Tag: chicagomom

Fintastic Birthday Party at Goldfish Swim School

Featured ~ conlimonplease ~ 1 Comment

Robbie turned 6 years old! We wanted to celebrate with his friends at an indoor spot this year. We couldn’t have found a better venue for his party. It was a blast!

Goldfish Swim Schools are the perfect spot to experience a tropical environment. Their locations are colorful, spacious, and welcoming. Their swimming pool area is heated to 90° and their shiver-free pool is the perfect spot to swim with friends.

We had his party at Goldfish Swim School in Evanston, IL. We chose the smallest party package since it was perfect for us. You get to have 1 to 24 little ones as guests. Adults don’t count against the attendee number, which is amazing! You don’t have to worry about how many parents will join. Grandma and grandpa can enjoy the fun, too!

Robbie was so excited to know we’d do an ocean theme for his party. He really wanted to focus on manatees, but it’s really hard to find anything manatee. We had so much fun gathering the few things we needed to bring for decor. Robbie was so excited to work on choosing the names for all the snacks we had for our guests.

What’s included?

When you book a birthday party at Goldfish Swim School you get:

– Two hours of private access
– Certified lifeguards & party coordinator
– Invitations and envelopes
– Table coverings, plates, cups, napkins, and forks
– Balloons, tropical decorations, and centerpieces
– Cupcakes & beverages for children
– Goodie bags
– T-shirt for the guest of honor

We booked the venue 6 weeks before the party. It was so easy! If you’re a Goldfish member you can do it through the Goldfish app, or the member portal on their website. Goldfish Evanston offers two different party times, either from 2-4pm or 4:30-6:30 on Saturdays. Check with your local Goldfish on what times they offer their birthday parties as times and days vary by location.

The allotted time for the party was perfect! Once you’re signed in with the front desk, you and your little ones will have a brief water safety demonstration, and you proceed to spend the first hour in the pool. There’s comfy changing rooms and showers for your guests. Shampoo is available, as well as hair dryers. When everyone moves to dry land, everyone gathers and shares food. We opted for an additional coffee package for a small fee. It was a hit with the adults!

One of our guests is getting a certified life vest after having received safety procedure from certified lifeguard

I loved having all the help from Goldfish staff. It’s definitely a plus to arrive at a birthday venue where everything is already beautiful! The staff work on setting up the tables, plates, and décor! The staff served our guests pizza, and the cupcakes. Also, you don’t have to worry about cleaning up! As a parent this is definitely a win! Not having to worry about setting up and cleaning up is awesome!

One of our guests, Ben, receives a cupcake from Goldfish Staff

This is the first birthday party I host that I’m actually the most relaxed! All the help we received from the staff was awesome! 

I definitely recommend hosting birthday parties at Goldfish Swim School. You get a lot of value, there’s parking for your guests, and all your guests will get a free family swim pass in the goodie bags! Some of our guests booked free trials after the party was over! Having a birthday party at Goldfish Swim School is not just about fun, but it’s also about learning water safety with friends!

If you’re not ready to book a party yet, start with a FREE trial at any Goldfish Swim School. Click here for Chicago locations!

Thank you Goldfish Swim School for sponsoring this post!

♡ Michelle | con limón, please

Halloween | Totopos horneados espeluznantes

~ conlimonplease ~ Leave a comment

Me encantan las tortillas en cualquiera de sus formas, y por supuesto que me encantan los totopos. Así les llamamos en México a la tortilla en trozos que es frita u horneada. ¡Lo mejor de los totopos en que pueden estar hechos de maíz o de trigo! Para estos totopos espeluznantes usé tortillas de trigo para los fantasmas, y tortillas de maíz para las lunas. Necesitas sólo 3 ingredientes, y los puedes comer con tu salsa favorita o guacamole. ¡Yum!

Vas a necesitar:
– tortillas (de maíz o trigo)
– aceite de cocina
– sal
– cortadores de galletas de Halloween
– bandeja para hornear

Precalienta el horno a 380° F (190° C). Comienza poniendo las tortillas en una tabla para cortar. Usa el cortador de galleta que elijas, y corta las tortillas una a la vez. Usé ambos tipos de tortillas. Puedes únicamente usar tortillas de maíz si quieres que tus totopos espeluznantes no tengan gluten.

Pon las tortillas en una bandeja para hornear. Le puse papel pergamino para el horno en la mía. Ligeramente agrega aceite en spray, o usa un cepillo de cocina y agrega aceite a cada forma. Yo usé aceite de oliva en spray. Si prefieres un aceite con sabor más neutro, puedes usar aceite de aguacate. Agrega un poco de sal a las tortillas.

