Baby Sickness -- Q & A

Luke has been a sick little boy these last few weeks.  We are at it again with another ear infection, which we discovered at the doctors after we took him in to check out the serious eye goobers/pus he had in his left eye for about 3-4 days (over the Thanksgiving holiday, no less).  More antibiotics in his system for his right ear, this time.  I'm sure it has spread to his left ear, as he has been grabbing at that for the last several days.  His pediatrician has said that because he's had 2 infections within the last 2 months, with a third infection, she will refer us to the Ear, Nose & Throat doctor to discuss the possibility of ear tubes, to help with the pressure & drainage in his ears.  My poor baby is only 8 months old.  Is this common in someone so young?  I am up for anything to ease Luke's discomfort.  We have been keeping him dosed up with Motrin to keep the pain at bay.  I had a ton of earaches as a kid, so I remember the pain.  Ugh.  I was hoping to get some input from those who are familiar with ear tubes ... pros & cons, how have they worked for you/kids, etc.

With Luke's ear infection, comes a sore throat & cough (which we may find out at our re-check tomorrow is bronchitis).  It isn't helped by the temps in the house at night, either.  We keep our house about 72 typically, but have been running it higher at 74 to help with Luke's sicknesses.  At night, the temps seem to drop regardless (and when you breathe dry air through your mouth because your nose is plugged, I don't think that helps either).  We've run the humidifier at night in his room, but sometimes it will quit working in the middle of the night.  I think it may be due to our hard water creating a calcium buildup or something inside.  Luke also likes to squirm out of the covers I put in his crib.  Usually he will start at one end of the crib with a few blankets from his waist down.  Then by morning, he will be huddled at the other end with no blankets.  When I change his diaper in the morning, he always feels a little cold, so we get a bottle & snuggle under a few layers.  I dress him in the one piece footie pajamas (not a super-thin fabric), but even with that, I'd still like to keep him warmer at night.  Aside from a space heater (which I'm nervous about due to a fear of a fire starting (yes, I'm paranoid)), do you have any suggestions on how to keep Luke warm?

Since I'm questioning everything under the sun, here's another one.  Crib bumpers.  We'd purchased a crib set with the thick bumpers that I know you're not supposed to use due to suffocation risk.  So I put those bumpers away & haven't used them.  When Luke started to get wiggly and make 360's in his crib, we wanted to get something so his arms & legs wouldn't get stuck in the slats, so we purchased some bumpers that have large air holes at Targ.et.  Those worked ok, but kept sliding down all.the.time, which drove me crazy (you tie them onto the slats).  I wondered if there was an age when you could use the "thick" bumpers if you know that your child can move away from it.  I'm not willing to risk Luke suffocating with these bumpers, though, so I'm posing the question to get some input before making any changes.

Lastly, but definitely my biggest headache in the question department ... thermometers!  I want to throttle all thermometer manufacturers.  Seriously!  I realize with a squirmy baby that the temps won't always be the same, but with a whole degree difference, I think that is for the birds!  We initially purchased a forehead thermometer, but after comparing that with my digital thermometer I used when taking my BBT (I took it under Luke's arm), I realized that the forehead thermometer was crazy!  So I bought the Brau.n Ear Thermometer, which you can stick in the ear after putting a plastic sleeve over the tip to prevent ear wax getting on the sensor.  That reads a little better, but still varies a little.  I'm about fit to be tied!  Any good recommendations on thermometers?  I'm not thrilled about going "old school" and trying to stick a thermometer up Luke's (very cute) behind.

We like to pull ourselves up on anything now!

Luke is very mobile!  He has been crawling for a month and will go from the crawling position to sitting just like that.  He likes to crawl around his piles of toys for the most interesting things ... this time, he was going after the yellow ball.  

Having fun with Cookie Monster (a gift from his birthmom).   Yes, I stuffed CM in the back of his pants to "ride along" because I thought it was too cute.  I am "that mother."  :-D

Showing off our "I can pull myself up and stand in my crib now" skills.  We've learned to hang on, as when Luke doesn't, he takes a tumble!