When illness hits your home, you might be left at a loss for what to do. Obviously, if it is you or your partner who are ill, you will probably just have to put on a brave face as you continue to look after the kids as normal. But if one of your kids were to fall ill, then that is a completely different story altogether! They will not be happy at all and they will expect you to entertain them while they have a sick day from school or nursery.
Not sure you’d be able to cope if you did have to look after your child while they were off from school or nursery? No worries, here are some really useful tips that can help you get through your child’s illness.
Try And Get The Day Off Work
Thankfully, most companies out there understand that employees with children might need to take the occasional day off to look after sick offspring. So, hopefully, your company will be perfectly happy to take one day off to look after your child. If you aren’t able to, then your partner might have better look trying to wrangle a day off. However, if it doesn’t look like either of you will be able to escape from the clutches of work for a day, you will have to move onto the next point.
Arrange Childcare
So, you can’t get the day off work to look after your child. It’s OK, there are a few backup options that you might be able to use. It’s a good idea to get in touch with either set of your child’s grandparents to see if they are able to look after them for the day. However, if their grandparents are particularly old, then you might not want to risk them catching whatever it is your child is suffering from. So, you might prefer leaving them with a younger relative or friend. If none of those options work for you, you could always use the services of a local nanny or babysitter.
Take Them Straight To The Doctors
As soon as you do realize that one of your kids is ill, you should take them to see a doctor straight away. Don’t worry about health insurance - more often than not, children are covered on their parents’ policies, but you might want to double check a site like GoMedigap for more information on specific health insurance policies and what exactly they cover. Once your child has seen the doctor, you can have some peace of mind knowing that their condition isn’t too serious. If it is something to worry about, though, you can be sure that the doctor will give them all of the necessary medication and treatments. And then you can take them home so that they can focus on getting all better!
Encourage Them To Nap
It’s a good idea to try and get your poorly child to sleep as much as possible while they are ill. Their body will need all the rest it can get! While they are sleeping, their immune system can get to work fighting all of the germs and bacteria that are causing the illness. Plus, the doctor might have given them some medication that could leave them feeling drowsy and sleepy. If they do end up feeling this way, they shouldn’t try and fight the urge to sleep. To encourage them to take a nap, you could get them to lie out on the sofa while they are watching the TV. They will then be able to nod off whenever they feel like it. If you find them sleeping on the sofa, simply switch off the TV so that they can have some peace and quiet.
Get Them To Drink Plenty
As well as plenty of sleep, your child will also need to drink lots of water while they are sick. It’s always best for them to drink water as sugary juices could make them feel quite nauseous while they are poorly. However, if your child refuses to drink plain water, then it’s fine to offer them some fresh fruit juices. Just make sure that they are as low in sugar as possible. Their body will need plenty of fluids while it is ill to help it fight off the illness. So, even if your child might be throwing up quite a bit, it’s always worth offering them small sips of water so that they don’t end up dehydrated.
Prepare Some Quiet Activities
Of course, your child won’t be able to sleep around the clock. There will be times when they are awake, and you will certainly know that they are because they will be complaining about being ill quite a bit! So, you need to think of some ways you can entertain them. Keeping them entertained will help them take their mind off their illness and they won’t feel quite so down in the dumps. It’s a good idea to stick to some quiet activities so that they don’t exert themselves too much and make themselves feel worse. Things like reading a book together, playing with some dolls or Action Men, or just watching the TV will be enough to take their mind off everything.
Don’t Force Them To Eat
If your child is particularly bad, then there is no way they will feel like eating anything. This is often the case in the first couple of days of their illness when their health will be at its worst. You shouldn’t try to force them to eat anything during this time. They might not be able to keep anything down and forcing them to eat will only lead to them throwing up - you will be making mess for yourself to clean up! You can keep their energy up by giving them juice and dry toast to eat.
You might feel really frustrated that there is little you can do when your child is ill, but all of the above steps should be a big help!
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