Agrega aceite ligeramente
Agrega sal

Pon la bandeja en el horno precalentado. Los totopos de harina de trigo estarán listos en 10 minutos. Los totopos de harina de maíz estarán listos y doraditos en 20 minutos.

10 minutos para los totopos de trigo| 20 minutos para los totopos de maíz

Mientras los totopos se estaban horneando, preparé un rico guacamole. Puedes comer estos ricos totopos con cualquier salsa que elijas, ¡o haz un guacamole como el mío!

En nuestra casa los totopos siempre son populares. ¡Tuve que apurarme a tomar estas fotos porque estaban desapareciendo! Mi hijo Robbie ama el guacamole con totopos. ¡Estos totopos espeluznantes definitivamente fueron aún más deseasos!

¡Ahora ya sabes cómo hacer totopos! Puedes hacerlo de cualquier forma, y tal vez hagas unos de corazones para el Día de San Valentín. Recuerda que puedes usar tortillas de trigo o de maíz, pero pon atención a los diferentes tiempos de cocción.

NOTA:
No te preocupes por el desperdicio porque en realidad no hay. Corta los trozos que sobraron en tiritas y ¡también hornéalas! Sigue el mismo proceso, agrega aceite y sal, y al horno. Úsalas como ingrediente final en tu sopa favorita.

¡Espero que los prepares!

♡ Michelle | con limón, please

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¿Necesitas ideas para cómo comer tus totopos? ¡Aquí están algunas de mis favoritas!

Red Tomatillo Salsa
Guacamole, anyone?

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Checa más cosas de Halloween aquí:

Dentaduras Espeluznantes de manzana

Momias de galleta

Murciélagos para envolver dulces

DIY Decoración para Halloween fácil: guirnalda de fantasmas de borlas de estambre

How to make a punch piñata

~ conlimonplease ~ 9 Comments

Piñatas are so much fun! In Mexico all the little ones get excited about breaking a piñata and of course getting goodies that come out flying to the ground! It’s all fun and joy until there’s a little one who didn’t get anything, right? I have this DIY so that you make a piñata with a more fair fun!

I was looking for ideas for my son’s birthday celebration at school. I got so excited to know piñatas were allowed in his school! I was browsing on Pinterest for ideas when I saw a post about how to make a punch piñata by Gray House Harbor, and it hit me! I’d seen them already, but I couldn’t remember much about them.

I decided to make my own in order to ease Robbie’s teacher’s mind as she wouldn’t have to deal with children crying or being sad because they didn’t get anything from the piñata. With this piñata, each kid would get the same amount and type of goodies. Here is the list of things you’ll need and the instructions for you to make your own!

This is what you’ll need:

– a long rectangular cardboard box (I used two LaCroix boxes)

– poster paper

– sharp cutter

– tissue paper

– paper cups

– duct tape & masking tape

– small goodies for the cups

I went to my local Dollar Tree and got most of the materials, and even the goodies! Their sharp cutter is actually really good! So if you don’t have one, you know where to go.

First, if you don’t have a long enough box, put together cardboard boxes and paste them using duct tape. Draw as many circles as you’ll have guests. I used a lid of a mason jar to draw 19 circles. Cut out the circles using a sharp cutter. Don’t forget to add some cardboard on the bottom to avoid scratching surfaces.

Wrap the cardboard box using wrapping paper or poster paper. Then, score the paper in each of the circles like a pizza. The paper will work as flaps when we insert the cups.

I used paper cups with small goodies in them. I covered each of them with tissue paper and I used some masking tape to keep the paper in place. I used 3 layers of tissue paper, as it tends to be a bit translucent.

Here you can see how I stuffed items in cups, and covered each cup with tissue paper. The masking tape worked great to keep the cover in place!

The goodies I included in each of the cups were a small activity book, an eraser, a Lego like person, and some Pop Rocks candy. I found most of these items at the Dollar Tree store. The little activity books were a Facebook marketplace find we got for free!

Back of the piñata

TIP: you can reinforce the cardboard boxes using duct tape.

The kids had a lot of fun! Each of them got the same amount of goodies, and it was overall such a fun time for them! A win!

Robbie getting ready to punch his piñata

I hope you like this idea!

♡ Michelle | con limón, please

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Screen-free fun with The Adventures of Cairo

~ conlimonplease ~ 9 Comments

Motherhood has me always thinking of ways of keeping my children entertained; specially my oldest son, Robbie, who is 5 years old. When my son is not in school or it’s the weekend, I always try to keep him entertained with screen-free activities. I like activities where we can all be together and participate in them, and that actually make us interact more as a family. Listening to podcasts has been the answer! Ever since Robbie started getting interested in them, we started looking for family friendly options. Today, I have a recommendation for you and for your little ones: The Adventures of Cairo, Wondery’s newest children’s podcast.

