Having a sick child in the house can throw your whole day/week off course. Here I have compiled my top 7 tips for how to get through to the 'everyone is almost better now' stage.
But first, I want to start off by saying I am not a doctor or medical practitioner, and these are simply tips that I have used over the last week when there were sick kids in the house. Please feel free to take or leave whichever advice you think is suitable to you and your family.
Tip 1
Regularly check in with yourself - make sure that YOU are doing ok (remember what they say about always putting on your oxygen mask first 😉).
If you feel like you might be getting rundown, or a feeling overwhelmed see if you can get some help in so you can take a break. If that is not possible, encourage your little ones to do activities which involve little (or no) parental involvement so you can sit down and watch them/have a cuppa tea/shut your eyes.
Tip 2
Good nutrition always helps, and if the thought of spending time meal prepping is too much, make meals as quick and easy as possible – buy prechopped meat, frozen veg etc – anything to make mealtimes not so daunting.
Tip 3
House cleanliness/tidiness always moves to the bottom of the pile when there are sick kids. I always ensure that there are clean dishes and clean clothes, but if some of the kids (normally the ones who aren't sick) decide that magnatiles need to be spread throughout every room of the house – so be it. I’m not going to ‘fight that battle’ right now.
Tip 4
Take your child’s lead. If they are unwell, they might not feel like eating too much. I would suggest having some snacks that you know they like within easy reach so that they can grab some if they need. Same applies for a water bottle.
Tip 5
If your child has no energy to play, I personally see nothing wrong with popping on the TV and letting them watch for as long as they need to. I found with Mr. 4 that he was able to doze on and off throughout the day when I wasn’t trying to force him to do activities.
Tip 6
Medicine taking is a tough one. Mr. 4 was not at all happy about having antibiotics squirted into his mouth 3 times a day. I encouraged him to take his medicine, the ‘yuck’ thing, by letting him choose a ‘yum’ thing to have afterwards – he chose snake lollies. This worked well. It is up to you how you feel about the sugar content etc, however for me the benefits of the medicine far outweighed the extra sugar that he consumed.
Tip 7
Go easy on yourself. Be honest with yourself about how you are feeling, and accept that this feeling is ok. I was completely overwhelmed by day 4 of sickness, I embraced that 'overwhelmedness.' I took some deep breaths, I phoned a friend and shared my feelings and then and sat on the couch with my boys, watching Numberblocks and not worrying about anything other than being with my family.
So... What do you think? Are there any tips that I have missed?
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