Sick kids? Make this 10-step plan
For families with young children, illness is a frequent visitor – though the kind that overstays their welcome! When sniffles and coughs arrive at your home, help yourself through the experience, with these ten tips.
1. Expect illness to happen
Being mentally prepared and improving our resilience can help us take action when the time comes. Tips like only taking the next step, scheduling worry time and being grateful for what is going well are top tips. Find more on resilience here.
2. Gather support
Don’t forget your neighbours and other parents at school. Carpools, swapping afterschool care and knowing which parents have your back (and you theirs) helps take pressure off.
3. Get to know your Pharmacist
When you can pop into the pharmacy and not have to reexplain your family’s background, it not only saves time. This added familiarity gives added confidence when managing your children’s needs.
4. Replenish medications
Including children's painkillers, anti-inflammatories, antiseptics, allergy, asthma and other medication, as necessary.
5. Track dosages
Record the time and mL of each dose on paper or in your phone. This helps avoid confusion, particularly when you are sleep-deprived or balancing multiple medicines and children.
6. Include your workplace
Talk together about a plan to work flexibly or take time off.
7. Share the load
Establish clear responsibilities to ensure no individual parent is left to meet all demands. The washing, cooking and caring for healthy kids doesn’t stop when someone is ill.
8. Lower your standards
Realise screen time will likely go up, while order and cleanliness go down. When we’re in survival mode, we just have to get through.
9. Freezer friends
Freeze extra portions while you're feeling well to take the pressure off when energy plummets. Alternatively, cook a big batch of soup, curry, pasta sauce to defrost an easy meal.
10. Simplify meals
Remember, making simple food (like eggs on toast, salad and tuna, toasted sandwiches and tinned soup) is not “cheating”.