The Adventures of Cairo podcast

The Adventures of Cairo focuses on the life of Cairo Carter, a 7 year-old boy who lives in a big city. Each episode is filled with a life lesson, and day to day issues that little ones may face. There’s always a morale at the end, and you can find something to talk about with your little ones after listening to the episodes. The life of Cairo revolves around his family, friends, school, and exploring and learning.

The podcast episodes are well done. They do a great job with sound effects, the music, and each of the characters has a different voice. Children can start identifying the voices of characters, which I think it’s great!

What do we like about the Adventures of Cairo?

My favorite part about this podcast is that the situations are very common. Cairo has an older brother, Omari, and they live with their parents. Their dad works at the airport, and he has night shifts. It’s really cool that they give the dad a night shift, isn’t it? On another note, representation matters, and for me having my sons see and hear different people from different races and backgrounds is really important. There’s a little Latino boy named Enrique! The music is so fun! Every time we play the episodes, baby Antonio, who is 18 months old, starts dancing to the beat.

My son Robbie said when I asked him what he thought about it that the episodes have very normal situations, haha, that’s how he described it. However, after listening to them, he likes to go deeper in the topic. For example, we talked about bullies, what to do, and what not to do when being bullied, and so on. I think he really likes it!

New episodes are released every Tuesday, and you can listen to this family friendly podcast on Apple Podcasts, the Wondery app, or wherever you listen to your podcasts!

Listen to the Adventures of Cairo

I hope you and your little ones give The Adventures of Cairo a go, and let me know what you think about it!

♡ Michelle | con limón, please.

DIY biodegradable St. Valentine’s garland. Orange peel garland

Featured ~ conlimonplease ~ 22 Comments

Valentine’s Day is such a lovely holiday. In Mexico we call it Day of Love and Friendship. I love hearts and all the décor that comes with it. However, many of the décor is disposable, and even most things you can basically only use them once. I wanted to create something either made of paper, or even something sustainable and biodegradable! I saw this cute idea from Valerie Garcia back in December. She used orange peel to make gift tags! So I thought I could follow her lead and make a dry orange peel heart garland for Valentine’s Day!

You’ll need:

  • 4-5 navel oranges (big oranges work better)
  • Heart shaped cookie cutter
  • Jute cord or cotton string
  • Cooling rack and baking sheet

Preheat oven at 200°F (90°C). Cut the ends of your oranges, and slice the peel lengthwise. Peel it off carefully so that the peel stays as whole as possible. This way you’ll have more area to work with.

Place the orange peel with its inside up on a cutting board. Use a sharp cookie cutter to cut out heart shapes. Press hard with your palm to get an even cut. Place the hearts on a cooling rack on a baking sheet, or on your baking sheet using some parchment paper.

Place the tray in the oven, and bake for about 2h.

Remove from the oven, and use a needle and jute cord or cotton cord to string your hearts and form a garland as long as you need it. Et voilà! Your garland is ready to make your place look more charming!

NOTES:
* I recommend using bigger oranges so that you get more material to work with. Even bring your cookie cutter to the store, and buy some that are good for its size
* Don’t be tempted to add more temperature to the oven
* If you don’t have a cooling rack, don’t forget to use parchment paper on your baking sheet so that the shapes don’t get stuck on it
* Play around with this sustainable idea! You can buy grapefruit, red oranges, or even limes!

The best part about this DIY is that it is completely sustainable, biodegradable, and you get to eat your oranges! Click here to see what I did with mine. Also, you can totally adapt your garland to any other holiday. And even make ornaments and gift tags for Christmas!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

♡ Michelle | con limón, please

Some other garlands I’ve made before:

Other St. Valentine’s ideas:

St. Valentine’s Day date idea at home

St. Valentine’s Day snack idea: St. Valentine’s popcorn

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For some more St. Valentine’s Day craft ideas go see what my friends shared!

DIY Valentine’s Day Welcome Sign For Front Door by Cameron

Toddler Valentine’s LOVE Art by Amy

Paper Hearts by Stephanie

Valentine’s Day Craft: Thumbprint Tree by Ally

DIY Valentine’s Day banner by Cammie

Simple Valentine’s Day Toddler Craft: Heart-Shaped Shortbread Cookies by Kirsten

Colorful Heart Garland for DIY Valentine’s Photos by Amy

Valentine DIY decor by Kimberly

Valentine’s Day Craft by Christa

Valentine Love Wands by mamallamallama

Yarn Crafts Valentines Edition by Stephanie

DIY Valentine’s Day Tree Decor by Alex

Valentines Day Craft for Kids by Alexa

Valentine’s Day Activities for Toddlers by Surabhi

5 easy ideas to start the New Year off right!

