Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Nine(9) medicines you shouldn't give your toddler

Young children are much more likely than adults to have adverse drug reactions, so giving your toddler prescription or over-the-counter (OTC) medication – even "herbal" medicines – is serious business. Should your curious toddler accidentally ingest any harmful medication, be sure to keep the number for Poison Control posted near your phone. Here are some medicines you should never give your 12- to 24-month-old.

Aspirin
Never give aspirin or medications containing aspirin to your toddler or to anyone 19 years old or younger. Aspirin can make a child susceptible to Reye's syndrome – a rare but potentially fatal illness.

Don't assume that the children's medicines found in drugstores will be aspirin-free. Read labels carefully (aspirin is sometimes referred to as "salicylate" or "acetylsalicylic acid"), and ask your doctor or pharmacist if you're not sure whether a product is aspirin-free.

For fever and other discomfort, you may want to give your toddler the correct dose of acetaminophen or ibuprofen. However, if your child is dehydrated or vomiting, has asthma, kidney problems, an ulcer, or another long-term illness, talk to your doctor before giving ibuprofen. Also talk with your doctor about an alternative to acetaminophen if your child has liver disease.

Over-the-counter cough and cold medicines
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) advises against giving OTC cough and cold medicines to toddlers. Studies show that they don't actually help soothe symptoms in kids this age. And they can be harmful, especially when a child mistakenly gets more than the recommended dose.

In addition to side effects like drowsiness or sleeplessness, upset stomach, and a rash or hives, a child can suffer serious effects such as rapid heart rate, convulsions, and even death. Every year, thousands of children end up in emergency rooms across the nation after swallowing too much cough and cold medicine.

However, over the past few years emergency visits involving infants and toddlers who take too much of these medications have dropped in half. Health experts attribute the drop to manufacturers, who no longer market cough and cold medicines to young children. If your toddler's miserable with a cold, you may want to try a humidifier or other home remedies.

Anti-nausea medications
Don't give your toddler an anti-nausea medication (prescription or OTC) unless her doctor specifically recommends it. Most bouts of vomiting are pretty short-lived, and children usually handle them just fine without any medication. In addition, anti-nausea medications have risks and possible complications. (If your child is vomiting and begins to get dehydrated, contact her doctor for advice on what to do.)

Infant and adult medications
Giving your toddler a smaller dose of medicine meant for an adult is as dangerous as giving a higher dose of medicine meant for an infant. Many parents don't realize that infant drops are more concentrated than liquid medicine intended for older children. If the label doesn't indicate an appropriate dose for the weight and age of your child, don't give that medication to your toddler.

Any medication prescribed for someone else or for another condition
Prescription drugs intended for other people (like a sibling) or to treat other illnesses may be ineffective or even dangerous when given to your toddler. Give your toddler only medicine prescribed for him and his specific condition.

Anything expired
Toss out medicines, prescription and OTC alike, as soon as they expire. Also get rid of discolored or crumbly medicines – basically anything that doesn't look the way it did when you first bought it. After the use-by date, medications may no longer be effective and can even be harmful.

In general, it's not a good idea to flush old drugs down the toilet, as they may contaminate groundwater and end up in the drinking water supply. However, a few drugs are so potentially harmful to children that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommends disposing of them in the toilet rather than the trash.

Look at the label of the medicine to find out if it should be flushed. If you're not sure, ask your pharmacist what to do with it or find out if your community has a drug take-back program for old and expired medicines.

If a drug doesn't need to be flushed and no take-back program is available, empty the contents of the medicine bottle into a sealed container with something unpalatable (like kitty litter or coffee grounds) before throwing it out. Don't crush tablets or capsules when you mix the medicine with the undesirable substance. Remove any personal information from the empty bottle before disposing of it alongside the sealed container of medicine in the trash.

Extra acetaminophen
Some medicines contain acetaminophen to help ease fever and pain, so be careful not to give your toddler an additional separate dose of acetaminophen. If you're not sure what's in a particular medicine, don't give her acetaminophen or ibuprofen until you've first gotten the okay from your doctor or pharmacist.

Chewables
For most toddlers, chewable tablets are a choking hazard. If you want to use a chewable tablet, ask your child's doctor or pharmacist if it's okay to crush it first and put in a spoonful of soft food, like yogurt or applesauce. (Remember that you'll need to make sure your child eats the entire spoonful of food in order to get the complete dose of medicine.)

