Colds, Unlimited

My toddler has had a cold for the last month and a half. That is, he's had successive waves of colds--at least three, by my estimation--and a cough that hasn't gone away since early April. This morning, when we was coughing and sneezing to beat the band, after having shown some improvement this weekend, I was ready to climb the walls from worry, fatigue and a sense of helplessness.

It's amazing what a little information will do for morale. During this afternoon's visit, the pediatrician told me that on average, children between the ages of one and three years will have one cold a month; after that, they will have around one cold every three months, and by the time they enter kindergarten it's usually down to around one cold every six months. By then their immune system has built up enough antibodies to fight all but the nastiest viruses. She said it was common for babies or toddlers to have coughs lasting weeks or even months. She said his lungs sounded perfectly clear and his ears looked good. She also eased my mind in relation to when I could take him to playgroups and public events--best to wait 48 hours after the start of the cold, and that was more for his overall stamina, not so much for reasons of contagion. (If he had a fever, that would be another story, she said--definitely keep him home then.)

I went home heaving a huge sigh of relief. They should pass on this information, about the frequency of colds in toddlers, to all new and expectant mothers; it's one of those essential yet little-known tidbits of knowledge that could ease a lot of mothers' minds in a big hurry. No, my son is not developing bronchitis or asthma or pneumonia; no, he will not cough forever, or start coughing up blood. No, I'm not a horrible mother because my son has been coughing for so long. And most importantly, he will be healthy again, soon.

She also told me that he's teething--the tops of two molars are poking through, and the molars are notoriously painful when they come in. Which means that we could be in for rough nights for the next two months. But forewarned is forearmed, and I know I can cope.

It's when your car's heading downhill fast and you don't know if it has brakes any more that you can start to lose your mind.