~ conlimonplease ~ 10 Comments

The New Year is upon us. Whether you’re gathering up with family or friends, or staying at home with your family or alone, I have these ideas ready for you to start the New Year off right. Sometimes thinking about writing down resolutions gets boring and stressing even, right? Well, these 5 ideas are different, and I’m excited to get to them!

1. 52 week envelope challenge
I’m really eager to try this idea along with my husband this year. You need 52 envelopes, 1 for each week of the year, and you need to label them starting with $1, and all the way to $52. Each week you’ll grab the envelope that you feel comfortable adding that amount of money in it. You can start with the $1 envelope, or whichever you can afford to save that week. Once the year is over you would have saved $1378!


If you’d like to save twice as much, grab two envelopes each week. Reuse them after you’re done with the 52 envelopes and you’d have saved $2756.
Adapt this challenge to your currency of use. You could also skip the envelopes and download a free printable to the 52 week savings challenge.

printable of a 52 week challenge
Download this free printable for keeping track of it on a piece of paper.

2. Play the 30-Day Minimalism Game
Living a minimalist life is honestly hard. Doing this 30-day minimalism game helps you achieve a ton! The Minimalists came up with this challenge. We’ve done it twice at home. Joshua and Ryan, the minimalists, laid out this idea which helps you get rid of 465 items! On the first day you get rid of one thing, on the second day two things, and so on. As The Minimalists say: anything goes!
You can donate, trash or sell the items. The first couple days are easy, but as the month goes, it gets harder. Stay in track! I’ll be sharing my journey on my Instagram stories.

How to play the 30-day minimalism challenge by The Minimalists

3. Set reasonable goals
Shor term goals are much more manageable. If you’re thinking about a long term goal you’d like to achieve, break it down into smaller goals that would ultimately help you achieve that bigger goal of yours. Setting goals that we know that we’re most likely to achieve them gives us a different mindset. For instance, I’d like to stay more organized this year, so I’ll start with our house, and aspects of my life that I can actually control. I’m getting a planner this year!

4. Create routines
It doesn’t matter if it’s something small that you do for yourself, or for someone else. Setting up a routine helps us achieve goals, as well. For daily routines they can be as simple as trying to achieve a movement goal, a certain amount of steps (if you have a tracker), clean your kitchen every night, and so on. These routines can be divided into health, mind, family, friendship, personal development, and anything else you can come up with. Focus first on routines you actually need, and then routines you want.

5. Drink more water
Self care is so important. Here I am telling you about it and ignoring a lot of the times my needs. Well, drinking water is the most basic form of self care. Water delivers oxygen throughout our bodies, and it boosts skin health. Our digestive system depends on it, and water helps our bodies flush waste! Here you’ll find a great article where you can read 15 benefits of staying well hydrated.
I have an app on my phone that sends me reminders to drink water every hour, and you can also track how much water you’ve drunk during a day. Click HERE to check out the app I use. It’s really easy to set up, and you can even access it on your smart watch.

Starting a new year sometimes can be overwhelming. Seeing everyone else with their list of goals and resolutions laid out can be intimidating. Following one or all of my ideas this year can give you a great start to new beginnings. Most importantly, keep in mind that you don’t need to start on January 1st! Take as many days as you need so that you start off right.

What else would you add to these 5 ideas? Share in comments!

Happy New Year!

♡ Michelle | con limón, please

Our Top 10 Christmas Traditions

~ conlimonplease ~ 14 Comments

It’s the holiday season! I love how the holidays make us feel joy and warmth even when it’s cold outside. In our home we celebrate Christmas, and I’m so happy that our little family has some traditions already! I hope some of these inspire you to add one or more to your list!

1. Get a Christmas tree
We buy our Christmas tree after Thanksgiving, and we like to decorate it as a family. We always buy real trees, since we believe it’s more sustainable, and better for our environment.

2. Send Christmas cards to our loved ones
This year we got a little better at it. We took the photos earlier, and we were prepared to have our cards printed out and sent. We worked with Nations Photo Lab. We got the cards printed on bamboo paper. I’m really happy with them! I always like to leave them blank and personalize each of them! By the way, it’s not too late! You can still get some printed and send them as New Year’s good wishes (just as we did last year!).

3. Make ornaments
I enjoy making sustainable ornaments for our Christmas tree. We usually make dried orange ones, like we did this year. Click HERE to see my blog post with instructions to my method. Salt dough ornaments are also so fun for the little ones! It’s like making cookies, and they can later paint them when dry.

