By Louise Flanagan
My sister-in-law has three kids under four. Recently, a dreaded bug ripped through their house, with one poor tot after the other succumbing to bouts of nausea.
It’s a common occurrence, unfortunately.
Young kids go through a phase where it seems to be one thing after the other – an ear infection, a throat infection, a dodgy tummy, followed by a nasty skin infection just to top it off.
It’s worrying and distressing for parents, but mainly, it’s exhausting.
I thought back to times when my own kids have been unwell with common childhood ailments.
I remember once when my son threw up all over himself and his bed in the middle of the night, and in my own sleepy confusion, I could hardly figure out a logical order for dealing with it all.
I mean, yes, prioritising the poor child makes sense, but when there’s vomit seeping into a mattress or duvet or carpet, there’s a sense of urgency to deal with that too.
It’s not easy for anyone in the equation.
Mattress protectors are essential for kids’ beds.
I tend to double up with a full mattress protector plus an extra waterproof sheet that protects the little square the child sleeps in.
It can really help with nighttime emergencies to have the mattress well protected.
You can get good pillow protectors too; some of them feel a bit too much like plastic and even make irritating crinkle sounds in your ear when you lie on them.
Splashing out just a few extra euro can make all the difference though, and at 3am, you’ll be glad to whip off the cover and protector to find the pillow unscathed.
Calpol is a godsend, no doubt about it, but for my first few rodeos with toddler tummy bugs, I thought it was the only thing I could use.
Sometimes when they’re feeling unwell, getting them to take Calpol (as yummy as it is) creates a battle in its own right.
Then a friend told me that you can also buy suppositories for kids.
That was a game changer for managing temperatures when they were too cranky to cooperate with Calpol.
Always read the label carefully and give them the correct dosage.
Then there’s the struggle of getting young kids to take their antibiotics.
I used to absolutely love ‘yellow medicine’ as a child and I was quite shocked the first time my daughter turned her nose up at it.
There’s a sense of urgency with antibiotics; they have to take it and they need to complete the full course.
Once I had to contact the doctor for an additional bottle of antibiotics, because so much of the original bottle ended up getting rejected and wasted.
I tried mixing it through different foods with varying degrees of success.
Vanilla ice cream proved to be the winner here – served in a cone with a few strategically placed sprinkles for dramatic effect!
Whatever it takes to cheer them up and make them feel better when they’re under the weather.
Lucy and Evan are now old enough to understand the need to take medicine, even if it doesn’t taste the best.
And generally, once kids hit primary school age, they are less prone to picking up bugs.
Those early years when you’re plagued by the plague are thankfully short-lived.
Louise Flanagan is an admin of Letterkenny Babies Facebook page and the author of the children’s book series, Dragonterra. www.dragonterra.ie Her Parenting Column is carried every Thursday in the Donegal News.
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