Becoming Domestic

Both Edie and Mo and also their little friend Bella who came all the way from London to visit us with her mum this weekend have been covered in insect bites. Beki thought that Bella had been bitten by fleas as they have a cat and I’d been telling my kids that it must be mosquitos but finding nothing in their bedroom or in the rest of the house despite the welts all over Mo’s front and Eden’s legs.

My daughter has been driven half mad each morning and evening with terrible sobbing and anger and its only as I’m taking her pyjamas off and getting her dressed that I can her legs are absolutely covered with fresh huge swollen white/red insect bites which she is clawing at with her nails.

Luckily I’ve had tubes of sting relief cream in the first aid box which seems to soothe immediately and also have had a bottle of antihistamine (phennagren) to give to them at bathtime to reduce the immune reation and to help them sleep through the discomfort of such an attack on their soft soft skin.

Poor little loves. I couldn’t understand what it could be and how there could be more each afternoon and morning yet I couldn’t find the cuprit in the house.

I mentioned it to my mum who told me she’d had a similar thing when she was tiny, always in the spring, which was always diagnosed as eating too much fruit (?) and suddenly I realised that I’d been seeing loads of midges swarming around each evening on various walks and in the garden and recalled from my childhood that they used to bite me on the scalp but one would never seen one doing it. Mum recommended I use insect repellent on her which was a top tip I may not have thought of.

I’ve just looked up midge bites and am very glad I found this as (a) its interesting (b)it confirms the diagnosis I’ve made about my kid.

(This article is about Highland Midges which must be a more tyrannical cousin of their soft Worcestershire cousins who only tasty unblemished four year olds)

What Happens When A Midge Bites?

http://www.stevecarter.com/ansh/midge.htm 

Biting begins at about 5 am, peaks at 7 am and falls to lower levels after 9 am. Peak activity in the evening can be anytime between 6 pm and 11 pm.

It is the pregnant female midge that bites in order to feed her developing fertilised eggs. As with other blood-sucking insects, the female midge has a well-developed, specialised mouth that allows her to pierce the skin of the victim with a pair of finely-toothed elongated mandibles. Blood is then sucked up by mouth parts that are rolled up into a tube shape. It is thought that the midge’s saliva is pumped into the wound to prevent the blood from clotting and the flow from drying up. This saliva induces in the victims a mild allergic or immune response causing him or her to to respond with immediate production of histamine which travels to the site of the wound. This causes the blood capillary to remain open for a few minutes, allowing the midge to feed on the blood meanwhile. During this time, the human body sends in white blood cells which start to eliminate any infection and repair the wound. The consequent swelling and itching of the bite are the result of the healthy human response to the attack.

A single bite can be little more than a minor irritation; however, midges are never alone - they cluster in their thousands, and it is likely that a human can be bitten many times in a few minutes. The bites are distracting and annoying, and there are tales of people being driven to madness by their unremitting attacks. The scratching of the site of the bite can lead to unsightly sores on the skin.

Some people are targetted far more than others, and this phenomenon has been a subject of scientific research for some time. Most mammals - and cattle especially - produce a complex alcohol when they sweat, and combines with carbon dioxide, acetone, lactic acid and water vapour that is naturally exhaled when individuals breathe. These chemicals, along with the heat also released have the effect of attracting midges. As if this were not enough, the female pregnant midge produces her own pheremone which signals to other midges that she is in the vicinity of a potential victim. She lands on her target and searches for some suitably soft skin above a blood capillary before piercing the skin. She will spend three or four minutes feeding on the blood, and it is during this period that the individual will become aware of skin irritation. The midge will remove about one ten-millionth of a litre of blood. For many people, they will notice an irritating raised and reddened area of skin which subsides over the next few minutes. For others, midge bites can be a major problem, with infuriating itching, bleeding sores and generalised discomfort.

This time last year we were using some of my City bonus to book a Beale family holiday for some urgent winter-sun in Lanzarote, one of the Spanish Canary Islands.