4. Write letters to Santa
Even if Robbie doesn’t know how to write or read yet, we always write a letter to Santa where we either draw or paste cutouts of a toy my son would like. I don’t know about you, but our sons just get one present from Santa. We put the cards in envelopes and set them on the Christmas tree for some days before “mailing” them to the North Pole!

5. Decorate a gingerbread house
We’ve decorated a little house two years in a row, and I love the idea of making it one of our traditions. They’re so much fun! Robbie did a lot this time, and I can’t wait for next year when Antonio can join in the fun without trying to stuff his mouth with all the candy. Take a look at how we built our most recent one HERE!

6. Set up our Nativity
We got a little Nativity set that has been my husband’s for years. We teach Robbie and Antonio about it while we set it up, and along the way.

7. Advent calendar
This year having an advent calendar is really a game changer. Robbie gets a clearer idea about how far Christmas is! Last year we used one with Mexican candy. This year I didn’t have time to go over that, so I put together one using one of our letter boards.

8. Do volunteer work
We try to volunteer each year towards something that would be helpful for our community. This year my husband is helping out with a coat drive for a local organization.

9. Make Holiday cookies or dessert
Every year we make some Christmas cookies, but this year I got a little bit more creative with my favorite dessert. I made sourdough cinnamon rolls, and turned them into cute little Rudolphs!

10. Drive-in cinema
Thanks to COVID-19 we’ve been able to add this activity as a tradition. In Chicago you can go to ChiTown Movies. We’ve loved the experience, and you can get a gift card for someone as a present, and even find great discounts through Groupon!

There are other little tings that we try to squeeze in during this season. We go on walks around the neighborhood to see Christmas lights and décor. We also check out Christmas books from the library in addition to the ones we own. When it’s too cold out there we get in the car and we drive to see the lights. We also play Christmas songs in Spanish or English. And of course, we watch some Christmas classics on weekends, too.

I hope my list inspires you to add some to your list of traditions. I also hope that if you were thinking about one already, that you feel motivated to add it!

I wish you all a very merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!

♡ Michelle | con limón, please

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Some of my blogger friends also posted some really neat Holiday ideas and traditions. Check them out!

Memorable Christmas Traditions to start with Toddlers by Surabhi

Christmas Joy: My Favorite Memories, Celebrating Jesus, and Santa by Amy

Christmas Traditions Old and New by Nicole

5 Easy Holiday Traditions You Can Add To Your List by Alexa

Celebrating Nochebuena by Kimberly

Christmas Traditions by Stephanie

Host a Gingerbread House Contest by Alex

Cómo deshidratar naranjas para decorar tu hogar

~ conlimonplease ~ 1 Comment

El invierno ya casi llega, ¡y con él viene la temporada de naranjas! Amo el aroma de las naranjas recién rebanadas, pero ¿las has olido mientras se hornean? ¿O has puesto a hervir cáscaras de naranja con romero o canela? Bueno, creo que esa publicación será para otra ocasión. ¡Hoy las vamos a hornear! ¡Así es! Las vamos a deshidratarlas en el horno. Las rebanadas secas de naranja pueden ser usadas para cualquier tipo de decoración en tu hogar. Quisiera compartirte mi método para secar naranjas.

Toque con romero
Adorno para el arbol de navidad

Esto es lo que vas a necesitar:

  • 5-7 naranjas en diferentes tamaños
  • Bandejas para hornear
  • Rejillas para enfriar

Primero, precalienta el horno a 200F (95C). Pon las bandejas o rejillas para enfriar encima de las bandejas para hornear. Esto ayudará a que las naranjas se sequen de manera uniforme y no se peguen en las bandejas. Yo compré las mías hace años en la tienda del dólar, Dollar Tree. Quería tomar ventaja del tiempo que el horno iba a estar encendido, así que también usé una parrilla que viene en nuestra freidora de aire.

Corta las naranjas en rebanadas de unos 4mm, que no estén muy delgadas. Ve poniendo las rebanadas encima de las rejillas para enfriar. Asegúrate de no empalmarías. Ponlas en el horno por 4 horas.
Sí, por cuatro horas. No, no es demasiado tiempo. Es el tiempo perfecto que necesitan para deshidratarse. ¡Siéntate y disfruta el aroma!

Una vez que tus naranjas estén listas ya puedes comenzar a decorar tu hogar. Cada año me gusta reemplazar la guirnalda que tengo en la ventana de mi cocina. También las uso para hacer adornos para el árbol de navidad. ¡Lo biodegradable es el nuevo negro! Este año tuve que hacer nuevos adornos para el árbol, ya que los que tenía los habíamos usado por dos años. Ya se veían poco tristes, para ser honesta.

