When our children are unwell it can be a very draining time. Something like a cold forces you to restructure your entire day, but when they have one of the worst illnesses a child can have, the norovirus (or vomiting bug), it can feel incredibly overwhelming and stressful. There’s the practical side of things like cleaning up, but also the lack of sleep, and if you’re trying to work, it can all feel like you are ready to pull your hair out. What can you do to make things easier on yourself?
Remember, It Won’t Last Forever!
You need to keep your child off school or nursery for at least 48 hours after the final time they have vomited, which can seem like an eternity. The symptoms can last up to 3 days, which is why you’ve got to get into the militant mindset for the next few days.
Get a system in place to make sure you can clean everything properly so you minimise the spread of infection to other members of the family, and cleaning products like Chlor Clean are industry-standard disinfectants that can make quick work when it comes to limiting that spread.
Keep Your Children Distracted
They’re going to be feeling incredibly sorry for themselves as well as clingy, and while there are very minimal positives out of the situation, ensuring they are distracted will go a long way to take their mind off the fact that they feel terrible.
This may mean a lot more cuddles on the couch and lots of their favourite TV shows you’ve seen at least 200 times, but if they are vomiting a lot, you’ve got to be ready to pounce if they are feeling sick. Always have at least two sick bowls ready, one for the vomiting, but also one on the off chance that they fill this bowl up! It’s also important to keep an eye on your symptoms too.
Don’t Waste Your Mental Energy
There’s nothing worse than having to change the bedsheets at 3 in the morning for the second time that night, and if you’ve got two children with the virus, it can easily mean they start playing tag team with their sick! You can spend so much time worrying about where it came from, but in reality, this is a major waste of time. It’s all about making sure that you are in survival mode because it will only last a few days.
You may think that you’ve got to catch up with work when the kids are better and you may need to juggle things in the meantime, but the fact is that worrying is a complete waste of time. You can certainly feel like death when you are cleaning out the carpet and are just waiting for it all to be over. It’s far better for you to feel mentally strong.
It’s not going to last forever, but remember, this is one of the worst things our kids can go through. It certainly gets better from here! You need to just muddle through.
Leave a Reply