We did have a wonderful time but it was tremendously expensive and if the weather had been poor we would have been hard pressed to find interesting things to do with the 3 year olds as the bulk of our time was (fortunately) spent by the pool or at the beach.

Like many families in the UK the beginning of the year involves some planning of time out and happily due to my husband’s hard work with his internet software business, Siftware, and general year-long thriftiness we are again in the lucky position to be able to take a little time out with the children and have a one week family holiday before summer.

This year however, since massively increasing our environmental awareness and our family’s impact on the earth’s environment, neither Bealers or myself were keen on flying anywhere.

We both love the UK and figured that we could probably save money and not be responsible for air fuel burning by having a UK based holiday instead. The only slight drawback with holidays in this country is that you have to enjoy being cold unless you are ok with taking your holidays exclusively in July/August or September.

As Bealers needed a very well earned break sooner rather than later we investigated Center Parcs holiday centres which looked very inviting for families with small children like us with their 400 or so acres of car-free woodland with self-contained, self-catering, log-cabin style accomodation all centered around a central ’sub-tropical swimming zone + village area’.

There seem to be hundreds of child friendly activities to get involved in if we want to (additional costs though) such as horse riding, owl watching, pizza making, belly dancing, football as well as outdoor water-based pursuits for Daddy (windsurfing, sailing). We’re presuming that the on-site restaurants will be poor as I’ve read a few reviews on Mumsnet and will bring some supplies with us rather than relying on the shop. Bealers will most probably enjoy having the time to cook and as he’s a far better cook than me I’m defintely looking forward to a break from dinner duty.

Everyone we know who has visited Center Parcs seems to have come away with positive things to say about their experience so we have booked a 1 week stay in the Lake District Center Parc, 2 bedroom house and are looking forward to a 7 days of car-free cycling, swimming and yes, the occasional 3 hours where the kids are both enjoying some kiddie club action (messy play, dressing up as super heros, that kind thing), and potentially some super-indulgent spa/treatment time for me. Gosh I now realise that we’re going to come home very rosy-cheeked indeed with all that exercise!

According to The Obsever’s ethical columnist Lucy Siegle who recently appeared on the BBC Radio 2 Chris Evan’s show with her tips for green holidaying: “Centre Parcs are very ecologically and ethically sound, and they do great and affordable family holidays, for short and longer breaks. They encourage constructive physical activities and no one drives on site – everyone cycles or walks. It’s relaxed and enjoyable.”

I’m really hoping that spring will have started to have sprung in Cumbria when we go as forest life with daffodils out, birds tweeting and buds emerging will almost certainly make us feel just as great if not even better than our week in the Canary Islands and like a great wintery weight has been lifted.

Whilst on the way to taking the kids pre-school yesterday I saw a group of three people who appeared to be looking for something on the ground at the edge of the village field by the car park. ‘Oh look’ I said to the children ‘that man must have lost something very small and he is lying down and looking for it on the ground’…

Being an inquisitive/nosey/do-good type I swung the car into a space close to the strange looking trio and realised on closer inspection that the man lying on the cold, wet Autumnal ground was in pain. He was on his front but was holding his head a distance from the ground. I told the chidren that I was going to see what was happening and grabbed the handy pillows and blankets I keep in the car for the kids. I popped one under the injured gent’s head and wrapped him as best I could including his head in blankets to try and conserve some heat.

In first aid classes one thing they keep hammering home is the statement you should announce when stepping in to help with any kind of incident. ‘Hello I’m a trained first aider and I will help you’. This helps to stop everyone on the scene from panicking even though you might be thinking ‘Oh no I can’t remember anything I learned in that first aid class’ it promotes an air of knowing what procedures to follow rather than urgent chaos.

I issued my (slightly pompous sounding) statement and the two other folks fell upon me with gratitude for coming over as they didn’t know what to do. I quickly ascertained that no-one had phoned for an ambulance. This is another important fact I had managed to remember - as a first aider helping someone who is injured you are simply helping them to be safe, to reduce the risk of further injury and to preserve their life UNTIL THE EMERGENCY SERVICES ARRIVE (hence the term *first* aid I guess) but this critical assistance you give before the ambulance and or fire brigade turn up can mean the difference between life and death.