Aqui te dejo estas fotos en donde puedes ver las instrucciones para la guirnalda de naranjas:

NOTAS:
* No intentes ahorrar tiempo aumentando la temperatura del horno. ¡Ten paciencia!
* Utiliza una aguja grande para hilar la guirnalda o adorno
* Puedes agregar un pop de aroma o de color agregando romero, canela, o anís estrella
* Usa hilo grueso de algodón (yo utilicé hilo de panadero que compro en la tienda del dólar) o puedes usar cualquier otro tipo de cuerdita natural, como cáñamo, o yute

¡Espero que tengas festivx con esta idea!

♡ Michelle | con limón, please


My experience with Croup

~ conlimonplease ~ Leave a comment

A little over a week ago Robbie, my 4 year old son, started coughing and had a runny nose. He didn’t have any other symptoms, but since his cough was persistent, we decided to take a COVID-19 test. It was negative, so he went back to school one he was feeling better. A few days passed, and my baby boy Antonio, who is 12 months old, started having a runny nose as the only symptom (this was 4 days after my firstborn started coughing). Antonio had a bit of a cough the next day, and I don’t recall noticing any coughing on Day 3. On Day 3 at night he went to sleep, and at midnight his situation was completely different. He had croup.

According to the Mayo Clinic, croup causes swelling of the larynx, trachea, and bronchial tubes, creating breathing difficulties, and a barking cough. Likewise, taking a breath often produces a high-pitched whistling sound (stridor). Symptoms usually worsen at night, exactly what happened to Antonio. Croup cough is medically known as laryngotracheobronchitis.

Fourth day with symptoms
At midnight, Antonio woke up crying, and each time he breathed he would have stridor, which is a wheezing sound when baby breaths in. We got him from his crib, used saline spray in his nose, he nursed, and then he fell asleep. We also placed the cold vapor humidifier on our bedside table. I placed Antonio on our bed, using my arm as his pillow so that he was a bit elevated, and so that he could breath well. At 2am he woke up crying, but this time was more alarming. He was visibly having trouble breathing, so we did some home remedies that are recommended in this case:

  1. Stay calm
  2. Use a nasal spray with saline solution and suck the boogers if you notice baby’s got a stuffy nose
  3. Take baby to the bathroom and run the shower or bath with hot water so that the steam clears their airways
  4. If it’s cold outside, bundle baby and take them outside
  5. If baby has a fever, use the proper dose of acetaminophen or ibuprofen and keep monitoring temperature

We followed the first 3 steps. Outside wasn’t cold, and we noticed that the remedies weren’t really working, so we decided to take him to the ER. We arrived at 3am, and after my baby was admitted, Robbie and papá waited in the car. Robbie had croup once when he was around Antonio’s age. We’d taken him to the clinic, and his pediatrician gave him steroids in his throat to avoid it from swelling more. Robbie, unlike Antonio, had a fever, so we had to control it at home, and we just had to wait for his body to fight the virus. We thought this would be Antonio’s case.

Emergency Room
After having waited for a while for a room for my baby, we were given one, and they started evaluating his state quickly. He neededd a dose of epinephrine and oxygen. This treatment was given to him using a nebulizer attached to the oxygen mask. It’s really hard when a baby goes through this. They don’t understand what’s going on, and they want to take off the oxygen mask. We had to hold him down and wrap him like a burrito with the help of three medical assistants and myself. Also, Antonio got a steroid shot to help his throat from swelling. The advantage of having had all this situation happen in the middle of the night is that Antonio would fall asleep at times, and I was there on the floor by his bedside comforting him any time he’d wake up.

After 3h of having gotten the treatment, the pediatrician in charge said Antonio needed one more dose of epinephrine, and that he’ll be monitored expecting improvement, but if he didn’t, they mentioned he’d have to be transferred to a children’s hospital for observation. After this dose he didn’t need more oxygen, so I had to nurse him and let him rest. This time I was able to lay down with him on the stretcher. Thanks heavens that after 3h more he was so much better. The pediatrician in charge then decided to discharge him with commitment to take him back to the ER if he worsened, and we also had to take him to the pediatrician for a follow up on Monday, since this happened on Saturday.

