when your baby is ill

Having a 3-yr-old and a 1-yr-old at our house also means that we have a continuous loop of viruses visiting us. Ear and sinus infeccions have led us to have a "saved" spot in the frigde for antibiotics, and the little steam machine has been on for so many nights that it's starting to suffer from a long, noisy death.

Now, I'll confess that during Luca's first year of life, Alain and I had a "saved" spot in the pediatrician's waiting room. I'm sure the nurses could see our number on caller ID and just forwarded the call to each other like we were telemarketers. Now that Alain and I are a little better trained, however, we often do research and discuss whether calling or visiting the pediatrician is actually needed.


Some of the resources we have leaned on during the past three years are:


Mayo Clinic: the world's first and largest integrated non-profit medical practice. They have short articles on just about any condition and they not only list the causes and complications, but also describe potential treatments.


What to Expect the First Year: This book and the Toddler Years version are a great resource. If you liked What to Expect When You Are Expecting, you will likely find this a helpful resource. I bet there are many moms out there who have a copy and can lend you one or just give it to you.


Parent Resource Websites: I find parents.com and babycenter.com to be very helpful, but there are hundreds out there. Just make sure it's a trustworthy resource.


Other Moms: I also found other moms to be a great source of information. I am lucky to have a sister-in-law who is a pediatric nutritionist and another who is a physician, but moms who are not in the medical field have been very helpful. They have pointed me to good doctors, provided good information resources, and shared their experiences.  


I hope these are helpful to you! Do you have any that you would like to share?