Syrup of ipecac
Syrup of ipecac causes vomiting and used to be kept handy to prevent poisoning. Doctors no longer recommend syrup of ipecac mainly because there's no evidence that vomiting helps in the treatment of poisoning. In fact, syrup of ipecac may do more harm than good if a child continues to vomit after ingesting a remedy that has been shown to help, such as activated charcoal.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends throwing out any syrup of ipecac you have in your home and says the best way to prevent accidental poisoning is to keep potentially harmful substances locked up and out of sight.



Thursday, November 24, 2011

Tak Dilayan...

Ok...maybe xde apa pun for certain people on this issue...but seriously, my hubby is very bz like a bee...bz giler kot..lately he came back home around 10pm onwards...reached office 730am...7 days a week..n mayb ahad lmbt sket dtg n awal balik..

So nk berborak mmg susah..everytime i called, mostly whether he's in a discussion or bz at site...jarang la nk bborak panjang macam zaman bcinta..hehehe..

sentiasa menanti incoming message from en suami
when nk bborak pun susah..wat do u expect if i sent him a message?? TAK dibalas k!! but wat i can see, he only reply dengan lajunya if :

1) I message pasal his luvly son..but tu pun if update cakap budak tu xsihat..meaning if saja2 cakap si kecik buat apa ke ari ni..nangis anta g nursery ke..he will just baca n xreply..huhu..if cakap kt klinik or sakit or apa..he will reply or call..*call tu kekadang je

2) pasal si isteri ni jgk..kalau tanya pendapat or apa..memang x dlayan..tp if cakap ada orang ngorat or orang pandang or org mntk no..laju plk reply nyer..hahahah..apa la awak ni..lucu..ayat dia yang i penah dapat

suami : awak berkenan ke?
isteri : xde maknanya..muka dia pn tak ingat macamana dh..hehehe
suami : ye ke tak ingat? ke teringat ingat

hahaha..ok yang..zurai dpt rasa kejelesan di situ..dont worry k..zurai sayang awak! :)

owhh ye..i ada few frens as bini2 yang husband keje di brunei..ada 4 of us..so there were 1 time where ktrg komen2 then terkuar la cakap..alaa message pn bkn drg reply sbb ktrg tgh citer xde sapa ke nak g brunei..so then rupa2 nya smua2 pn sama..message mmg xdbalas..tp i xde la smpi tahap campak hp biler marah mcm sorang tu..hahaha..i paling truk pun just call n membebel n biler tanya naper x balas?his ayat "owhhh dah baca..nk balas tp terlupa"..so i malas nk layan dah n ltk tepon xcakap bye!!hahaha...

so if en suami baca..if awak xmo balas msg sbb leceh..calling2 la.. :)

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Medical Opinion

I dont know how you treat urself or families when it comes to any medical/health conditions...

Coz example if someone been diagnosed with this this this...u cannot refer n stick to that particular doctor only..especially when it keep on repeating..and if the Doctor A said if things getting worse, you should go for an operation..walla....there u go..operate tu..huhuhu..

So if things x recover, and u keep on ngan that Doctor A, that doc said we will see for 2weeks time...if ok than ok la..but nk menunggu 2minggu pn u asyik MC and xsihat..kenapa nk tunggu surat referral from clinic to specialist..just go to the specialist la..bayar sendiri..bukan mahal sangat pun..maybe 200 kot paling mahal...bukan nk suruh go for other opt means ready for operation..just to get the 2nd opinion...seriously, u cannot take things for granted la..kalau setakat sakit perut period or muntah2 for few days tu xpe la...

Same goes to my baby when we checked on his conditions :
1) Asthma
- As he was admitted just after a week he was born with pneumonia..and then keep on repeating got wheezing..then admitted again bcoz of bronchitis when he was 7MO...
- Doctor at A.P.S.H suspected he has asthma...and was given a chamber + ventolin + budesonide...


ventolin

busesonide - ni yang xpatut ni!!



- then we decided to get the 2nd opinion and went to a "Klinik Pakar Kanak-Kanak"..and luckily, i bring both inhaler...and doctor confirmed he has asthma..but the inhaler xbetul..he should be given a seretide instead the budesonide...doc said the budesonide tu from India and kat malaysia xguna sangat ke x medically approved ke apa..so we changed to seretide.. *padanla time upload pic tu drg cakap drg guna ventolin + seretide utk anak2 drg yang ada asthma*

ni baru betul...twice per day :)
- then last week..admitted again because of broncholitis..yang best nya paed dia cuti..so we went to see diff paed..discharged on Saturday and the followup next Saturday (after 1 week) but since last monday his paed dah masuk keje..so we went to bring him to his paed..this is not consider followup just to get 2nd opinion..
- all above covered under my husband's insurance but pay n claim..n encik suami xreti2 nk claim..simpan je resit2 tu..dh dekat seribu jgk kot..

