Surviving the whole family being sick.

As mentioned previously our little lovie was dealing with her first ever full on cold. Jason and I were also both dealing with the same cold, and not feeling well, but little did we know that things were going to get much more interesting. Evie continued to just not be her usual spunky self, and a bit of a cough started too. We kept checking her temperature, probably because I was paranoid that she felt warm to me, but her temperature was always perfect. One evening she did not want any of her dinner, not even her favourite thing – peas. (Looking back we really should have taken that as a hint that the worst was coming) She went down to bed no problem but then woke an hour later so I went up to check on her. She signed  “please milk”, and I took that as an “OK, she must be hungry now and needs something since she hadn’t had much at dinner”. Well she did drink her bottle but sadly it did not sit well and the poor girl was sick. Thankfully she was not sick in her crib, she was still in my arms and did not get me. We got her, and the floor cleaned up quickly and had her settled again into bed. Jason and I went to bed and soon after we heard her crying and I went to check on her and she had been sick again. We found ourselves doing late night laundry and bath time. Jason got Evie all cleaned up for bed again, while I tackled her bedding, and found the second set of sheets and remade her bed. This time though she did not want to be put down, so I sat and cuddled her til about 3 in the morning when she finally started to relax. I tried to put her in the crib earlier but she did not want to be put down, and sometimes you just have to go put the bedtime routine aside. This moment she needed to be held, rocked, and cuddled. She wanted comfort and even if that meant my being a “mombie” the next day.

That is just a little bit of what the past several days have been like for us, that was probably the sick day at its worst, it is also probably why I am still not feeling back to myself as I am still playing catch-up on lost sleep.

Here is what I have learned from our first experience of the whole family sick, and Evie’s first time ever being sick like this…

1) Keep a stock pile of Kleenex in the house.  No actually not just in the house, have it everywhere. In every room, and in the car. We went through a crazy number of tissue boxes in the house, between this and allergy season its a must to keep these stocked in our garage. So thankful Jason had found a bulk pack for a great deal on clearance many weeks back!

2) Fleece wash cloths work best on little noses. When Evie’s nose was at is most runny, and raw she did not want us coming near her with tissues. She was however totally fine with the little fleece wash cloths we have (I have a stash of them just for nose wipes, as this was hinted to me long ago) on hand. I ran them under warm water and she wouldn’t run away from me when I went to wipe her nose!

3) Bring on the cuddle time. Cuddles make everything better right? They sure helped Evie feel better, she was much happier when in our arms. I savored all of those cuddles. Whether it was while in her room reading books in the big chair, or sitting on the couch when even I was trying to just rest. She needed the rest and the comfort.

4) Go with it. When the late night sick moment hit, we tried to not make it a huge deal and kept calm around Evie. It was the first time she had been sick like that we didn’t want her to be worried or concerned because of our reaction to what was going on. Bath time doesn’t normally happen around midnight, but it did that night! Willing to eat a cracker but nothing else, OK, at least there is something in her little tummy. You just never know how things will go, and what is going to happen.

5) Comfy clothing is a must. We all lived in comfy clothes over these sick days, pjs, sweat pants, whatever. I wouldn’t want to have to wear a dress when I’m not feeling well, so why would I dress up my munchkin? Bring on the zipper pajamas! So much easier for everything… diaper changes, sudden sick moments, all around comfiness and toddler happiness.

7) Lots of liquids and simple foods. All I could think of was BRAT (bananas, rice, apple sauce, and toast) when Evie was not wanting to eat much of anything. We were constantly offering lots of liquids too. I also had some Hydralyte popsicles still from the Modern Family Expo I had gone to. Smoothies, and squishy packs of food were also a hit during this both before and after the roughest night.

8) Get some rest. Dishes, and chores can all wait, for now we all needed rest. When Evie went down for a nap, so did we. Nap times were also a bit long than usual. I am so thankful for that because we all needed the sleep. Bed times also came a little earlier.

So what are you go to things for when you, and your little ones are sick? Do you have a soup that is a comfort must? Curl up on the couch and watch Curious George?