  • We were really happy when he was discharged

At home
We were lucky my brother in-law gave us a hand taking care of Robbie because my husband had to go to work, so he picked us up from the hospital. My mother in-law was on her way from Michigan to be with us in case there was an emergency. That night Antonio was really well, and he slept soundly. During the day we had given Antonio 3 steam baths, and I motivated him to drink more water, and nurse more. He also ate super well. The next day, on Day 6, my mother in-law took my sons out so that I’d shower. Antonio started having symptoms again. We think it was because of the heat. She brought them back, and I immediately took him to the bath and started running hot water. He had stridor when he was breathing, but he seemed well, and he was playing. After that he had some popsicles, nursed a lot, and he drank lots of water. It is really important to offer babies more breastmilk or formula, and to increase water intake (or breast milk) in older children.

The early hours of Day 6 we had another session of coughing with wheezing sounds and stridor. My husband spent a good chunk of time with Antonio sleeping on his shoulder on the bathroom floor. We monitored him all night and kept him vertical. In the morning we took him to the clinic to his follow up. Antonio seemed to have left that night behind, and he was looking well. His pediatrician talked to her medical team, and they said they couldn’t prescribe him more steroids. Instructions were the same, to keep giving him steam baths if needed, to offer him popsicles, and to make sure his liquid intake was good.

Antonio kept getting better, even though sometimes he has a barking cough, so typical of croup. Children between 6 months to 3 years old are more at risk when getting croup since their throats are so small. In rare cases children need to go to the ER, and it is really important to follow your instinct. Doctors told me we had done the right thing by taking him in.

If your little one starts making a weird sound when they breath (stridor) or when coughing it sounds like a barking cough, call their pediatrician. The sound of their cough and/or stridor are a sign that their larynx and trachea are swollen. If you followed the home remedies for 20-30min and you don’t see and improvement, take them to the ER, specially if your baby seems lethargic. Stridor while at rest is not normal.

♡ Michelle | con limón, please

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Here you’ll find some links to read more about it, and you can also hear the characteristic sound of the barking cough and stridor.

Croup (for parents) – Kid’s Health

Croup: Causes, Symptoms, Management, and Prevention – Cleveland Clinic

What is Croup? What Causes It? – WebMD LLC

Sounds of Croup – YouTube Medzcool

Mi experiencia con crup

~ conlimonplease ~ Leave a comment

Hace poco más de una semana Robbie, mi hijo de 4 años, comenzó con tos y con secreciones nasales. No tenía ningún otro síntoma, pero ya que la tos era persistente, decidimos tomar prueba del coronavirus para él, y mi esposo y yo. Fue negativa, así que cuando se sintió mejor regresó al preescolar. Pasaron unos días, y mi bebé Antonio, de 12 meses de edad, comenzó a tener secreciones nasales como su único síntoma (a los 4 días de que mi primer hijo presentara síntomas). Tuvo un poco de tos al día siguiente, y no recuerdo haber notado más tos en el día 3. El día 3 en la noche lo pusimos a dormir, y en la medianoche ya era un caso totalmente diferente. Tenía tos crup.

De acuerdo con la Biblioteca Nacional de Medicina de EU, crup causa inflamación en la laringe y la tráquea, trayendo consigo dificultad para respirar, tos seca con un ladrido muy característico. Los síntomas suelen empeorar en la noche, así como nos pasó con Antonio. La tos crup es médicamente conocida como laringotraqueobronquitis.

Cuarto día con síntomas
En la medianoche del cuarto día, Antonio se despertó llorando y cada vez que aspiraba presentaba estridor, que es un ruido al respirar hacia dentro. Lo levantamos, le pusimos solución salina en atomizador en su nariz, amamantó, y se durmió. También pusimos el humidificador de vapor frío en la mesa de al lado de la cama. Lo dejé en mi cama usando mi brazo como almohada para que pudiera respirar sin problemas. A las 2am se despertó llorando y esta vez fue más alarmante. Se notaba que tenía dificultad para respirar e hicimos los remedios caseros que te recomiendan en estos casos:

1. Mantén la calma
2. Usa atomizador con solución salina y aspira la nariz si escuchas que hay mocos
3. Llévalo a la regadera o baño con agua caliente corriendo para que el vapor le ayude a respirar
4. Si está haciendo frío afuera, cúbrelo bien y llévalo afuera. Verás que le ayuda
5. Si presenta fiebre, ofrécele la dosis adecuada para su edad de acetaminofén o ibuprofeno, y sigue monitoreando

Hicimos los primeros 3 pasos ya que afuera no estaba haciendo frío, y notamos que no nos estaba funcionando, así que decidimos llevarlo a emergencias. Llegamos a las 3am, y después de que admitieron a mi bebé, Robbie y papá fueron a esperar en el carro. A Robbie le había dado crup cuando tenía más o menos la misma edad que Antonio, y lo habíamos llevado a la clínica y el médico le puso esteroides en la garganta para evitar que se inflamara más. Robbie a diferencia de Antonio, sí había presentado fiebre, así que lo que hicimos fue controlorarla en casa, y esperar a que su cuerpo luchara contra el virus. Pensamos que así sería con Antonio.

