Your Ultimate Sick-Day Toolkit
You'll want to stock up on these items *before* a virus strikes.
After three years of living through a global pandemic, when your child catches a common cold, it almost feels like reflex to panic. Of course, even when you’re sure it’s only a cold, sick kids are no fun for anyone in the family. Even a minor cold virus can upend life for days, forcing busy parents to change work schedules, cancel social plans, and even — gulp — revisit homeschooling. But even though there’s no cure for a common cold, with Children’s Dimetapp and other tried-and-true sick day staples, you and your kid will get through it in no time. Here’s what’s always stocked in our cabinets — and on our bedside tables — for when a cold virus strikes:
Medicine That Kids Will Take Without A Fight
Children approach taking cold medicine like the world’s most discerning food critics. Heaven forbid that the flavor is not to their liking, the sweetness either too faint or overpowering, or the texture too viscous. Who among us hasn’t had a child scream, turn their head and close their lips, or — most fun of all! — spit medicine back into our faces as we try our best to nurture and soothe them? That’s why we love Children’s Dimetapp, which is not only pharmacist-recommended but has a sweet grape taste that kids actually like (we promise). Research has shown that grape is kids’ preferred flavor, and Dimetapp’s grape taste, which the brand uses across all of their products, ensures that your kids get the powerful relief they need from symptoms like coughing, sneezing, runny noses, and itchy, watery eyes (try the Day & Night Value Pack for stress-free cold and cough care around the clock!)
Enough Tissue Boxes To Build A Germ-Fighting Fortress
Woe unto the mother who runs out of facial tissue and has to carry a roll of toilet paper in her purse, which she then has to take out and put on the counter while searching for her wallet to buy more facial tissue! You can never have enough tissue on hand when your kid gets a cold because children are the world’s worst collective age group at blowing their noses. Seriously, can they start teaching this in school or something? It seems like a national crisis.
Ultra-Hydrating Food & Drinks
When kids are sick, they need more hydration than usual to thin out the mucus that’s clogging their nose (and making you invest your life savings in tissues!) Aside from plenty of water, make sure to stock your pantry with shelf-stable soups, electrolyte drinks, and your child’s favorite juice boxes. If you’ve got an especially hydration-averse little one, keeping some electrolyte or all-natural fruit juice popsicles in the freezer will trick them into getting some much-needed fluids into their system when they’re under the weather.
A Good Humidifier
When children get stuffy noses that come with the common cold, it makes it hard for them to breathe — especially at night, when they (and you!) need the most rest. Keeping a cool-mist humidifier by your little one’s bed will put moisture into the air to help clear up their congestion (give them some Children’s Dimetapp Nighttime Cold & Congestion before bed to give those cold symptoms a one-two knockout punch). Humidifiers work best when they’re cleaned after each use, in rooms with windows and doors closed, and the mist aimed towards your child’s pillow.
Extra Pillows & Cozy Blankets & Stuffies — Oh My!
Keeping extra pillows on hand means you can prop up your child’s head at night, helping to ease nasal congestion and any coughing caused by post-nasal drip. And since kids are prone to waking in the night when they’re sick (hello, 4 a.m. glass of water!), making their beds and bedrooms as comfy as possible will also help you get the rest you need so that you can spend all day bringing them soup and tissues and changing the channel on the television and propping their head up on extra pillows… ah, the circle of life.
A DIY Doctor Kit
Every parent should keep some OTC staples in stock, such as cough-suppressant chest ointment, a bulb syringe, throat lozenges (if kids are old enough not to swallow them), vitamin C, a good thermometer, and soothing bath time soaks and lotions to make sure that your little patient stays as comfortable as possible. Everyone knows the saying “If Mama’s not happy, nobody’s happy,” but if a sick kid isn’t happy then everyone is truly miserable. Which is why we rely on great-tasting Children’s Dimetapp as the stress-free sick day solution that kids will easily take.
