I live in Beijing, China. I became pregnant and had a baby here. Now, he’s vaccinated every month at the pediatrics department of the hospital where my son was born. However, of course there are cultural differences because they are different countries, and because the environment in which my husband grew up from Europe is different, there are also differences in the way of thinking between husband and wife. Here, I will talk about the vaccinations and medical examinations that my son experienced the other day, as well as the emergency cases.
Difference of doctors’ ideas
Prescription is different
Of course, we trust our doctor, so if he’s okay with this, we’re not dissatisfied. However, I was confused because different cultures and different methods were used.
First, the way the drug is prescribed is different. When I was vaccinated at the last two-month checkup, my doctor prescribed me a medicine saying, “I may have a fever tonight, so if I have a fever, I should take this.” However, if you look at the drug, the target age of the drug is over 1 year old.
Of course, the prescribed amount was much less than the prescribed amount for a one-year-old child, and it was true that my son had a fever that night, so I gave him the prescribed amount. I was very anxious about whether I could take such medicine, but I was relieved because I immediately got sick.
In the case of Japan, babies are prescribed medicines for babies, so I was surprised that the way of thinking is different from Japan.
Skin cream
When my son was examined for two months, his chest was terribly dry. Beijing’s winter air is so dry that it seems to have been the cause. So my doctor prescribed Avene cream, which is also used in Japan.
However, I was worried about whether it would be good to use cream that adults would use for babies, so when I searched on the Internet, it was said that Avene could be used for babies over 3 months old in Japan. .. If it is said that it will not change for 2 months or 3 months, that is all, but 3 months or more is a strong moisturizer, so I was worried whether it would be okay.
Indeed, two days after using Avene, my dry and injured skin healed cleanly. However, at the same time, a mist-like eczema developed on my weak abdomen, and I decided to stop it in two days.
Husbands may have different ideas
How often they take bath?
Actually, at this time, my doctor told me that I should take a bath once every two days. However, when I grew up in Japan, I thought it was natural for a baby with good metabolism to take a bath every day, and I couldn’t understand it, and even after being told that, I took my son in the bath every day.
In fact, at the time of the two-month examination, his son had severely dry skin on his chest, but he was also beginning to develop red eczema on his shoulders. However, it was still a little red at that time, so I didn’t really care about it.
Gradually, the eczema spread and formed on the inside of the elbows and where the sweat on the abdomen accumulated. Approximately 10 days after the two-month examination, when I changed my diaper in the middle of the night, I saw the eczema getting worse, and I was impatient, knocked her husband up, and cried. At that time, her husband said, “I take a bath every day, so my skin may be dry.”
A European husband has the idea that she should not take a bath every day for her skin. It’s different from me, a Japanese, who says she should take a bath every day to keep her sweat clean and her skin clean because she has a good metabolism.
When you see the doctors
I was impatient to see my son’s eczema getting worse, but basically my husband kept his attitude of “let’s see what’s going on.” In Japan, you can go to the hospital right away. Even if you search for baby eczema on the Internet, the general answer is “Talk to your doctor.” It is possible for me to go to the hospital at my own discretion, but if I do not make a reservation, I will not be able to see you, and even if I make a reservation, I will not be able to make a phone call at all, which is a troublesome hospital. I could go crazy on my own, so I really needed my husband’s help.
Her husband, who grew up in a country that rarely goes to hospitals like Japan, said, “Let’s see what’s going on.” Rather, I was so noisy that baby eczema was annoyingly calm and told that it would happen to anyone. Sure, it’s only the inside of the shoulders and elbows, and part of the abdomen in terms of body parts, but for a small son, it’s quite extensive! ?? Her husband also said, “I don’t follow my doctor’s statement that I use the prescribed cream well and don’t take a bath every day, so I should follow what I was told first.” I did.
Her husband was supportive of housework and childcare, and if I had the attitude of “going to the hospital no matter what,” I’m sure she would have called the hospital right away. However, at that point, I wasn’t confident that I should do that, and I couldn’t show a bullish stance. However, I remember thinking to her husband, “I can say that because I don’t change diapers or change clothes every time!” For the time being, that night I decided to apply the prescribed Avene medicine to her son again and see what happened.
Emergency
Symptom got worse
But the next day, my son had another mist-like eczema on his stomach, and I hurriedly took him to the bath and washed his body. It was good after that, but my son gradually got sick and he felt like he had no appetite. He cried anyway in the evening, and he stopped crying when he tried to breastfeed, but this time he didn’t. So I thought it would be better to consult a doctor, and her husband contacted the hospital.
The names of the international hospitals we go to are cool, but there are many places where we are not linked. Sure enough, it didn’t connect to the emergency number that should be connected 24 hours a day, it didn’t connect to the hospital phone number, and finally I called the phone number to make an appointment and was told to “call the pediatrics” many times. I explained and had them connect to the pediatrics department. I got a call from my doctor and explained the situation, and he told me to come soon because I will continue to see him. The outpatient department of the hospital ends at 5 o’clock, but at that time it was past 4:30 in the evening, so I had to be seen in an emergency.
How to deal with them
My son had an emergency and consulted his doctor and eventually found that the cause of the eczema was severe dryness in Beijing. When asked when to take a bath, my doctor told me that the bath itself is good, but the water in Beijing has a lot of karuki and is too irritating to the baby’s skin, so it is better not to take a bath every day. I was told that. When my husband explained that the timing of bathing and showering is divided between couples, it is okay to wipe the body with a wet towel, and it is okay if you just take a quick shower to sweat. I was struck. So I agreed with my husband that I would take a bath every other day, and if I couldn’t take a bath, I would wipe my body with a towel soaked in hot water.
At this time, I brought all the baby lotion, baby powder, and petrolatum that I applied to my son’s eczema, and said that he had a mist-like eczema on his abdomen after using Avene’s medicine. My doctor told me, “If so, stop abending.” “Baby lotion and baby powder are not good, Vaseline is good.” Since the eczema was so bad, I asked him to prescribe a steroid, and instructed him to “apply the steroid to the place where the eczema is severe, and after a while, apply vaseline to moisturize” and “apply vaseline frequently”. Received.
I had a lot of confusion about when to take a bath, when to go to the hospital, and how to use the medicine, but after a few days of using the prescribed steroids, the eczema was almost gone. My husband also said, “I’m glad we went to the hospital.”
Solving the question is important
I speak English, but there are many things I don’t understand when it comes to medical terms. Therefore, her husband basically talks to her doctor during the examination. But this time, I learned that I have to ask questions and things that I don’t understand on the spot.
Also, if you have a baby, change diapers or change clothes, and if the person closest to the baby feels something, I feel that it should be emphasized even if it is intuitive. It was. Parenting is sometimes a lonely job. Since I don’t have a goal close to me, I rarely get people to say “I think it’s okay” or “I did my best”. On the other hand, if you panic due to anxiety, you will only be told that it conflicts with “too much noise”, and you may be wondering if you are okay as a mother. However, if the person near the baby feels uncomfortable, I would like you to think about it together, rather than dismissing it as “too much noise”.
Don’t get me wrong, my husband is really supportive of housework and childcare, and now he does almost all the housework, such as cooking and washing, instead of me, who is full of care for her son. They are doing it. I think this is due to the “cultural difference” of how long you should take a bath and whether you should contact the hospital.
Different doctors have different ideas about baby lotion and baby powder. Some doctors prefer these, while others prefer not to use them. My son’s doctor was the one who advised not to use these, but if you go under a doctor who likes them, follow his doctor’s case.
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