The chap who was on the floor was called Ron and he begrudgingly told me he was 74 and that he wasn’t very good at falling (who is?). He kept saying ‘I’ll be alright in a minute’ but luckily the woman who took the details on the phone as we requested an ambulance backed me up by getting me to bossily telling him he wasn’t allowed to move (despite the other folks helping suggesting he should see whether he could wiggle various limbs).

Poor Ron. He was most worried about his ancient dog Ben who he’d been walking with before he fell so I dispatched one of the bystanders to go and tell his wife what had happened. She eventually arrived in her car and popped the dog inside.

I didn’t stay much longer than necessary when the paramedics arrived but as I wanted my blankets back I had to wait until they rolled him over and did an assessment of his injuries. It looked to me that he’d broken his arm or shoulder and he was in agony but hopefully not in shock due to the fact we’d kept him warm and calm and got the ambulance out quickly.
It reminded me that injuries can happen to anyone at the most unexpected of times and it really does pay to know how to respond to an emergency effectively. Those of us who are responsible for the welfare of children and/or babies should really be given some basic literature to keep in an obvious place for those horrendous times when they choke, burn themselves, swallow something they shouldn’t, get something in their eye or lose consciousness. As the adult in charge it must be appalling to not know what to do when first aid is needed.

There are loads of courses available but I found this helpful page from the BBC which has interactive learning as well as local course finder. I’ve been refreshing my somewhat rusty knowledge on how to check that someone is breathing if they are unconciouss, what are the first three assesments to make at the scene of any accident and more. Fingers crossed that I’ll never have to use any of these skills again.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/first_aid_action/

Janet, my neighbours gardener, is a good person to know as she has a head full great countryside knowledge. Last week when she came to have coffee with my grandmother and me she very kindly brought me a jar of honey from her bees and a newly planted Aloe Vera ‘puppy’. She told me that her children and grandchildren all use the sap for soothing nettle and insect stings or bites, for sunburn and for eczema.

In the short time I have had the plant it has sprouted several new leaves and looks to be enjoying life on our kitchen windowsill.

I have looked up its healing properties and the entry for it on Wikipedia tells me that it is as great as Janet claims.

Aloe vera (syn. A. barbadensis) is commonly used externally to treat various skin conditions such as cuts, burns and eczema. It is alleged that sap from Aloe vera eases pain and reduces inflammation. Scientific evidence on the effects of Aloe vera sap on wound healing is contradictory (Vogler and Ernst, 1999). A study performed in the 1990s showed that the healing of a moderate to severe burn was sped up by six days when covering the wound on a regular basis with aloe vera gel, compared to the healing of the wound covered in a gauze bandage (Farrar, 2005). In contrast, another study suggested wounds to which Aloe vera gel was applied were significantly slower to heal (Schmidt and Greenspoon, 1991).

Many cosmetic companies add sap or other derivatives from Aloe vera to products such as makeup, moisturisers, soaps, sunscreens, shampoos and lotions. Aloe gel is alleged to be useful for dry skin conditions, especially eczema around the eyes and sensitive facial skin. In addition, it has been used for treating fungal infections such as ringworm.

An article published in the British Journal of General Practice suggests that Aloe Vera is particularly good at treating long suffers of athlete’s foot. The topical application of Aloe vera is not an effective preventative for radiation-induced injuries. Whether or not it promotes wound healing is unclear, and even though there are some promising results, clinical effectiveness of oral or topical Aloe vera remains unclear at present.

My friend Beki says that her little niece is given echinacea drops in a drink each day and is very rarely sick.

I popped into the local health food shop this morning and found that a small bottle is £5 so I’m going to do a bit of research before I start forking out for it.

My kids are very healthy - they have both just had very mild colds but I can’t remember the last time either of them were sick.

As usual I’ll conduct a bit of research and see what other people think about this supplement for children.