So, the dreaded germs are taken over your house and your kid is ill. It sucks. Maybe they have a cough, maybe a cold, maybe they are being sick and your whole house, including your hair, smells of vomit. All you want to do is to make them feel better, plus actually survive this hellish ordeal yourself.
As a Mum of four, there are a few Mum hacks that I have developed to help me and my family survive the flu season. Today I am going to introduce you to my sick kid survival kit which will help you and your children through this tough time. Keep reading or check out the video below for all of the essential information.
Table Of Contents
Let me start by saying
If your children are unwell in any way, seek medical advice. The advice in this post is merely what I do as a Mum once my children have seen the doctor and have been sent home for me to take care of. If you are worried about your children at any time after seeing the doctor or if they get worse in any way, do not hesitate to take them back.
Now let’s get on to my Sick Kid Survival Kit Essentials.
Thermometer
The best way I find to gauge how well, or indeed unwell your children are, is by taking their temperature. Having tried a number of different thermometers out, I have found this one to be the best for your family.
Medication, temperature & symptom record
If your kids are ill, chances are they are not sleeping and you yourself are in some sort of sleep-deprived hell. This means that your brain and memory will be functioning at an even lower level than normal. What was their last temp reading? When did they last have meds? How long ave they been ill now? You are too exhausted to remember.
When it comes to illness, knowledge is power. This is why one of the essential items in my Sick Kid Survival Kit is my medication record. I always keep a stash of these printed and ready for when illness strikes. Grab yours below.
Kit Pack
An essential element to this survival kit is that is it all kept conveniently together. I keep my thermometer and printed out medication records in as A4 popper folder so that the two are always kept together.
The pack is kept out of reach of children (I’ll explain why in a second) but in a place where both myself and my husband know where it is at all times. Let’s face it, illness normally strikes in the middle of the night, being prepared in advance is the answer.
Erasable Pens
The next item into the kit is a pen. I always keep a pen in the folder with the records and thermometer so that information can be easily recorded. Ad yes, since discovering erasable pens, I am obsessed with them. Will a normal pen do in your survival kit? of course it will! But once you’ve tried erasable pens, you won’t go back.
Medication
Now obviously, it goes without saying before giving any medication to your children, always read the label etc.
With that now said, I always keep these 2 medications in stock for when my children are ill. I keep one opened bottle which goes into my kit (hence why the kit stays out of reach of children, it contains medication) and one backup unopened bottle.
Calpol
Nurofen
Top Tip: Choose a sugar-free and colour free option where ever possible to avoid sticky staining when your child sputs their medicine everywhere.
Medication Pack
Inside your A4 folder which houses your kit, I’d recommend keeping your medications in an inner case or pouch to avoid leaks going all over the rest of your kit. These pencil cases shown below are ideal. I use these for so many things around the home, from organising my changing bag and lots more.
Save The Syringes
Every time you buy a bottle of Calpol or Nurofen, you get a syringe with it to administer the medicine. Save them all. You don’t want to be placing the syringe into your child’s mouth when they are ill, covering it in germs, then double-dipping it back into the neck of the bottle. Yuck. I like to keep a number of syringes in my Sick Kid Survival Kit in another pouch (the pencil cases like I recommended above for the medication are ideal) for administering medication. That way, as soon as my child’s temperature is taken, I can record it, administer medicine and record the dose immediately.
Beyond The Pack
The remaining items don’t live in the A4 popper pack that I carry from room to room when my children are ill necessarily (every item up to this point does), but are still essentials that I keep in stock for seasons od illness.
Antibiotics Top Tip
For antibiotics, or for any medication where your child needs to take a predetermined amount of doses, use this hack to record the doses they have received directly on the bottle.
I keep these sticky labels in stock for this purpose.
Drinks Bottles
This is a great tip for all year round, not just when sickness strikes. I keep sports bottles filled with tap water in the fridge for my children to drink at any time. This is especially important for keeping them hydrated and cool when they are ill.
The Coughing Hack
Check out this top tip that I shared on my Instagram for easing coughing.
Store A Complete Set Of Bedding In Your Child’s Room
The last thing you want to be doing when your child has been sick everywhere in the middle of the night is go hunting for clean bedding. This is why I keep a clean duvet, complete with duvet cover already on it, in each of my children’s bedrooms.
For sickness bugs, switch to towels
When we are dealing with an extreme sickness bug with multiple incidents of projectile vomit, I use towels instead of blankets or towels, making cleaning up much easier.
More Sick Kit Essentials
- Hand sanitiser
- Disinfectant such as Zoflora
- Something to disinfect your laundry, such as a capful of Zoflora or a scoop of Mio Fresh Nappy Sanitiser.
Now go and stock up!
Make sure that you download and print off the medication chart and gather all of your bits together into your folder so that you are totally prepared next time your little ones are ill. Don’t forger=t to shre this with friends so that they can be prepared too.
Lots of love,
Get The Ultimate Mum Bundle Now
The medication chart is included in my Ultimate Mum Bundle, which you can grab below….
Why Not Pin This For Later?