2) CA
- this one is referring to his birth defect..which need to go for an operation...huhu..and as u know, congenital anomalies ni insurance xcover..so smua bayar sndr ok!
- As A.P.S.H xde paed surgeon..so his paed suggested that we can go to tawakal..so doc siapkan referral letter with my son's conditions smua..then off we go..yezza..swasta kan..of coz la berpuluh ribu costnya..but we didn't agree that time..so we decided to have 2nd opinion from other doc/diff hospital...
- we chose HUKM local goverment and once there, the doc was good despite tunggu lama sket..tp xde la lama sangat kot..n doc mentioned the only local gomen hospital yg ada good paed surgeon ada kat HKL, HUKM and PPUM kot..so we decided maintain je kat HUKM...after discussion, and the approach between tawakal n HUKM lain..n we prefer HUKM since doc pn citer ada complication la..and if i ikut cara tawakal ada this issue and this la..so ok..kita ikut option from HUKM
- As HUKM ada local and specialist, there you go...i jmp pulak doc kt HUKM specialist...and tanya all the differences between local and specialist n procedure smua..n i tell u..lagi ramai doc u jmp..u will know ur or ur kid's conditions very well..as u tau nk tanya apa smua..
- my son already had his 1st operation at gov hospital and next december is his 2nd operation..and still my husband wanted to go to HUKM specialist..but since i have no issue with local gomen except the doctor is not that specialist but the procedure/operation will be monitored by the specialist...and bukan doc yg baru kuar medical skool yang akan operate pn..ni doc yang dh ada pengalaman yang tgh menimba ilmu nk jadi specialist pn..and the doc was nice...im happy with their services..


So kesimpulannya...if you guys out there rasa not feeling good..n things x recover or getting worse...y not go n get 2nd opinion k..

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Preparation

Next week will be his 1st birthday celebration...i chose to have a safari birthday..

setakat ni..yang akan mengikut tema :
1) Our outfit..n hope guests and families pn akan support that theme

2) Door Gift - this one i ordered from US, but turned out its smaller than what i imagined...sangat kecik..rasanya mata baca inch but it turns out to be cm je kot..so bayangkan beza dia..i tot leh masukkan air pops dalam tu..tapi rasa leh masukkan telur je kot..hahaha..so air n cereal smua letak atas meja as candy buffet je la nnti..hehehe..but as long the box tu dah animal printed nye box dah way tooo good kot :)

3) DIY items..these items i upah orang la design as my hubby is soooo damn bz la pulak...e-vite settled..tu pn tempah..slalu babah yang wat kan..without failed babah buatkan evite for our engagement, nikah n reception and also aqiqah si kecik....huhuhu..
    - Cupcakes Sleeve
    - Water Labels
    - Tent Bag Labels
    - Birthday Banner
    - Party Hatsbirthday boy n his cousins(dina, mia, hariz and hannah)
    - Food Labels
    - Monthly Tags : this one i plan nak lekat pic dia from 1month to 1 year..monthly piccas..but gambar xselect lagi n babah xedit lagi n xprint lagi!!uwaaaaaaa..slow n slow..babah edit sekejap je kot..tp 48 keping kot..12 * 4set..nk memilih gambar ni yang susah ni...

4) Deco - pun i ordered pn US..like lantern animal prints(ni i cari kat msia mmg xjumpa) and others (ni leh je dpt kat msia..tp alang2 order, so skali la..like balloons, bubbles..) not to forget, i beli kain kat kamdar as cover meja buffet n pashmina animal printed utk letak kat atas meja bulat for guest!slumber la..korang kotorkan pashmina tu pn xpe..hehehe

5) Foods - main food will be nasi ayam..there goes my budget lari..sbb plan nak wat minum petang..so makan pn setakat bihun n nasi goreng ke..xde la makanan berat..but since tuan rumah bz n leh wat ahad n xleh wat ptg sbb isnin orang keje..so we decide to hav it still on sunday but then on noon je la kot..so harus la makan berat kan? then nak ada bihun goreng as backup..lain of coz la like nuggets n drummets kot...

6) Candy Buffet - ermm..konon2 macam ada..tp tgk la apa jadi..hahahaha

So i hope everything turns out good..even not perfect pun kan..n harap2 smua xkelam kabut..tp since DIY ni xstart lagi n i have 10days..tolak raya..uwaaaaaa..nk lekat water label lagi..ada amik cuti ni..hehehe..

pray for my success!! :)