (they are 14 and 10 now) that fever over 102 you can rotate Tylenol and Motrin every 4 hours and it helps. I think you did a great job at NOT running to the Dr. Besides, if you take antibiotics now and in 2 weeks he really needs it, you can’t take the same one:) I hope this helped! ~Kristi (Amason) Carter
Thanks, Kristi. I didn’t know that about antibiotics. That’s good to know. Our only experience with antibiotics thus far was with Amoxicillin and it gave Rowdy a rash. So they marked his file for him to not take penicillin-type stuff anymore.