First of all, shame on me for not yet saying a HUGE thank you for each of the 288 votes (!!) you cast for the Best Parenting Weblog Award. Really, thank you! I’m honoured and touched and will treasure each vote, and I’m sure some dark future days when I’m feeling insecure and ridiculous with all this blog stuff I’ll be recounting each precious vote like a miser with his gold.
And you saved me from last place!! I could have written a post about the wonders of eighth place, and what a terrific number 8 is — but my hilarious if numerically-challenged fellow competitor, Hollywood Flakes, has already written that post for me. So, er, what she said!
(Edited to add: Ack! Apparently we need some fact checkers around here. I’ve made an egregious claim to the glory of eigth place, led down the garden path to delusions of grandeur by the aforementioned numerically-challenged Sarah of Hollywood Flakes. *blush* In fact, the rightful heir to the title of “KingQueen of Eight” belongs to Bub and Pie. I am, most humbly, your Real Martian Beauty, That Number 9 Cutie. Hey, I never claimed to be good with numbers…)
In all seriousness, though: thank you, my friends. *curtsey*
A couple of weeks ago, a reporter from the Citizen sent an e-mail asking for opinions about the recent recall of cough and cold medications for children. I wrote back what I thought at the time was a rather unhelpful response, basically saying I was surprised to hear about the recall and perplexed as to why the medicines had been on the shelf all this time if there had been questions about their efficacy. I didn’t realize until after I sent my response that he had addressed his e-mail to a handful of Ottawa mom-bloggers.
The article came out yesterday, but I didn’t notice it until this morning. I had no idea, until I read it, that the Canadian Paediatric Society’s position has always been that cough and cold medications should not be administered to children under three years of age. As I said to the reporter, I’ve been using them sporadically with the boys from as soon as the label on the box said it was okay, although I can’t say I’ve noticed a huge difference one way or the other. I’m not a not a huge believer in OTC medicines at the best of times, though, and with the exception of tylenol I’m reluctant to medicate all but the worst symptoms when I know we’re dealing with the common cold. As I said to the reporter, I’ve been trying to conceive, pregnant or nursing for the best part of eight years, so I’ve learned to do without and come to prefer non-medicinal options for the boys as well. There’s also a huge article on the same page, reviewing what works and what doesn’t work when treating a cold.
Can you spot the Ottawa bloggers?
In my pathetic defense, I was a sociology major. If you really expect me to make sense out of a ranking of ten, you’re in for some major disappointment. Way to go on being interviewed for that article! My pediatrician has always told me from day one that cough meds don’t do a thing for babies so I’ve never used them too much but it does just feel good to do something when your child is sick so sometimes I just give it to them anyway. It’s kind of like kissing a child’s bump better – they usually feel better afterwards.
Congrats on your eight, er, ninth?
re: article
I caught it yesterday. This morning I was out to refill some cough-related meds, so I picked up some garlic tablets. Hey, it can’t hurt to boost my immune system, right?
A couple hours later I was burping, thinking what on earth did I eat this morning …. OH SHIT IT’S THE GARLIC.
I just read the Saturday paper this morning. And, I read that article and thought the first two names belonged to mommy bloggers.
I guess it was a big a-ha moment that bloggers for different demographics are being used as topic experts for print media and not being identified as mommy bloggers.
Congrats on your placement!
My ped. has always said that the medication doesn’t really work on such young kids. So other than Tempra for fever reduction/ pain, we have rarely used any cough/cold medications on our kids.
Interestingly, I was also contacted by the reporter but I wasn’t quoted, I”m guessing, because I’d never given my daughter cough syrup. Reid is young enough that the books that first-time mothers read already recommended against cough syrup and the Telehealth Ontario nurse also said so when I called when Reid had her first major cold. Both Dani and Andrea are more experienced mothers than I and I think that the age of your first born makes a lot of the difference in this story.
I like how Barbara called me an experienced mom, when in reality I’m just flying by the seat of my pants, like, 24/7. 😉
I think I saw four. I’m from Lanark BTW. Beyond the edge.