En el ER del hospital
Después de esperar un rato a que hubiera un cuarto para mi bebé, pasamos y lo comenzaron a evaluar rápidamente. Necesitaba una dosis de epinefrina y oxígeno. Este tratamiento fue administrado con un nebulizador y oxígeno en mascarilla. Es difícil cuando un bebé pasa por esto. Lo único que quieren es quitarse todo de la cara, así que tuvimos que enrollarlo como burrito entre tres asistentes médicas y yo. Asimismo, le pusieron una inyección de esteroides para ayudar a que su cuerpo no inflamara más la garganta. La ventaja de haber acudido en el medio de la noche fue que Antonio se quedaba dormido por episodios, y yo estaba ahí en el piso a su lado tratando de confortarlo cuando se despertaba, y tratando de ayudar a mantener la mascarilla en su lugar.

Después de que habían pasado 3h de que había comenzado el tratamiento, el pediatra en curso dijo que necesitaría una dosis más, y que si después de las 3h volvía atrás, lo iban a tener que transferir a un hospital infantil para observación. Después de esta dosis ya no requirió oxígeno, así que le tenía que dar teta y dejarlo descansar. Esta vez me recosté con él en la camilla. Gracias al cielo después de las 3h ya se veía mucho mejor, y el médico tomó la decisión de darlo de alta con compromiso de chequeo dependiendo de su evolución, y con instrucciones de llevarlo a emergencias de nuevo si decaía, así como llevarlo tambien a la cita de seguimiento con su pediatra el lunes, ya que todo esto ocurrió en sábado.

  • Ya felices después de que lo dieron de alta

En casa
Tuvimos la suerte que mi cuñado nos apoyara cuidando a Robbie porque mi esposo tenía que ir a trabajar, así que él nos recogió del hospital. Mi suegra venía en camino de Michigan para estar con nosotros en caso de alguna emergencia. Esa noche Antonio estuvo muy bien, y durmió tranquilamente. Durante el día hicimos 3 baños de vapor, y lo motivé a tomar más agua y teta, y estuvo comiendo súper bien. Al día siguiente, en el día 5, mi suegra llevó a los niños al parque mientras yo tomaba un baño, y Antonio decayó, creemos por culpa del calor. Lo llevé al baño de vapor, y aunque presentaba estridor él estaba jugando, y tenía buen ánimo. Le ofrecimos paleta de hielo, y mucha teta y agua. Es importante ofrecer mucha leche materna o fórmula en bebés, y aumentar la ingesta de agua (o leche materna) en mayores de 12 meses.

La madrugada del día 6 tuvimos de nuevo otra sesión de tos y estridor, y mi esposo pasó tiempo sentado en el baño con él para que pudiera estar en el vapor caliente. Lo monitoreamos toda la noche, y por la mañana lo llevamos a cita que agendé esa mañana con su pediatra. Antonio ya andaba como si nada hubiera pasado, y después de revisar y checar con su equipo médico, la pediatra dijo que no le podrían dar más dosis de esteroides. La indicación era la misma, seguir con baños de vapor de ser necesarios, ofrecerle paletas de hielo, y asegurarnos de que ingiriera suficientes liquidos. Si se presentaba el estridor teníamos que seguir los pasos mencionados, e incluso me comentó la pediatra que podría ponerlo enfrente del congelador abierto.

Antonio siguió bien, aunque de repente presenta un tosido con sonido perruno tan característico del crup. Los niños entre 6 meses y 3 años de edad están en mayor riesgo porque sus gargantas son más pequeñas. En raras ocasiones necesitan visita a emergencias, pero es importante seguir tu instinto. Los médicos en emergencias me dijeron que hicimos lo correcto al llevarlo.

Si tu pequeño comienza con un sonido extraño al aspirar (estridor) o al toser su tos suena a tos perruna, llama al pediatra. El sonido de su tos y/o el estridor indican que su laringe y tráquea están inflamadas. Si ya seguiste los remedios caseros por 20-30min y tu bebé sigue igual, llévalo a emergencias, especialmente si tu bebé se ve aletargado. El estridor sin actividad por parte de tu pequeño no es normal.

♡ Michelle | con limón, please

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Te dejo estos links aquí para que leas más al respecto, y para que escuches cómo es el sonido tan característico de la tos con crup, y del estridor.

El crup en su niño pequeño – Healthy Children

Crup (para padres) – Kid’s Health

Crup: Medline Enciclopedia Médica

Sonidos de crup – YouTube Medzcool