Cold and flu season always sneaks up on me. I end up stressed and unprepared, on top of the emotional, mental, and physical load of caring for sick kids.
Be better prepared for the onset of illness with these three tips.
Tips to Manage a Sick Household
1. Get prepped now.
It seems to always happen at the worst time — it’s 2:00 a.m. and you find yourself shaking an empty bottle of acetaminophen when your four-year-old is crying with an earache.
Get stocked up ahead of time with the typical medications, supplements, or homeopathic remedies your family most frequently uses.
Make sure you are supplied with ice cream buckets, extra towels, and a second pair of clean sheets in bedroom closets.
Also, check in on what you and your spouse have for sick leave. Know what you have available and how you want to manage it.
Lastly, if you have work-from-home flexibility, make a habit of taking your laptop home with you every day during cold and flu season. It’s better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.
2. Make an action list.
In our house sickness starts in different ways. For one of my daughters it always manifests as congestion; for the other it’s a sore throat. And each time I find myself googling remedies in the late night hours trying to find a magical solution to soothe their pain.
Make note of what your typical family illnesses and symptoms usually are.
Then, devise a simple action plan of the three to four treatments that always seem to work.
For example:
Stuffy Nose: Humidifier, warm compress, eucalyptus oil.
Sore Throat: Salt water gargle, cough drops, vitamin C.
Write your list of remedies for each type of illness and keep this little cheat sheet in your medicine cabinet. It will save you hours of clicking random links hoping to find a cure you haven’t thought of.
Plus, this list is gold if your kids get sick while under someone else’s care in your home.
3. Engage in support… especially for you.
Your kids have you as their support person, but caring for others can be extremely fatiguing physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Letting someone else take the reigns on caring for my sick child is hard. Even if I’m exhausted, I still want to be the one caring for them.
So, I try my best to enlist someone who isn’t taking care of the kids to do something else I need, or even just take care of me.
This is way easier said than done! But here are some ways to start engaging that support.
And be sure to give your spouse, a grandparent, or close friend highly specific direction in what you need.
- “Can you keep on top of washing clothes and bedding for the next couple of days?”
- “When you get home from work tonight, can you be on duty from 5:30-6:30 p.m. while I take a walk and a shower?”
- “Will you bring over dinner tomorrow night? I’d like you to make sure each meal has a vegetable and one food each kid will like.”
- “Once everyone is well, I would like to take the next Saturday for myself.”
I have even asked my husband to just give me a hug and some praise and recognition. I needed it to feel valued and keep going.
Determine what you feel comfortable outsourcing and be specific in how you want that accomplished. Don’t feel guilty asking for support (others truly feel happy and eager to help!) and don’t be a martyr trying to handle it all.
Caring for sick kids will always be tough. Hopefully using these three strategies can make the experience more manageable and less stressful.
Are there any tips you would add to this list? Let us know in the comments below!
