Allergies are back!!

so, all has been very quiet from us for quite a while now. Bear has been really well and hasn’t had any issues for months…..well over 12 to be more accurate. He turned 3 the other week and we seem to be having some unexplained allergic reaction in the form of hives and itching. We started a food diary, but there was no obvious food to coincide with the reactions. We also suspected rubber latex, following his birthday, we had a fair few balloons in the house, which he thoroughly enjoyed playing with in every way……some sneaky culling of the balloons after bed time until they all vanished seemed to see a huge reduction in the frequency of the reaction, although it has not solved the problem completely. He is kept comfortable with piriton when required and a calpol plug in vapouriser seems to make him more comfortable at night time when his reaction causes stuffy noses and itchy throats. It has been a while since we have had to deal with allergy related problems, but it all feels so familiar and there’s no panic this time….thinking we are now seasoned professionals now. Good job really,as we are soon to add another little man to our household…..and the same allergies are never far from mind after our experiences with bear.

 

So, arriving in June 2017 will be our little cub. Pregnancy has resurrected several allergies for myself. Lots of itchy skin related problems have seen me give up on all my usual shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, moisturisers and make up. I was feeling pretty sorry for myself, until I discovered something wonderful……child’s farm! Now, I know I probably have mentioned them many a time when talking about bear as I have been a fan for quite some time, but I never thought to use it for myself! I now smell and feel amazing after using all their shower products as well as their moisturiser, even caught my hubby filling up his bath the other day with child farm smelling bubbles, so even he is loving their stuff.

 

this is just a quick update from me today,but hoping to update more regularly with all things bear and cub! Especially as I will soon get to bring our cloth nappies back out of storage since bear potty trained last summer!!!! Excited!

Bubble bath issues!!

So, we haven’t used any bubble bath in bears bath since October (since his bad nappy eczema, rash issues) but his skin has been amazingly clear for the last few months and I have been worrying about bathing in just water drying his skin out a little. So I made the MASSIVE mistake of using a squirt of Johnsons baby bath…..as soon as I went to put his nappy on after bath time his poor bum already looked more red than usual. Made the decision not to use it again after seeing his little bum but that was only the tip of the ice berg for last nights troubles!

Bear fell asleep on daddy at 8.30 last night (very early for him!) and so we put him to bed whilst daddy finished washing his tv programme and mummy spent her ‘bear free time’ stuffing nappies and sorting the dirty nappy bucket out (also realised I need a hobby!) but he didnt sleep long….from 1am he was very restless. He seemed to be whimpering a lot and waving his hands and feet around. He drank 13 oz of milk between 1am-7am (for those following Bears journey, that is a lot of milk, almost 2 days worth on normal milk intake!) He had calpol, which didnt seem to soothe him much either. We even changed his bum in the middle of the night with the hope it would help him settle….our reserve nappy was not stuffed for bed time though, so by morning he was soaked through!

Even though he is teething still/again I don’t think this was the cause of his problems, but perhaps the bubble bath was irritating him and he was itchy maybe? It could well of been unrelated but seems too much of a coincidence to risk it again! I feel really bad, as it was my decision to put it in his bath in the first place.

So, what can I use in his bath? He likes the bubbles, so wanted something nice for him to use! I think our next trial will be with some simple product. I use simple myself and is nice on my sensitive skin so hoping it may be nice for Bear too. Also, considering changing his shampoo too, as we are still using Johnsons (although has been ok so far, would rather step away from the brand altogether! This makes me a little sad as it is a brand I have personally used since being a tot myself)

If anyone has any recommendations, please let me know. Obviously, we will try anything for him, but hopefully we can find a solution which isn’t going to cost a small fortune.

Long awaited Bear update!

Sorry for the delay…..had a busy few weeks with Birthday celebrations and a super busy time at work!

Now everything has calmed down we can have a little Bear update….

Bear is now 1!!!! He had an amazing birthday and was spoilt rotten by everyone. So many cards, gifts and messages and 2 birthday parties.

He has a TOOTH! (soon to be 2) and he loves to brush it with his big boy toothbrush and toothpaste

Bear has almost got to grips with this walking thing….he is balancing and taking steps in all directions, but it is still so much easier to crawl!

He is also getting very brave, he climbs over, round, under, onto….EVERYTHING!! He surprised me the other day, joining in some rough and tumble with his cousin, I was expecting him to cry!

He listens to instructions and is getting much better at answering direct questions. He loves to give kisses, cuddles and nose nibbles! He plays so nicely by himself now too, looks like he is having conversations with his toys!

He sat and watched the whole of Monsters University and has now decided he fancies being on the scare team….lots of ‘raa’-ing in our house.

Eating wise he now uses cutlery really well, you will be lucky if you can spoon feed him anything (although nanny did manage a few spoonfuls of mash and gravy the other day!) he likes to do it all himself. We are even brave enough to let him eat of plates and bowl without holding them/sticking them to him tray!

We have taken him swimming a few times, he is slowly getting braver, but doesn’t much like to let go of mummies bikini top.

Seems to me that Bear is really enjoying toddler-hood! We have booked a holiday to Devon and we cannot wait to see how he is when we are away, think he will love it so much more than when we went away last summer.

Just a quick update for those who are interested, so much has changed in the world of Bear in the last month or so!

Winter brings new troubles!!

So, this mornings frost was a very unwelcome sight!! It is so cold, we have already been out to buy a little heater to warm our tiny shop so that bear doesn’t catch a chill. But even before getting out of bed this morning we have been faced with yet another first…..Bears first ever cough and cold!! I hate it.

He stirred at around 4am and was a little distressed so I put him in bed with us for a few extra hours sleep, at 6.30 he woke with a coughing fit and the worst temperature ever…..he felt almost burning to the touch! We gave him some paracetamol and a drink and stripped him off a little and he managed to bring his own temperature down enough to go back to sleep. When we got out of bed at 7.30 his temperature was at 36.8, so was back to being ok (although slightly high for bear). Breakfast was a struggle, coughing fits throughout, followed by toast filled sneezes and subsequent tears. Getting him dressed was also a battle…..not ideal at the best of times but when he is poorly and when it is cold he needs so many more items put on! He is currently on nap number 2 of the day (its only just turned 11am) he normally only has 2 a day. His first nap was lying in my arms, this one is in the carrier….he is being super snugly today.

We also seem to be reacting to the oilatum bath stuff we were trying for bear…..it doesn’t cause any obvious soreness to see but he screams non-stop for the whole of bath time (and bear normally loves the bath) and grabs viciously and constantly at himself. Back to the drawing board on the bath wash now, think we are going to try Aveeno next (was recommended to us by some lovely CMPA mummies), fingers crossed as the box of ‘trial and error’ products is getting full and costing us a fortune!

On the plus side, after a very long trip round my local Morrisons yesterday, I have found yet more food stuff bear can eat. His lunch yesterday (and today) consisted of a slice of fruit loaf buttered, a rice cake with biscoff spread on (his personal favourite), strawberries, blackberries and a few Ritz crackers, followed by a banana milkshake. He also had one of the fruit ‘school bars’ which he enjoyed chewing on massively. Then yesterday nanny did us ham and parsley sauce for dinner (mummies favourite!!) and no one even noticed the parsley sauce was completely dairy free, made with block marge and oat milk (apart from bear of course, but he was over the moon) followed by a delicious tray bake mince pie type pud (mummy had a dried fruit mix instead of mince meat as she doesn’t like it) bear was very happy. I am not sure who is more spoilt by nanny though, bear or mummy! What would we do without her

Please do not forget that we are in the last week of moovember – CMPA awareness month….please keep helping to spread the word.