Calling Pancake and Munchkin

[mayerling]

It turns out that N's cradle cap has turned into a bacterial infection from staphylococcus and the doctor has prescribed antibiotics four times a day on an empty stomach.

As you may know, N has severe sleep issues so the thought of having to wake him in the night just to space the doses downright scares me, especially since when he wakes in the night he wants to feed so having to keep him awake for half an hour to anhour after giving him the dose and before feeding him also scares me.

Is it okay to give all four doses in the daytime?

 

[lliang_chi]

Mayerling, I have no answer to your question but I wanted to send dust to N. I hope the infection passes quickly. Poor guy! Sending you hugs too!!!

 

[Skippy123]

Mayerling, I have no answer to your question but I wanted to send dust to N. I hope the infection passes quickly. Poor guy! Sending you hugs too!!!

ditto
sending dust/prayers/good thoughts. Oh no, poor little guy!!! my heart goes out to you and N!

 

[mayerling]

Bumping in hopes that one or both of them will see this.

 

[Skippy123]

if for some reason they don't see your post, I would put in a call the Pharmacist and the Pediatrician and see if they want you to give it to him meds every 6 hours for sure. sending healing vibes.

 

[mayerling]

In the UK we don't have access to pediatricians, just GPs. Plus, it's the middle of the night hre; I'm up for a feed.

 

[Munchkin]

Just saw this!

What med is N on? I always do my darndest to write meds for twice daily because I feel any more than that is simply unreasonable for a parent! However, some meds historically must be administered at shorter intervals throughout the day. More modern info for many of these meds has revealed that for skin and/or suture (stitch) infections, twice daily dosing may be as effective. I know, however, that you and I are on opposite sides of the pond and have different meds available to us. Further most antibiotics need'nt truly be administered on an empty stomach, which would simplify your nights!

Let me know the name of the med and I'll research all my books/software for nitty gritty details.

 

[mayerling]

Thank you so much Munchkin! The med is called flucloxicillin, I think. And N will be 4 months in 10 days.

In the end I didn't wake him up, which means it's almost 11 hours since the previous dose. But he'd had such a hellish night the night before that I really didn't want to wake him. Of course now I'm worried I've created a drug-resistant bug.

 

[pancake]

Yes. Try and space it out as best you can but I wouldn't go as far as waking him during the night to give it. Also, obviously give it before a feed, but don't freak out too much about how soon after you give him a feed, the empty stomach thing, etc. Babies feed frequently and we don't fuss too much about all that stuff when prescribing medication.

Sorry to hear it's all superinfected This should knock it on the head pretty quickly though.

 

[mayerling]

It's been 13 hours between dose 3 and dose 4. Have I completely messed this up? Now that I know feeds don't matter I'll space the doses out more evenly but have my actions created a drug-resistant bug?

 

[pancake]

No!

 

[mayerling]

Good to know. I was fretting about this all night.

 

[mayerling]

Thanks again for your replies, M and P.
I stopped worrying about the feeds so I was able to spread the doses out more evenly.

 

[Munchkin]

SO sorry I fell off his thread! The med you mentioned isn't one I use here in the US, so I kept telling myself to "look it up when I get home" and then Superstorm Sandy hit. We quite happily have electricity and running water back, but I feel terrible I never got back to you! How is the infection looking? I hope all is improved!

 

[mayerling]

His head still oozes puss and some hard stuff is still caked on it, but it does look like its covering a smaller area of the head than before. It definitely smells bad, though; none of that baby smell any more. We have a follow up appt this afternoon,

Thanks for checking in again, Munchkin, and I'm glad you're doing okay after the storm.

 

[Skippy123]

His head still oozes puss and some hard stuff is still caked on it, but it does look like its covering a smaller area of the head than before. It definitely smells bad, though; none of that baby smell any more. We have a follow up appt this afternoon,

Thanks for checking in again, Munchkin, and I'm glad you're doing okay after the storm.

I hope the doctor has answers. poor baby and momma, hugs

 

[pancake]

Mayerling, hope the appointment is helpful. You can gently soak off the crusts (use a warm facewasher to soak, don't pick). Did the GP take a swab of it the first time you went?

 

[mayerling]

Yeah, he took a swab and it came back positive for staphylococcus. Yesterday wasn't particularly helpful; she basically asked if he's doing well - which I could only answer on the basis of the fact that he no longer seems to scratching - and said to finish the 14-day course of antibiotics.

Could you explain what you mean by 'soaking the crusts'?

 

[pancake]

Just soaking in warm soapy water or water with some bath oil - since it's on his head you could use a facewasher as a wet compress. Needs to be done for 10-20 minutes (bathtime is a good time!) and then just gently wipe away as much crust as you can. You're not trying to pull off the scabs and cause bleeding - just to remove as much as possible of the excess infected dried-up liquid.

 

[Skippy123]

How is he doing? sending healing vibes his way, hugs to you momma!

 

[mayerling]

Skippy, he's the same, I think, but I'm going to try Pancake's suggestion. Thankfully, he's coming to the end of his two-week course of antibiotics.

Pancake, do you mean to just put a wet washcloth on his head for 10-20 minutes and then wipe the crusts off?